One of the great secrets I’ve discovered is that determining to find something beneficial and refusing to be merely a critic of anything I encounter changes my entire outlook and sets fire to my imagination.
I’m not very good at it. The critic is easy. Especially when you can justify it by claiming to be discriminating, skeptical, or prudent. But really it’s none of these things. It’s lazy. Every person, thing, or idea encountered can be mocked, deconstructed, or criticized with little effort, intelligence, insight, and even less benefit afterwards. The habit of criticize first closes the mind and shrinks the world we inhabit.
There is amazing untapped power if we’re willing to shut down the critic. This isn’t about being an altruist. You don’t even need some grand love of mankind to try it. You need to be more selfish. You need to want – to demand and resolve – to get something of value from every interaction and encounter. You have to stubbornly refuse to let the critic blind you to the benefits in everything. You must commit to penetrate the easy to ignore or deride surface and find something of value to take with you to the next experience.
If you can tap into this secret selfish power, you will see things no one else sees, enjoy things others ignore, and build social and material wealth where others burn them.