5 paradoxes with examples that are powerful enough to change your life!
While there are many paradoxes out there, I've covered five that are extremely relevant for us in general.
Hey everyone!
So the topic I’m covering in this particular post is personally really intriguing and something that happens around us all the time yet we barely observe them. I’m talking about paradoxes.
For those who are new to the term, a paradox is a statement or proposition that despite sound reasoning from an acceptable premise, leads to a conclusion that is logically unacceptable or self-contradictory.
Some simple examples are “Pretty ugly”, “Less is more”, “The one thing I know is that I know nothing”
We all are pressured into viewing the world as a linear and logical place but in reality, is anything but that. Look around long enough and you’ll see that life is full of paradoxes and I'm going to cover 5 important paradoxes with real-life stories to show you exactly what I mean.
So, let’s get to it then.
Icarus Paradox
Do you know the story of Icarus? Icarus is a Greek mythological figure who was presented with a pair of wings (not thanks to red bull. Bad joke but couldn’t help myself) made out of feathers and beeswax by his father Daedalus to escape an island. Daedalus had told Icarus not to fly too high so as to get too close to the Sun not fly too low so as to get pulled by the waves to make the escape successful. Consumed with the ecstasy of flight and a feeling of power that came with it, Icarus ascended higher and higher into the sky and the heat of the sun melted the wax and consequently, Icarus fell to his death.
Lesson - What forms your greatest asset will also be your greatest liability.
A perfect example of this paradox in today’s scenario is the story of Nokia. In 2007, Nokia was the world's largest mobile manufacturer holding more than 50% of the global market share. Their claim to fame was their sturdy handset and user-friendly interface. By the end of 2013, their market share was a meager 5%. What led to their downfall? Among a lot of reasons, Apple and Samsung came along and provided more relevant and useful interfaces which Nokia did not make any efforts in adapting. The very feature that brought Nokia on the world map was the reason for its downfall.
The Paradox of Growth
This paradox talks about the fact that growth happens gradually and then there’s a sudden growth. You experience growth very slowly and it will take longer than you think and then suddenly there’s an exponential growth when you keep doing it every day.
Have you ever seen how bamboos grow? When you plant bamboo, for the first six months, there will be no progress and then six months later, you’ll see a small shoot grow which will barely reach the height of your knees. And then in the second year, there will be very little growth and third-year even lesser growth, heck you might not think it’s growing fast at all and would want to stop watering it. But from the fourth year, you will see a huge difference in the size of the bamboo which will grow at a stupendous height and then on, grows 36 inches every 24 hours!
The same is applicable to us. You may not see the growth happening, but if you continue watering yourself and do what you’re doing, one day when you look back you’ll see how much you’ve grown.
The failure paradox
I’m sure you’ve heard this one many times and probably in many different ways but it still deserves to be mentioned again and again and again. The more you fail, the more likely you are to succeed. Edison made over 10,000 prototypes before making getting the light bulb right. Oh, and of course. How can I forget the story of Michael Jordan? He was thrown out of his school basketball team and that day he went home and cried. And today? Well, you know the rest. Here’s a video of him that explains this point really well.
The connection paradox
This one is very relatable. Despite being in a more connected world today, we feel even more isolated and lonely and depressed than ever. We have unlimited call plans to talk to anyone, yet we feel anxious when we receive a call, we have instant messaging platforms and we immediately want to mute when we get a message notification. All attempts to make connections with each other easier are just having an opposing effect on us.
The Tony Robbins paradox
Tony Robbins in his book, “Unshakeable”, points out one of the greatest paradoxes in investing and it’s because of this that the wealthy tend to get the compounding growth that eludes the rest of us.
We’ve come across several blogs and books and advice on how to “beat the market” which sucks us into the vortex of going for the fences in investing. But after Tony Robbins interview the top 50 of the worlds most financially successful people, here’s what he says the paradox is
By admitting to yourself that you have no special advantage, you give yourself an enormous advantage
Yup! The smartest most financially sound investors say they have no special advantage over the stock market. Any attempt that says or talks about beating the stock market is a fool’s paradise. It’s probably the only place where if you don’t do anything and just stand there when things are falling that will benefit you. (Did I just pull out another paradox?)
Going through these paradoxes made me realize one thing. Any attempt to make our life simpler has only led to having an opposing effect on us. The only thing we can do is to be self-aware about these things which will aid us in making better decisions and lead a more fulfilling life.
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