Education & Career Trends: September 2
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
- Article by Thomas Oppong, published on medium.com.
Imagine this: You wake up one morning, sunlight filtering through your window, and you’re hit with a question that’s been asked for centuries.
Am I on the right path in life? Or better still, Is my life meaningful?
It’s a query that’s haunted many thinkers, including the brilliant Bertrand Russell, a prominent philosopher, logician, and writer known for his contributions to various fields, including philosophy, mathematics, and social and political thought.
Life’s a crazy ride, right?
Sometimes, it feels like we’re just wandering through it all. As we navigate the complexities of the modern world, questions about the best way to live can linger in the background, waiting for us to confront them.
For Russell, there are no one-size-fits-all ingredients of good life. It’s a portfolio, an exciting mix of experiences, knowledge, and connections.
His audacious outlook liberates us from the shackles of tradition and dogma, granting us the power to curate our journey of meaning. Brace yourself as we seek to broaden your reality and challenge the status quo.
According to Russell, a great life portfolio is a realm of unpredictable twists and turns, where ambiguity isn’t a foe but a friend. He didn’t shy away from the existential ambiguity that haunts our daily lives.
Russell beckons us to embrace the chaos of existence and to curate a unique portfolio of meaning that defies convention.
The acceptance of uncertainty becomes the cornerstone of a great life. It grants us the flexibility to adapt, the curiosity to learn, and the resilience to grow. Russell’s perspectives on living your best life are not just philosophical musings; they’re tools for navigating the complexities of life.
1. “It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.”
Imagine a life where we are not constantly burdened by the need to acquire more things. Instead of spending our time and resources accumulating everything we don’t need, we could focus on cultivating meaningful relationships.
You could invest in pursuing our curiosities and contributing to the greater good. We would be free from the constant pressure to keep up with the latest trends and instead find contentment in life’s simple pleasures.
The obsession with possessions often leads to a never-ending cycle of comparison and competition. We measure our success and happiness based on what others have rather than focusing on our personal growth and fulfilment.
We become caught up in a materialistic mindset that values superficiality over authenticity. It prevents us from living nobly, as we constantly strive for external validation rather than cultivating inner virtues such as kindness, compassion, and gratitude.
Russell observed, “the really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith.”
2. “Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.”
Love manifests in various forms, such as romantic love, love for family and friends, or even a broader love for humanity.
Russell’s longing for love suggests a deep yearning for meaningful and fulfilling connections with others, a common human aspiration.
His passion for pursuing knowledge reflects his intellectual curiosity and dedication to understanding the world around him. “The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge,” he said.
Russell was also deeply troubled by the suffering that he saw in the world.
His three passions were not always easy to reconcile. He often felt torn between his desire for love and his desire for knowledge.
“To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already 3-parts dead,” he wrote.
Russell also felt frustrated by his inability to do more to alleviate the suffering of humanity. But despite the challenges, these passions were the driving forces of his life, and they helped him to make a significant contribution to the world.
3. “The secret of happiness is this: let your interest be as wide as possible and let your reactions to the things and persons who interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.”
Russell advocated for a broad and diverse range of interests in life. Instead of limiting yourself to just a few pursuits or passions, he suggests you open your mind to explore and engage with a wide variety of things.
He thought it’s a habit that can help you encounter novel experiences, ideas, and activities, adding excitement and meaning to your life.
Diversifying interests can also help prevent boredom and stagnation, as you will always have something new and engaging to explore.
“Everything is vague to a degree you do not realise till you have tried to make it precise,” Russell said.
Choosing friendly reactions means being open, accepting, and kind in your interactions. It implies giving people and situations the benefit of the doubt and being willing to see the good in them.
Adopting a friendly approach in life can help you build positive relationships and harmonious interactions with others.
Finally, Russell suggests that you can find happiness by embracing the diversity of life and approaching it with a friendly disposition.
4. “It is essential to happiness that our way of living should spring from our own deep impulses and not from the accidental tastes and desires of those who happen to be our neighbours, or even our relations.”
This quote aligns with individualism, the belief that everyone has unique qualities, desires, and aspirations.
He encourages us to explore and express qualities rather than conform to a standardised way of life.
Russell thought we could achieve genuine happiness by pursuing our passions, values, and inner desires rather than being swayed by societal pressures or external influences.
For a great life, live in harmony with your inner convictions and principles. Russell’s statement underscores the importance of self-discovery, self-expression, and pursuing a life that reflects our intrinsic values and desires as key components of a fulfilling and happy existence.
“Anything you’re good at contributes to happiness,” he wrote.
His statement encourages us to seek our own paths rather than conform to the arbitrary preferences of those around us.
To determine your deep impulses and desires, self-reflection is necessary. Take the time to understand yourself, your values, and what truly brings you joy.
While Russell emphasises individuality, he doesn’t discount the importance of relationships. However, he suggests that it’s vital to maintain your authentic self even within relationships rather than completely subsuming your identity to please others.
5. “I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.”
Our ideas, convictions, principles and mental models we hold to be true or valuable might be wrong.
Russell wants us to recognise the fallibility of human knowledge.
He acknowledges the possibility that his beliefs, like anyone else’s, could be incorrect or flawed. His honest acknowledgement reflects an intellectual humility and an openness to the idea that our beliefs may not always align perfectly with objective reality.
He is cautioning against extreme, unwavering, or dogmatic attachment to beliefs in this quote. He argues that an unwavering commitment can be dangerous because it fails to account for the possibility of error.
Russell’s perspective aligns with the principles of scepticism and critical thinking. It underscores the importance of embracing doubt as a valuable aspect of intellectual and ethical growth.
He suggests that it’s more rational to maintain an open mind, be willing to reconsider your beliefs in light of new evidence or perspectives and avoid taking extreme actions based solely on unexamined convictions.
6. “The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.”
Russell suggests that one of the most challenging aspects of life is learning how to make better choices. Specifically, it’s hard to discern when to pursue a particular path (cross a bridge) and when to let go of or sever a connection (burn a bridge).
In this context, “bridges” represent connections, relationships, opportunities, or paths we encounter in life. These could be friendships, career choices, personal relationships, or any significant decision or opportunity.
“Crossing a bridge” implies moving forward, taking a path, or pursuing a particular option. Conversely, “burning a bridge” means severing ties or closing off a possibility, often in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to return.
Deciding which bridges to cross and which to burn requires careful consideration and discernment. It’s not always obvious which path is the best or most beneficial, and there’s often uncertainty about the outcomes of our choices.
Life is full of risks and rewards. Deciding which bridge to cross involves weighing the potential benefits against the potential drawbacks. Sometimes, taking calculated risks is necessary, but doing so can be daunting.
Russell’s quote stresses the importance of careful consideration, wisdom, and a deep understanding of the consequences of our choices.
It reminds us that life often presents us with situations where we must make difficult decisions about where to invest our time, energy, and resources and that these decisions can profoundly impact our future.
To improve your chances of living your best life, consider the first and second-order consequences of your actions.
Learn to accept that not all bridges can be crossed or burned without careful reflection.
It’s not always easy to determine when to invest time and effort into something or someone and when to let go. Making these decisions wisely is a fundamental aspect of personal growth and success.
…
Have you checked out yesterday’s blog yet
10 Skills to Master Business Analytics in 2023
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
Like this post? For more such helpful articles, click on the button below and subscribe FREE to our blog.
Download our mobile app, ICS Career GPS, a one-stop career guidance platform.
One Reply to “Bertrand Russell’s 6 Ideas on Living Your Best Life”