Element #3 Adjust The Sail

Have a realistic look at yourself and the world

“How one lives is so far distant from how one ought to live, that he who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.” — Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian Renaissance political philosopher and author of The Prince

When Niccolò Machiavelli lived in exile, he was working on his political treatise that he hoped would land him a position within the Florentine government. Every evening, he sat down to write, inspired by his own experiences and ideas from ancient philosophers. In his book The Prince, he wrote down his impressions of how the world actually worked. “Since my intention is to say something that will prove of practical use to the inquirer, I have thought it proper to represent things as they are in real truth, rather than as they are imagined,” he introduced his readers, “Many have dreamed up republics and principalities which have never in truth been known to exist.” Machiavelli understood through the study of ancient political thought and his observation of his contemporaries. He understood that you need to adjust the sail before you can change something.

As I embarked on my journey to move to America, I had to have a realistic look at my situation. First, I had to do military service which was mandatory at the time. I couldn’t just go to America as work visas require college degrees. That meant I needed to find a way to go to college and make it affordable. If I had ignored all the constraints and the situation I was in, I doubt I would have changed my life at all.

You need to understand where you are at and where the world is at. You need to have an honest and realistic look at yourself and the world. Come to terms with your current situation. Find the balance between optimism and pessimism, but always lean towards optimism.

This is an extract from Patrick Daniel’s forthcoming book ‘The Thinker’, out in early 2017.