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Transcript

Cynics Don't Change the World · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Rider Starter Kit, visit DailyRiderLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Every period in history seems like the worst for the people who are going through it.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: The past few years have certainly been challenging on a lot of different levels.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: We've only recently started to get back a sense of normalcy after a global pandemic.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're in a very contentious election cycle, that's an understatement, of course, tensions around the world are really high, and the list goes on and on and on.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And one look at your social media feed or any news channel will tell you immediately that people are upset and hurting.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's a sense of frustration and anger that most of us have never seen in our lifetimes.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: So in this kind of situation and in this kind of environment, it's natural to feel angry or frustrated.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And why not?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's what everybody else is doing.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody else seems to be angry and frustrated most of the time.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really easy to let yourself slip into a cynical attitude about life.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: So what is a cynic anyway?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: We throw that word around a lot.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this person or that person is a cynic or they're cynical.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So a cynic is a person who assumes the worst about everybody.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: They believe that everybody acts out of self-interest.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: They believe that any appearance of good behavior or generosity is just a ploy for somebody to get what they want.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a lot of entertainment is based on this notion of human behavior.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: For example, the most popular sitcom of all time, Seinfeld, was predicated on a pessimistic view of human nature.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the creators of Seinfeld, Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, said basically that the mantra of the whole show was that no characters would ever grow or learn anything or develop as human beings.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now that's fun to watch on TV, and I admit that Seinfeld's actually my favorite sitcom of all time, so maybe this says something about me as a person.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's fun to watch on TV, and it's it's great to watch sitcoms and have fun with all those stories, but being a cynic doesn't really work in real life.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, really hard to be in a committed, loving relationship with somebody and be a constant cynic.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: You also can't be a consistent positive influence in people's lives if you only believe the worst about them.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: The great author F.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Scott Fitzgerald once said, The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great quote, isn't it?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: But you know it's true, this is a dark time in history where we have a few more crises than usual.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: But don't give in to the negative attitudes that everybody else around you probably has.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: This period that we're in right now might seem hopeless and irritating and full of chaos, but as writers and creators, we are part of the solution.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: We should not be part of the problem.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: The pessimists and the cynics might be having their moment in the sun, but in the end, cynics don't change the world because hope wins every time.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: So here's today's challenge.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: I challenge you to take an optimistic view of your situation and simply say something positive to somebody today.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes that's all that's needed is just to take five seconds and say something positive to somebody.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: That could actually change your whole day, and it might change that other person's whole day or maybe even their whole week.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my challenge for today.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before I wrap up, I want to give a big thanks to today's sponsor, write your first nonfiction book, the brand new book for my friend and business coach, Honore Corter.
• 3:57
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• 4:03
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• 4:10
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• 4:15
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• 4:26
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• 4:29
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• 4:32
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• 4:40
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• 4:45
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• 4:49
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• 4:50
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• 4:52
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• 4:59
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• 5:04
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• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: All right, my friends, over and out.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: This has been fun hanging out with you for a few minutes.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hope you grabbed the book, and I'll see you next time.