---

Do you blame your problems on somebody else?  The sub-prime mess is either Clinton's, Bush's or Congress's fault depending on who you believe.  Most of our problems are caused by magical thinking.  Magical thinking is 1 + 1 = 3.  Magical thinking says giving poor people houses is a good idea.  You need to remove magical thinking from you thought process to succeed in this world.

The universe doesn't grant us a free pass.  I've received many comments from people who are single parents (mostly women) with 2 kids to feed and a $8/hr job.  They want more money.  Don't we all.  The question is what were they thinking when they produced not just 1 but 2 or 3 children out of wedlock with no idea how to support them?

Magical thinking isn't limited to welfare queens.  It's infected the whole country.  When you put your money into the stock market and expect 12% returns on a stock that's selling for 30 times earnings, you're using magical thinking.  When you buy houses at historically high prices hoping to turn a quick buck, magical thinking.  When you buy a house you can't afford your practicing magical thinking.

The difference between man and beast is man's ability to think and plan for the future.  When you use magical thinking you revert to animal living.  Day to day existence, hoping you happen across a way to make ends meet.

When you contribute to your 401(k) with no idea how the stock market works, you're hoping that the magic machine will make your rich.

It's amazing how most people can't follow a train of thought to it's logical conclusion. Think about this:  Whenever rain is forecasted I bring an umbrella.  Today I brought an umbrella so rain must be in the forecast.  It's easy to follow that train of thought.

Too many people "blank out" at some point in their thinking.  They think "I want to be rich."  But then instead of thinking "I need to find a profitable vocation where I can make money" they think "duh, how much is the Powerball up to this week?"

I believe that most of our problems would simply disappear if more of us had a logical though process.  Our high school education is a joke.  Instead of teaching logic and personal finance, we learn about history and multiculturalism.  History can be learned in a book.

Logical thinking is necessary for any type of learning.  Some people are born with it.  However, I think people can learn to think logically, but first we have to kill hope.

Hope

If you want to get anywhere in this world, remove hope from your mind.  Hope doesn't do anything.  Hope can't go to work for you.  Hope never fed anybody, never paid even one bill.  In fact the only thing that hope has done is give us the most dangerous magical thinker in recent memory.

Magical thinking lets us substitute hope for common sense.

Planning + Execution

Success is planning and execution.  First you need to know where you want to go.  Want to be an accountant?  Better go get an accounting degree and pass the CPA exam.  You can hope all day for that but until you decide what you want to do, nothing will happen.

Thinking seems to require more effort then some are willing to put in.  I understand that.  We are all guilty of magical thinking.  We are taught as children then if we are good, Santa will bring us presents.  Magical thinking is drilled in our heads.  We are told to pray.  Again magical thinking.

Unless you had extremely enlightened parents, magical thinking was part of your upbringing.  It will take a lot of effort to overcome your conditioning.  Every time I hope for something I have to remind myself that hope is worthless.

If you can remove magical thinking from your thought process, you'll see the world as it is.  It's very easy to get by in America.  Jobs are plentiful, opportunities abound, food is cheap.  However, the universe gives nothing for free.  You must work for it and earn it.  You must plan.  You must guard against risk with adequate savings.

If you're unhappy with your life you need to destroy hope and magical thinking.  Start practicing rational thinking.  Take stock of your current situation.  Figure out where you want to be.  Then plan the steps from here to there.

There is no magic in the world, just cold hard reality.  We can either live with reality and go with the flow or fight against fate like a stubborn jackass.  One path leads to happiness the other to misery.  The choice is yours.

Tags    Crises    life    Magical Thinking    Philosophy

Related Posts

• Why I'm not Contributing to my 401(k) at Work
• Were You Diversified?
• Alan Greenspan Not Laughing About Sub Prime Mortgage Mess
• Driving Myself Crazy Trying to Get Rich
• 7 Signs It's Time To Quit Your Job

Comments