Will Power, The Key to Self-Reliance

WILLPOWER, THE KEY TO SELF-RELIANCE

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD Traditional Realist

Our modern culture is decreasing our need to be self-reliant. This is insidiously occurring through our willingness to give up our time to make money in a specialized world. The numerous options we have in our society to hire specialists to complete our traditional duties is limiting our opportunities and weakening our ability to be self-reliant. Whenever we face any difficulty instead of doing the job, we turn to specialists to fix it. We are constricting the range of activities we once were expected to do.

We are abdicating our responsibility as parents by hiring Super Nannies to deal with our children who are disobedient to us. We are turning to experts who do potty training, speech therapy, tutoring in any academic area and psychotherapists to deal with every emotional issue.

When the simplest things no longer function in the home we immediately contact a professional to do our work for us. Painting rooms, interior decorating, a faulty faucet, landscaping or other home chores are no longer personally tackled by us. Instead we are outsourcing them to professionals who do our dirty work for a hefty price.

The additional expense is not the primary shortcoming in this economic transaction. Rather it is the loss of opportunity that shows us we are able to successfully complete more things than are listed in our professional job description. We are not challenging our thought processes outside of work in various everyday issues to realize the incredible power of our minds.

Humans have done amazing acts when they focus their minds to survive. Aron Ralston was trapped between boulders in Utah for five days. He chose to amputate his own arm with a dull multi tool to save his life. People have the ability to put off almost certain death waiting to say goodbye to a loved one. Individuals have been buried for many days under tons of debris without food or water and have used every bit of their will power to stay alive.

Will power is the same force when applied to a different skill like raising a child, playing an instrument or a sport, learning advanced math or a foreign language that teaches the person the miraculous results of focusing the mind. This unleashing the inner energy of our brain to give us the impetus and insight needed to solve problems is a force, which we are losing.

President Obama's Osawatomie, Kansas speech on December 6, 2011, is a denouncement of rugged individualism as unworkable. It is a failure on his part to recognize American exceptionalism. The U.S. was propelled to the leadership of the world due to our citizens’ ability to overcome hardships through their own efforts and not by depending on government to bail them out of these personal difficulties. Americans were rugged because our society promoted sacrifice and delayed gratification in the usual ups and downs in life. The hardworking person would face the problem head-on and would triumph. They were not political sheeple.

Our current culture is sending a radically different message. Our pop culture is focused on instant gratification not on disciplining our minds to increase our critical thinking and problem solving. Rather than being pro active and confronting a real problem, our culture says " relax, no problem, man", or "chill." Someone else will take care of it. This passive route is easier though nonproductive when compared to actively applying one’s energies to solve everyday difficulties.

Social networking media may make us falsely popular, gaming may make participants feel brilliant but neither gives us the opportunity to learn what works in reality. The problem with these activities is they produce no tangible results in improving our existence. They do not give a person the same meaningful lessons that improve the mind by actually accomplishing something.

The United States cannot continue being the leader of the free world if we avoid confronting the challenges of life. We cannot continue in a virtual existence devoid of reality. In order to grow as people we need to face reality and allow it to teach us what works and what does not.

Only by people being well rounded, tackling new challenges and solving them can we be a robust and innovative country. A person sharpens his mind by persevering until he successfully finishes a difficult task. He learns that disciplined focus eventually pays dividends of financial and mental strength to keep him free.

Americans have to choose between a life of self indulgence and passive non productive activities that numb our minds or confronting the annoying, mundane issues that have faced mankind from the beginning of time. Solving daily problems gives us confidence to overcome the next obstacle. These occurrences help us prove to ourselves that we can do anything when we focus our minds. Our accumulated economic, relational and moral accomplishments as citizens have created the foundations of our stable and prosperous nation.

When people know they can handle their own problems they resent government interference of offering goods and services that will rob them of their liberty. Being free means a person wants to make his own decisions. Accepting bribes “to get something for nothing” means the nothing is your savings and freedom. Independent souls are resistant to desiring more government as they relish freedom.

The individual’s development of will power is an essential force in being successful in the world of hard knocks known as reality. Self-competence makes people tougher and more aware of the world around them. These self-disciplined people are the backbone of a competitive free market society.

CHARACTER IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIGH GRADES

CHARACTER IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIGH GRADES

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

Americans are losing the understanding of which priorities are important to their children and them. In this new millennium we have become obsessed with material wealth. The “its all about money era” has led us down the path of devaluating the importance of man’s character.

As long as you have money, regardless of how you attained it, you are a person to be admired. The pathetic, addicted Hollywood celebrities, crooked politicians and corporate CEOs have become the people we admire in our upside down culture. Our past national heroes and the unsung heroes in our lives living a good moral existence are ridiculed as uncool and boring. Morality has lost its importance.

Modern parents do not want their child to be morally corrupt but they will overlook lying, stealing and cheating as long as the child receives high grades in school. They believe high grades lead to a good university slot that means a BA, MA or PhD, which will guarantee their child a prosperous and happy life.

The over looking of moral transgressions at home and at school, as long as the bright child is receiving high grades, is foolish and short sighted. When children use lying and cheating to make good grades they may gain an advanced degree in their future but it forecasts trouble. It does not guarantee a healthy or worthwhile life.

Americans have been sold a ridiculous bill of goods about “intelligence.” The smarter your child is the more rosy her future. Modern parents focus on cognitive development and put character development at the bottom of the list of importance.

From birth there are educational toys hanging from the crib. Educational infant videos and programs play on the television screen and parents play teacher with colors, shapes, numbers and letters. At the same time they ignore outrageous, out-of-control behavior missing the importance of training a child to be an honorable human being.

When the child comes home from school with a note that he lied, stole or cheated, the parent’s first concern is whether it is going to affect his grades instead of being upset with his immoral behavior. Modern parents are blind to the significant negative impact of establishing immoral habits in their child’s future. The long-term effect of not following the 10 Commandments is being relegated to a non-issue although it means an under developed conscience that will lead the child astray.

High grades and degrees may give a person more options and a higher level of entry into the workforce but it does nothing to guide him in making good decisions in his life. Regardless of the grades or degrees a young person has obtained, misconduct can stain his reputation and label him for life.

Modern parents are often delusional about how much power they have to protect their child. When a child reaches 18 years old his behavior is no longer the responsibility of the parents. The young adults become accountable for their behavior.

Modern parents need to reevaluate the amount of importance they are placing on their child’s academics. Plagiarizing at college, the use of addictive substances, stealing or lying to authorities can result in criminal charges for college students even from the most powerful families. Even if a person is able to avoid detection by authorities immoral behavior in personal relationships with a spouse, children or co-workers frequently leads to personal tragedies, mental instabilities and mental illness.

Moral education in the long run pays greater dividends than the ability to impress how smart a person is or his ability to achieve in an ivy tower environment. A person of good character is dependable and trustworthy even when no one is looking over his shoulder.

Parent’s insistence on their child doing what is right is the most important gift they can provide for him. A child with a highly developed conscience places him on automatic pilot to be shielded from people going down a spiritually destructive path. When a person is doing right he has less time to do what is wrong.

The guidance system of good character training is a parental legacy. Their offspring will acknowledge this legacy with gratitude as they experience the pressures of evil they face directly in the adult world. There is nothing more gratifying than living a spiritually, solid, balanced and healthy life.

A child with strong moral character has a better chance of negotiating the immense number of temptations he will have throughout his lifetime. Morals inoculate a person against evil forces. Without a strong moral compass many people make horrible choices that bring shame and harm to themselves and others.

You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.com.

Laziness Has Lost Its Stigma

LAZINESS HAS LOST ITS STIGMA

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD Traditional Realist

The American people have remained silent while laziness has taken firm root in our society. This acceptance of laziness is contrary to the established "American Dream." Our citizens are given an opportunity to reach their goals through diligent effort, not by being lazy and demanding entitlements. We Americans have worked our way up the ladder saving a significant portion of our wages for investment in our own future.

Laziness is permeating the American way. Citizens of the USA are becoming numb to half-hearted efforts by our children, public servants and even small business people. We have lowered our standards of what makes an honest effort. Whenever a person says he is going to do something in a specific time period and fails to do it, too many of us are neglecting our duty by looking the other way. Many of us are learning to use a pathetic excuse to weasel out of these commitments with few or no consequences.

The epidemic of laziness has to have an enabler. In the early years it is usually the modern parent. The child who receives poor grades because he has not tried is told to try harder next time even though the parents know their child could easily do the assignments. Instead of getting on the child to finish his meager responsibilities at home and at school the parent's laziness passes the buck onto the spouse or the teacher. The lack of a challenging assignment by the teacher is called into question, not the child's irresponsibility to get their work in on time.

Laziness is a form of lying to oneself and others. “I’ll do it later” turns into “I had no time to do it.” Procrastinating is waiting until the last minute and usually rushing to get it done often in a shoddy way. The person who waits until the last minute is either overextended or does not take his commitments seriously.

Parents are not the only ones lowering their expectations of reasonable effort. The American consumer is doing the same. The waiter who does not bring the correct order or is lackadaisical in getting the food on the table in a timely manner receives the full tip without hearing any criticism. “Customer service” is a concept of the past or better put, an oxymoron.

Government workers on the local, state and federal levels feel they are entitled to more pay, more status and more benefits then their private sector counterparts performing the same job. Our public servants refuse to take a reasonable reduction in astronomical benefit packages or refuse to reduce their workforce through attrition to balance state and local budgets. They threaten to strike with other union allies to frighten older dependent citizens into submitting to unfair demands.

Just a decade ago it would be hard to imagine self-employed workers acting arrogantly enough not to do everything necessary to nail down a job. Even during this "Great Recession"' most often the American worker does not call back about a potential job or show up after making an appointment to give an estimate for a service. The work ethic of many small businessmen has gone from go-getter to "I'll do you a favor by doing the job at an exorbitant wage."

All of us, especially parents, need to start forcefully showing our children that laziness will no longer be a valid excuse for failing to get the job done. Parents should provide sufficient negative consequences to their children to improve their effort in school, sports, work or any other endeavor. They should support their children's teachers not undercut their authority. Parents should support each other increasing expectations for their children instead of putting down the parent who sets high standards by saying "you are too hard on your kids." They should stress that success comes through hard-nosed perseverance.

We must start with our children and expand to the general public. We need to show our children that a poor effort by a hired worker or anyone will not be tolerated. Our vigilance as buyers and employers is important in conveying the message to our children that laziness is not an acceptable behavior. We need to raise the bar of doing a conscientious job on every level of society.

Customers should tell any worker who does not fulfill his expectations exactly how his performance is inadequate. It is important to the delinquent workers to be put on notice to give them an opportunity to learn a lesson and get back on the right track.

Laziness must have a severe stigma attached on all levels of society or it will destroy both our economy and society from within. We will all suffer the consequences of a world where we pay for and expect one thing and get disappointed and frustrated by receiving terrible service and inferior goods.

Our nation will rise or fall on the contributions of all of us. When too many people are parasites, taking and not giving, we will cease to exist as a prosperous, viable nation. Only when the vast majority of us start punishing the lazy thus incentivizing them to become significant doers will we flourish.

You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.com.