It is time to accept a truth that is not easy to accept.
We are all addicts.
Everyone is addicted to… their own beliefs. This explains why, when we try to change someone's beliefs, they begin behaving like… an addict.
So many of the greatest advances in what is called human civilization were initially rejected with tremendous fervor. New inventions and discoveries suffered the same fate.
We always behave like addicts whenever someone tries to change the beliefs already in our heads, as if we had been injected with extremely powerful doses of heroin.
We fiercely believe certain things and stubbornly insist they are right.
It is hard to believe that the following beliefs were once very common, if not widely accepted as “truth” in many places around the world:
-A society in which women are always below men is a society aligned with the laws of nature.
-In human society, some races are superior and have the right to rule over others. Slavery is natural.
-Cars are only a passing fad; horse-drawn carriages are forever.
-The Earth is a flat disc. The Sun revolves around the Earth.
It is hard to understand why a certain common belief still persisted in Vietnam's business environment in 2020. I also do not understand why many lecturers still teach their entrepreneur students this:
“The Marketplace Is a Battlefield”
What consequences does this belief have for business, life and society?
An entrepreneur is a soldier, a soldier carries a gun, and whom is that gun meant to shoot dead? Whom to kill? Whom to destroy?
This belief creates hostility and a ‘kill or be killed’ mentality. It creates a state in which everything is scarce and therefore must be fought over, rather than aligning with the universe’s expansive nature. It runs counter to another belief: that everything is always sufficient and abundant when we focus on creative energy. This belief also creates lose–lose behavior in business. It produces a common style, particularly in Corporate environments: Agressive, and often somewhat excessive, too much agressive. One distorted form is becoming extreme, losing balance and objectivity when examining an issue. Moreover, this belief creates harmful competition that damages consumers themselves, because in war ‘all deception is fair’: it is life or death, so do not talk about ethics or ‘fair play’ here. Compete dirty to win, even when it harms customers. In addition, this kind of belief causes excessive Stress, pressure, guilt, stress-related illness, and a business life full of regrets.
Business is simple. People make it far too complicated.
Life is simple. But people make it far too difficult.
Entrepreneurs can absolutely choose another belief and another way to behave. But then they must be even more careful, lest they see life through rose-colored glasses while everything around them is dark. Society will not let us be honest; when in Rome, do as the Romans do; everyone does it, so why should we not? If I alone am the virtuous Thạch Sanh while everyone around me is the deceitful Lý Thông, that ‘naivety’ will get me destroyed. Beware: after a few ‘rosy’ days, everything could turn ‘pitch black.’ What should we do?
Shift your style gradually, and eventually you will practice the Happy Entrepreneur way of life naturally, without excessive pressure or effort.
The first thing we need to change is to recognize this and change our beliefs. Do not forget that our beliefs about reality create reality. The reality of Vietnam's business environment is as it is because many people believe it to be so. But history (and the present) has shown that something is not necessarily true just because the majority believes it is.
So when you begin changing and practicing a new way of life in business, share it to inspire more people. A new reality will then be created, and you will be helping create it.
Entrepreneurs can learn a soldier's spirit and courage, but entrepreneurs do not have to kill people as soldiers do.
The Marketplace Resembles a Battlefield in Some Ways. But the Marketplace IS NOT a Battlefield.
