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“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.”

- G. K. Chesterton

This is the first of three parts in a series on taking a leap of faith. I’m breaking this topic up into a series for the sake of clarity. I believe there are many critical parts to understand in this process. In order to take a leap of faith, and not fall flat on your face, you must first take two giant steps. You must overcome social programming, and you must develop a tremendous amount of faith in yourself (doesn’t matter what order you do these in). I’ll cover both topics in this series, and end with an article on how to finally take the leap.

We are all products of social programming. The minute we are born into society, we are subject to the influences of it. Our parents instill our first paradigms (system of beliefs) in our minds at a young age. We learn our first language, our first set of values, and we attend our first day of class. All the while we are being programmed to believe things work a certain way. I know when I describe this process as “programming” it sounds like some sort of slow, deliberate, malicious invasion of our minds… and that’s exactly what I think it is. Allow me an opportunity to explain.

As children, we are taught our greatest asset is our formal education provided to us by the schooling system. Right off the bat, we are forced to be dependent on something which is outside of us. If we are to be successful, we are told a high school and college degree is essential. We progress through the schooling system, and are continuously conditioned to believe we are working towards securing our future. Not once is it suggested our greatest asset is our mind. Not once is it suggested everything we need is actually already inside of us. Not once is it suggested greatness lies dormant within us, waiting to be awakened. Societal programming forces us into a state of fear and dependence, and this prevents us from realizing our true potential.

In my eyes, this is the highest crime.

An evaluation of society

The first step we must take to free ourselves from the reigns of societal thinking is to realize how ineffective it has become at what it aims to accomplish. Let’s take education, for example. The word education is derived from the Latin word educo, which means to educe, to draw out, and to develop from within. How well does our education system do this today? We climb our way up the grade-school ladder, and learn random (if not useless) information along the way. Apparently, we are supposed to identify our “interests” through this process. Maybe we’ll aspire to be a historian one day, or better yet, maybe we’ll aspire to become a teacher in this wonderful system!

Next, we enter college in hopes of finding out what it is we want to do with our lives. We choose a major concentration, and take the required courses to “master” this concentration. Along the way, we may change our path, or we may (gasp) find ourselves. Translation: we’ve figured out which job to take up after college, hooray! Don’t get me wrong, there are a few people along the way who do find themselves, and do identify their purpose in life. These select few people may go on to do great things with their lives, and change the face of humanity. However, this is a rare occurrence, and is usually the byproduct of the individual’s own search for who he/she really is, not a byproduct of the education process.

Once we’ve entered the employment world, we begin to “earn” a living. We choose to sacrifice our time for money. Often times, it’s for something we don’t even enjoy. We do it for the sake of “security.” It’s a never ending cycle. Wake up. Go to work. Come home. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Is this what the education system is helping us educe from within, a life characterized by mindlessness and barred from purpose and passion? Does this kind of lifestyle make any sense to you? If all of us have greatness within, and all of us are equipped with the power of the mind, don’t you think this is a wasteful life to live?

I firmly believe our purpose in life has to be something greater than figuring out how to address our own needs. When we shift our educational focus from the societal mindset of, “how can I best earn a living in society” to “how can I educe my greatness from within,” we begin to see how flawed the education system is. Rather than helping its students explore their inner-greatness and develop themselves from within, the education system contributes to a relentless cycle, which keeps generating more and more fearful, mindless individuals to fuel the foundation of society. Imagine a society comprised of individuals who’ve all managed to tap into their inner-greatness.

I dare say it would be a utopia.

My journey

This is a story of how I overcame societal programming, and learned to think for myself. Yes, it’s long. However, I believe it’s a good example of how to approach the daunting task of freeing yourself from the chains of societal thinking. If you have the patience to read it, I’m confident it will be more than just another interesting read. The key facilitator in the process was self-education. You will be able to see how self-education helped me build up the confidence necessary to eventually take my own leap of faith.

A little over two years ago, I had just graduated from high school. I, like many others, was faced with the prospect of college and was extremely confused with my situation. My dad was pressuring me to join the business school at UT. Others were telling me I should try and go to an Ivy League school. I had no preference between one and the other. I figured I might as well go to The University of Texas at Austin because it was close to home, not too expensive, and was supposedly a party school (many important considerations, as you can see).

At the time, I had no sense of what I wanted out of life, and no sense of self (great job education system!) I’m confident I would still be just as confused now, or even worse, brainwashed by now, if I didn’t stumble across a little something over Thanksgiving break.

UT Austin is known for its attractive women. In fact, I think it’s one of the top schools in the nation in this category. That being said, I had a hunger to meet as many of them as I could. However, I had no idea how I would go about this. Miraculously, while at home on Thanksgiving break, I stumbled across an online advertisement on the “Million Dollar Homepage.” The advertisement shouted, “Learn how to meet women today!” I, being ever so curious, clicked on the link, and was directed to an e-book website. The name of the E-book was “Double your Dating,” and it was claiming to have all of the secrets to success with women. I figured what the hell, might as well try it. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just take David DeAngelo (the author) up on his money-back guarantee. I was already bad enough with women as it was, so I really had nothing to lose.

The reason I describe this seemingly random experience from my life is because it was my first introduction to the concept of “self-education.” For a few dollars, and a small investment of my time, a whole world of information on understanding women was made available to me. I could learn from one of the best teachers in the world on the subject at my own pace, and on my own time. I wasn’t being forced to learn anything. I was learning purely because I was interested in the material. If you’ve never experienced this type of learning before, it is a completely different experience than learning in school. Every single word is interesting. You’re hooked from the minute you start. It’s so much fun because it’s what you want to learn. Not what someone else thinks you need to learn.

Soon after reading “Double your Dating,” I ordered all of David Deangelo’s dating material; DVD programs, audio programs, and e-books. While learning the material, I noticed I was transforming as a person. Not only was I much more skillful in my interaction with women, but I was hungry for more self-development material. I thought, if I can unlock this much potential by learning this material, there must be more areas of my life I can apply my concept of “self-education” to.

On David Deangelo’s recommendation, I picked up the book Think and Grow Rich. After reading this book, my entire perspective on life changed. I remember putting it down and saying to myself, “What the hell?!?” I was introduced to the idea that my mind is my most powerful asset. Simply with my thoughts, I could influence the results in my reality. I didn’t really understand it at the time, but I knew I was on to something. I performed the exercises the book recommended, and I began to notice a peculiar difference in my life. I was gaining clarity.

For the first time in my life, I had a sense of direction. I knew I wanted to experiment with my self-education more. I began reading as many books as I could on different personal development subjects. I took what I learned from most, and applied what they taught to my life. I began to think for myself, and began to see the flaws in society’s way of thinking. I could educate myself on topics such as time management, philosophy, purpose, women and dating, religion, discipline, effectiveness, talent, and overcoming fear. I no longer needed to be in school to feel educated. The quality of my life was rapidly increasing. I was becoming an independent thinker, and began to live a life which was the result of my own thinking.

Nearly two years later, I realized I could mold my life to whatever I wanted it to be simply with the power of my mind. I had access to the best teachers around the world on different subjects at the click of my mouse (or by a trip to the bookstore). Each book I read expanded my consciousness, and I soon realized that my purpose in life had to be something more than just providing for myself. I wanted to do what I loved, and I wanted to make an impact on people’s lives. This is how this blog got started.

The Fall ’07 semester of school started, and it felt completely different than my past semesters in school. I was no longer the highly motivated and disciplined Business Honors student I used to be. I was no longer interested in my narrow-minded studies, and I felt like I could be using my time better (self-development, writing, meeting new people). Recently, I decided to drop out of school. This was my leap of faith.

What compelled me to take the leap? I began to understand the “need” for a formal education is something rooted very deeply in fear. Almost everyone believes you must get a college degree to succeed. But what if your formal education has nothing to do with the direction you want to take your life? What if you can self-educate? What if you learn to think for yourself, and shake off societal programming? Then I see no need for remaining in school. I believe formal education should be a conscious choice. If a college education will assist you in living your life’s purpose, then by all means choose to be in school. However, I do not believe the choice should be driven by fear. A choice driven by fear isn’t much of a choice, is it? Being in school because you fear you will fail without is an extremely limiting mindset, and will always hold you back from reaching your true potential.

I have ultimate faith things will work out for me, and I will achieve my dream of helping as many people as I can unlock their true potential. I will continue to write, and continue to invest in my personal development. I know I will change lives in the process, and this makes the entire journey worthwhile. I feel as though school was limiting my freedom. In order to continue to do well in it, I would have had to force myself to act against my intuition. I would have had to force myself to sit through class, and study for tests that had no applicability to my life’s purpose. I made the conscious choice to drop out of school, because I didn’t see how it was benefiting me. I feel like a new man. I feel like I have broken free from the chains of society. I am living a life which is the result of my own thinking. I know I am going to create the life of my dreams, and nothing is going to stop me.

Think for yourself

Start questioning your beliefs. Are they the result of societal programming, or are they your own thoughts? Are you living a life that is the result of others’ thinking, or are you living a life that is the result of your own thinking? Question every belief you have, and identify the ones which are rooted in fear. Once you identify them, do everything you can to uproot them. These beliefs will destroy your ability to reach your true potential, and will doom you to a life of mediocrity. Choose to live consciously. Make deliberate choices which are in line with your life’s purpose. If you haven’t figured out your life’s purpose yet, then it’s time to muster up the courage to figure it out. Perhaps you’ll find that your purpose is calling you in a different direction than the life you are currently leading. You can either choose to act on it, or choose to live a life driven by fear, and run away from it. The choice is yours.

Realize you’re not made of glass. You can go broke; you’ll still be alive. I’m broke, and I feel more alive than ever. Your loved ones can turn on you, and you will continue to move forward. My loved ones didn’t agree with my decision, but they are slowly coming around and seeing things from my perspective. You can create the life of your dreams; all it takes is the courage to think for yourself and listen to your heart.

I know this may all seem a little crazy to you at first. You may be thinking, “Rahul, you’re just being reckless, you need a college education.” And you may be right. However, I’m not going to take society’s word for it. I’m going to figure it out for myself. Don’t let the fear of failure take away your power of choice. Live life on purpose. I challenge you to do so.

Whether you think I’m crazy or not, I’m sure we can agree I have a tremendous amount of faith in myself (or in some sort of higher power). The next article in this series will be on how to get in touch with this kind of faith, and how to use it to look fear in the face, and laugh. For all of you who have made it this far in the article, I congratulate you. You are one step closer to taking your leap of faith.

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Related Entries:

Taking a Leap of Faith: Develop Self-Confidence (Part 2 of 3)

The Truth about Attraction - Part I: The Basics

The Truth about Attraction – Part II: Sparking Attraction