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Jordan Peterson: Life Will Never Look the Same After This · Motivation Mindset Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Don't overestimate yourself, but don't underestimate who you could be.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: That's a much better way of thinking about it. You know,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: psychologists of the careless sort, I would say, have been
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: pushing the idea of self esteem for a very long time,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: probably since the early sixties. You should be content with
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: yourself the way you are. It's like, no, you shouldn't
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: seriously like you're nowhere near what you could be. You're
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: not even close, right, And so that's a way more
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: optimistic message. Like it's you ain't seen nothing yet. That's
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the right message. And so I would say, don't overestimate
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: yourself now, but don't underestimate your future self. And you
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: have so much influence as an individual if you get
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: your act together that you can't believe it. There isn't
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: anything that has more influence than that. You have all
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: the power that there is right where you are to
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: put things right around you. You start now, you develop
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: a noble vision right of who you could be. You
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: start to put that into practice. Develop some discipline, familiarize
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: yourself with the great works of the past. Learn to read,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: learn to write, learn to speak, learn to think. Man,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: you'll be deadly what you could bring to the table
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: that hasn't been brought to the table for years is
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: an emphasis on individual responsibility. And the right way to
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: do that, as far as I'm concerned, is to start
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: with yourselves. Is develop a vision for your life. You
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: start think about if you could be who you could be,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: what would that look like. That's the beginning of a
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: mature philosophy of being. If you could be the person
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: that you would admire, who would that person be? How
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: would you configure yourself? How would you configure your career,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: your education, your family, the use of time outside of work.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: If you wanted to be the noblest person that you
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: could be, who was adopting the maximal amount of responsibility,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: how would that look? Then you need a strategy to
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: put that into place. And that's the way you change
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: things properly, and also the way you do the least
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: amount of harm while you're changing them. And so it
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: should be an individual, an individual focused set of ideas,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: and that way you can sidestep the identity politics traps,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and that would be a very good thing. And I
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: think a modern conservatism, which isn't really all that distinguishable
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: from a classical liberalism as it turns out, is to
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: put tremendous stress on the responsibility of the individual. And
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: one of the things that's wonderful about that, as far
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: as I'm concerned, and I made reference to this a
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: few minutes ago, is that you need a meaning to
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: offset the tragedy of life. Otherwise you just suffer stupidly,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: and you tend to make people around you suffer the
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: same way. The way that you find that meaning is
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: by adopting as much responsibility as you can. And what's
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: also so fascinating about that is, you know you're characterized
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: by an indefinite potential. It isn't easy to understand exactly
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: what that is, that potential, but you know it's what
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: people call you on when they say, you know, you're
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: not living up to your potential. Whatever that is. That
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: potential will be called forth from you as a consequence
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: of adoption of responsibility because it won't manifest itself unless
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: you take on a load. You're not going to develop
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: in all the ways you could develop, unless you set
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: yourself a serious challenge, because it takes the challenge to
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: pull that out of you and also to motivate you
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: to rid yourself of all the weaknesses and personality flaws
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: that you've accumulated across the years, and to let those
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: disappear and burn off you. You need to load yourself
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: up before the demands of life will be such that
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: you will discipline yourself properly, and a noble goal is
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: a very good way of beginning that. The truth of
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: the matter is, as far as I'm concerned that each
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: of us has enough potential cha power of character, let's say,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: if it's properly manifested, to contend with that in a
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: noble way and to rise above it and to transcend
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: and to deal with it in large part because we
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: can make the world a much better place than it
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: is for each of us individually and for our families
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: and for our community, and we can constrain them malevolence
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: at least in our own hearts, and perhaps have a
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: positive effect on those around us as a consequence, and
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: that actually does make things better, And we actually can
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: do that, and that's where the meaning in life is
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: to be found. And that meaning, you know, that goes
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: along with the adoption of that kind of responsibility is
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: actually the antidote to the suffering. You know that perfectly well,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: because all of you need a reason to get out
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: of bed in the morning, especially on a rough morning.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: You know, when things aren't going so well in your life,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: and there will be plenty of times when things aren't
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: going so well in your life, and you still need
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: a reason to get up and get moving and get
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: out there. And if you have adopted the responsibility at
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: an individual level to make things better given how bad
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: they are, if you've adopted the responsibility to make things better,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: then you have a reason to get up. And so
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: one of the things that I've been stressing to people
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: is that there's very little difference between the meaning in
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: life that gives you fulfillment and that engages you in
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: existence and the willingness to shoulder as much individual responsibility
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: as you can possibly handle. Those are the same things.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: And that's a really useful thing to know. And you
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: kind of know this, right. Everybody knows this, because, first
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: of all, if you're not living up to your responsibilities,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: even to take care of yourself, the probability that you're
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: going to be ashamed of that at some level is
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: extraordinarily high. And so your own soul tells you that
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: you're in error, so to speak. But also if you
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: look at who you spontaneously admire, which is a good
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: indication of where your value system really sits, you'll see
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: that the people you admire are always people who take
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: responsibility for themselves and responsibility for their family, and responsibility
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: for their community. Get your act together. You've got things
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: to do in the world. The absence of your full
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: being in the world leaves a hole that is filled
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: by terrible things. At minimum, So at minimum you have
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: an ethical responsibility to ensure that the world doesn't evolve
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: into something approximating hell. And at maximum you have the
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: responsibility again, the ethical it's a heavy ethical responsibility to
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: do everything that's in your power to make things as
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: good as you can possibly make them in this sophisticated
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: manner that takes you and your family and your community
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: into account. And it's on you, right, And that's meaning.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: You know, people say, well, I'd like to have a
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: meaningful life. It's like, well, fair enough. But the price
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: that you pay for the meaning that transcends tragedy is
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: the adoption of responsibility for the catastrophe of existence. But
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: that ennobles you, right, It makes you into someone strong
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and someone competent in someone who who's worthwhile, and who
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: lives in a manner that justifies their own suffering. And
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: that's what There's nothing better than you could possibly do
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: than that. Although there is a very large number of
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: ways of looking at the world, or perhaps a near
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: infinite number of ways of looking at the world, there
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: isn't a near infinite number of ways of acting in
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: the world in a manner that actually is successful, and
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: so there are constraints on how you can how you
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: can interact with the world in a successful manner. Let's
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: assume that you don't want undo pain and anxiety. We
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: could just start with that, and I think that's a
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: reasonable proposition. You can tolerate some pain and anxiety if
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: it's in the service of something greater, obviously, but I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: just mean pointless pain and anxiety. We don't want any
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: more of that than is necessary. And that means that
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: you have to take care of yourself to some degree.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: But the manner in which you take care of yourself
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: is severely constrained. This is partly why you have to
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: be intelligent and careful and plot your way through life properly.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: You have to take care of yourself today, but you
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: have to take care of yourself and today in a
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: way that doesn't interfere with you taking care of yourself
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: tomorrow and next week and next month and next year
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: and five years from now and ten years from now.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: So you can't do just what you want to in
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: the next hour, because if it's impulsive pleasure seeking, let's
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: say something like that, excess alcohol use or excess drug use,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: or careless sexual behavior, or betrayal of people to gain
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: you some gain you something in the moment, you're gonna
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: pay for that. You're gonna pay for it tomorrow, You're
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: gonna pay for it next week, and next month, the
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: next year. So, because you're going to exist in the future,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: and because you have to live with yourself, there's only
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: a certain number of ways that you can act that
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: are going to work. But it's more than that. It's
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: not just that you're responsible to your future self or
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: the set of all your future selves. Is that you
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: also have to act in a way that works for
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: your family, because otherwise your family's gonna disintegrate and break
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: down and cause you and them all sorts of misery
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: and grief, and not just your family now, but also
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: your family into the future. And then not just your
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: family either, but also your community. And so you have
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: to set your aspirations so that they serve you in
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: the broadest sense over a long period of time, and
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: they also serve your family, and they also serve your community.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: And that's a very tight set of constraints. And I
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: think that the best solution to that set of constraints,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: from a philosophical perspective, or maybe even a theological perspective,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: is to view the world as a place not of groups,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: but of individuals, of sovereign individuals who are responsible for
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: their destinies, responsible for their families, and for their communities.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: You learn to use minimal necessary force. It's like you
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: don't defend yourself any more than you have to, like,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: be careful, don't push any harder than you need to,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: because all you do is you generate a counter force
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: by pushing harder than you need to. And then you're
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: in conflict. And you think, well, I like a little conflict.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: It's like, look, fair enough, a little conflict, man, no problem.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: It keeps your life kind of interesting. And maybe that's
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: on the problem solving edge. But a little conflict can
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: become a lot of conflict, very very rapidly, and if
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: you have any sense at all, that's not what you want,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: you know, especially if you have other things that are
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: better to do, and you should have other things that
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: are better to do,