Author: thejoshbjones

Conspiracy theories are fun and they tend to come out in droves around this time of year. For fun I try to one-up the other person’s crazy. e.g. “The moon landing didn’t happen.” “Oh, you believe there’s a moon?”

Here’s the thing, not all conspiracy theories are wrong, and not all are right. Applying Hanlon’s Razor is important “”Don’t attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance.” The question is how do you approach all subjects with a healthy level of scepticism against whatever the subject matter is to sus out the underlying incentives and corresponding actions to that.

Sometimes it’s bad actions, and sometimes the world around us is simply it’s own treatise of what we’ve asked for as a collective of people in a market. I mentioned to someone earlier today that Coca Cola only has 39 grams of sugar. The reason they don’t go higher or lower is because they found out in testing that they sold less on both the over and under. 39 Grams isn’t an evil corp putting too much sugar in so much as it’s what everyone was asking for through the nature of a market.

This leads you to the question of what have you been asking for? Many drips fill a bucket. When you look at the world around you, where are you going with the market and shouldn’t? Where should you be the first drip? Where are you ok with what you’re living with?

I’ve been managing a situation with my staff that is causing stress lately. The phrase “most people overreact as quickly as possible” comes to mind. I’ve been using it a lot this week and helping lead people to slow down and take a breath.

In the middle of that, I sent one team member this list of old sayings about words. They cannot all be applied together, they’re individual. So you’ll see the conflict on some. I read a book of them for at least one month out of every year. If you read these particular sayings below once per week for the next year, I think it’ll pay dividends on how you navigate what you say. You’ll find yourself speaking up at times you wouldn’t have before and find yourself not saying things you might have otherwise said.

->”When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.”
->”The mouth of the fool is his ruin, but the wise man’s lips guard him.”
->”Even a fool is thought wise when he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.”
->”Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues”
->”The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit”
->”Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits”
->”Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, I was only joking”
->”Patience can persuade a prince, and soft speech can break bones”
->”Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body”
->”Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed”