This site is the website of motivational speaker Craig Harper. A constantly updated, one-stop information, inspiration, education and motivation station. Unlike many similar sites, it is a totally free resource for anyone who is serious about moving from mediocre to amazing in any area of their personal or professional life. With hundreds of articles covering a wide range of subject matter, great interviews with cool people and inspirational video posts, there's more than enough brain-food to keep you busy for hours. Okay, days!! Enjoy.
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Craig Harper is Australia's leading
motivational speaker
and educator (according to Google Australia). He is a highly
sought-after corporate coach and is considered to be
a leader and pioneer in the areas of personal and
professional development.
Working with hundreds of
teams, companies and a wide variety of organisations
on numerous continents over the last twenty years
has given Craig a unique insight into, and
understanding of, human performance and all its
variables. Craig has an ability to educate, inspire,
challenge and make people laugh all at the same
time!
If you know me, then you know that, as a rule, I don't promote anything. I rarely recommend books, programs or workshops. Not that there aren't some great resources around, it's just that I choose not to endorse much unless it blows my socks off and it has made a significant impact on me personally. So I'm sitting here sockless because I have just had a sock-removing experience. The source of that experience was a film written and directed by Sean Penn called 'Into the Wild'. I have seen over a thousand films in my life and this rates in my all-time top three. Ever. If you haven't seen it, see it. If you have, let me know what you thought. On with today's Post...
Ever noticed how us humans inevitably travel the full circle? Kinda obvious really. Arrive on planet earth, walk around in our physical body for seventy or eighty years, get a job, have a few relationships, do some stuff, wear some bad clothes, watch some TV and then go elsewhere. Or maybe nowhere, depending on your beliefs I guess.
Alright, there's a little more to it than that, but essentially, we come into the world with nothing, leave with nothing, and most of us spend several decades in between frantically trying to accumulate 'stuff'; qualifications, careers, assets, money, properties - what we ignorantly call, wealth.
We all want 'success', and on some level most of us believe that success is about how much we can 'get'. Directly or indirectly, consciously or not, we're taught from an early age that success is about the acquiring of financial wealth. That's the message we hear over and over again, so how could we know or believe anything else?
"Hey, look at what I've done with my life, I've accumulated all these things; I'm a success."
"Oh, we're so proud of David, he's a Doctor now (tick), drives a beautiful new BMW (another tick), and is dating a gorgeous young Lawyer from a good family (bingo)."
Tick, tick, tick... jackpot mum (mom) and dad, your son really is a success! The fact that he's a selfish, arrogant, rude pain in the ass doesn't matter. As long as you can tell your friends at the country club about his 'success' (Doctor, Lawyer, BMW), life is good. After all, we know that success is not about what kind of person your son is, or what he might give back to the world, but rather, what he can get from it. You've gotta look after number one, 'cause nobody else will. Yep, all about NumeroUno.
The irony of 'wealth' is that some of the people with the most money are the poorest, and some with virtually nothing are wealthy beyond comprehension. Depends on how we define wealth doesn't it?
Not gonna hear this statement too often: "Our son makes a minimum wage, didn't finish college and drives a piece of crap, but he's a caring, loving, generous person who's always happy, so we're really proud of who he is."
Contemporary Western culture and thinking tells us that success is dependant on what we can accumulate in a lifetime; our ability to create wealth. What we can get. When questioned about it, we profess otherwise because we don't want to sound shallow, but look at how we (the collective we) live in modern society. We are indeed, the 'accumulation generation'. A population driven by greed and an insatiable appetite for possessions. A bunch of people who have totally bought into the 'wealth equals happiness' paradigm, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
If you need proof of the mainstream view on 'success', check out virtually any book, program or CD on the topic. Most of them could go under the generic title of 'How to Get Stuff 101'. If you're up for a challenge, try selling the notion of success being about 'giving', as opposed to 'getting'. Good luck peddling that to the 'Get Rich Quick' brigade.
As a society, we talk the 'philosophy and the theology talk', but we don't walk it. We like to think of ourselves as spiritual, generous and philanthropic, because it makes us feel good. But we are frauds. We're generous while others are watching, philanthropic when it's a tax deduction, strategically kind when there's something in it for us, insincerely sincere, and super spiritual when it suits us. All the while, we continue to buy, lend, cheat, lie, over-eat and cosmetically enhance our way to 'success and happiness'. Or what we think will make us happy anyway.
Consider a charity worker who earns a minimal wage, has helped thousands of people over the years, has given away most of what she owns, is a little overweight and has been happily married to the same man for thirty five years. Now compare her to Donald Trump.
Who's the success story? Who would the vast majority of people trade places with? Honestly?
"Oh yes, but if I had all his money, I'd be different. I'd use it to change the world." Sure you would Pinocchio.
Why does mainstream society and typical thinking consider Donald Trump to be a success? Because he makes shit loads of money. Full stop. We can rationalise it however we like, but it still comes down to the same thing; our complete reverence for money and what we believe it will bring us. Nothing wrong with money or being wealthy, except when it defines us. Except when it's our reason for being. Except when we derive our sense of self-worth from it.
If Donald Trump was the exact same person (physically), but he had grown up in another 'reality', had worked in a fishing store his whole life, had very little money and had been happily married to Wilma the pastry chef for forty years, who would put up their hand to swap realities with big Don then? Er, hello? Exactly. Because nobody actually wants to be him, they just want all his stuff.
Despite what we (we the society) say, despite our overt religiosity and simulated spirituality, despite our philosophy of convenience, despite our alleged new-found, self-awareness and despite all the 'progress' we've made as a species on this big blue ball, it seems that with somethings, we still don't really 'get it'.
Hopefully one day we will.
* I apologise for the somewhat sombre tone of this post, but I am passionate and sincere about every word I've written. I realise that it isn't my normal uplifting, motivational, make-you-laugh style, but I think that sometimes a little reflection, honesty and philosophy is called for. I know that some of you won't enjoy this discussion because it ain't the usual laugh-fest, that's okay; I'll do my best to amuse you tomorrow. I also know that there are many of you who don't fit into the self-centred, money-driven mindset and lifestyle I've spoken about today, so don't be offended. I'm not talking about you personally, but rather a 'financial wealth equals success' mindset that pervades our generation, our society. I also want to make it clear that I'm not at all against anyone striving for and achieving amazing success with their career and their ability to create financial wealth. In fact, I believe much can be learned from some of our most 'successful' entrepreneurs and business leaders. I respect people who have succeeded on a professional level but not when that success is at the cost of physical health, emotional health, spiritual health, family and friends. Not when their 'success' starts and finishes with their bank account.
What I am against is the ever-present mentality in our society which teaches our young people that an individual's level of success, self-worth and ability to be happy, will ultimately be determined by their level of financial wealth. To be more like Donald and less like the charity worker.
Let me know your thoughts. Click on the comment thingy.
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