Thoughts & Counsel: Foundational Knowledge for Living Well & Creating a Better Future for Ourselves & Others

By M.J. DeLouis

If you are someone seeking knowledge and guidance as you begin your life’s journey, or if you are at any stage in your life and desire to learn and apply proven methods for pursuing and securing a higher degree of advancement and self-fulfillment, then this book was written for you. Within its pages you will learn:

• Guidelines for establishing and making progress toward ambitious goals.
• The methods and merits of self-education.
• How to cultivate motivation and stay productive through the application of disciplined action.
• How to handle and overcome failures, regrets, and anxieties.
• How to earn a high income, save, invest, and preserve wealth.
• How to establish and raise a purpose-driven family.
• Of the pleasures and value to be found in art, music, and literature.

You owe it to yourself and others to triumph over any undesirable circumstances you may be in, and to fully develop and exercise the highest aptitudes you possess. Do not delay—read this book at once to help you identify and solidify your optimal path in life, and to fast-track progress toward success in your chosen aims.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: Aug 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662918872

Book preview

PART ONE

On Self-Development

Self-development is a foundational as well as a life-long pursuit, which serves as a means to an end—it is not to be pursued as an end unto itself, in which to lose ourselves. It is an attempt to optimize the embodiment of the basic premise of life, which is to express the energy our lives represent and to pursue the potential wrapped up in that otherwise latent energy.

In this first part, we will discuss the various aspects of self-development that may influence and determine our direction, rate of progress toward goals, and the quality of our day-to-day lives.

1.1 Our Life’s Purpose

It is unfortunate that the purpose of our existence as a species is not known for certain. If it were, it could perhaps serve as a point of focus from which to shape our lives around. Since a definitive answer to this core question of why we are here is unattainable, we must content ourselves with creating and defining our own personal, unique-to-self purpose to pursue in order to give our lives meaning and direction. This purpose for living ideally includes the following:

1. Deriving as many pleasures and joys from life as we can from the various sources from which they may be had. This is not only in line with our self-interest and natural drives, but also serves to honor those before us (both the known and unknown) who have lived and toiled in the past, whose efforts we have come to benefit from in the present.

2. Being a source of such pleasures for others during our daily interactions and in our relationships.

3. And—most importantly—having a clearly defined goal or ambition that will constitute our life’s work and enable us to move beyond a life of passive or semi-passive existence. This endeavor should reflect our highest potential to produce a meaningful benefit, gain, or advancement for others and society over our lifetime, with the specific nature of such work being determined by our particular interests and aptitudes.

Within this realm of our inclinations and abilities, I recommend choosing a singular main endeavor to label as our life’s purpose, and to devote the bulk of our energy and focus toward it. Beyond this, it is best to pursue not more than a few additional large goals, if any. And of them, let them be a separate aspect of our lives and of secondary importance in regard to the time and energy we allocate to them. This will ensure our efforts are not spread so far and wide that only mediocre success results, as pursuing several aims at once does not allow for the concentration of effort often needed for prolific achievement.

When contemplating having such a purpose and high aspirations, the question may be raised as to why many of us are not content with our current situation, and why we are seemingly instinctually inclined toward aims that may result in the aforementioned improvements and advancements for ourselves and others. The answer to this is because we understand that the continued development of ourselves and the communities we live in leads to a higher quality of life for all by enabling the obtainment of more resources, comforts, and security with less difficulty and effort. We want to succeed on a meaningful scale in this regard, not only for direct personal gain, but also to establish our societal value and worth as they may be justly derived through our successful contributions toward the progress of those ongoing human endeavors.

To the outside universe our lives may not matter, but to us in our isolated world it does, because each of us (and those who will live after us) feel and experience physical and psychological pain and pleasure as a result of being conscious physical beings. These very real things regulate our actions by motivating us to move away from things that cause pain, and toward things that result in positive emotions and pleasures. As a result, our minds and bodies have imposed self-importance upon us and our individual and collective conscious, and so we strive onward innately to satisfy their demands of health, psychological well-being (as may be more readily secured through favorable external environments and situations), and material abundance. It is our efforts and perseverance—the price paid—that makes us worthy of success in our common goal of securing this more ideal existence and improvements in the human condition, as they are the fruits of our labors. And if we are worthy of these good things by our efforts, then the endeavors we embark on to secure them become worthy as such, and success in them a noble measure of a life well lived.

1.2 Education

The purpose of education is to acquire knowledge and practical know-how that will be useful to us throughout life and aid us in our chosen pursuits. There are two types of knowledge to consider when contemplating an education: general and specialized.

General knowledge is obtained by studying several or more subjects, and may be sought for gaining a wider scope of understanding and well-roundedness, as well as for building an intellectual fortification that will help us in overcoming life’s various difficulties. Due to its all-encompassing nature, to obtain such a broad and ever-expanding base of knowledge, it is best to pursue it steadily and gradually, and as a life-long endeavor.

Acquiring specialized knowledge, on the other hand, involves intense and focused study upon one subject (though it may include peripheral subjects that complement and enable a greater understanding of the main field of study). An adequate degree of competence in a particular area can be obtained in a relatively short time through this focused study, after which the knowledge may continue to be built upon and put to practical use, allowing us to further learn from continued studies as well as through firsthand experience as we strive toward expertise and mastery of the particular field.

Obtaining a type of specialized knowledge of our choosing should be our primary educational pursuit, for only through the possession of such knowledge does our value to others (and to ourselves by extension) rise considerably. Being exceedingly knowledgeable and capable in a specific area best enables us to produce high-quality and high-value results through our work efforts. Furthermore, it is after a foundation is first established of all that is known and understood about a subject that bridges formed by creative intellectual thought can most readily be made to reach the unknown, thereby increasing the volume of new discoveries and useful advancements that come to pass, or otherwise serving to produce an increase in novel and useful insights. Such is the power of obtaining specialized knowledge.

The best way to acquire a thorough education (of both general and specialized knowledge) is by reading books. Books readily enable the dissemination of the full gamut of accumulated human knowledge and understanding due to their complete scope of subject matter combined with their proliferation and accessibility. They are in most cases the ideal way to access the minds of the smartest and most experienced or accomplished people in any given field, from our contemporaries as well as individuals from prior history. Such people may have spent several years condensing and imparting their unique and valuable knowledge and insights, gleaned over a lifetime in many cases, into a book that we have the opportunity to then acquire and digest at our own pace.

The written word is the superior method for transferring knowledge to the individual for a number of reasons. It allows the author or teacher the opportunity for a prolonged, in-depth analysis and distillation of their thoughts and stores of knowledge, as well as reflections as to how to most effectively convey them to the reader. This often results in a succinct yet thorough transmission of information, as opposed to the less detailed and thoughtful, more superficial method of communicating such subject matter through impromptu verbal speech alone.

Additionally, due to the permanent nature of ink on paper, information can be reread as needed in order to fully grasp concepts, facts, and ideas. This also gives us the ability at our fingertips to revisit specific parts of a work for reference at any point in the future. The real-time verbal conveyance of knowledge (even if an oration is pre-planned, and its contents on a subject thorough) does not offer such options and benefits in and of itself due to its fast-paced nature not being conducive to detailed, nuanced analysis and contemplation by the receiver.

From this we can conclude that while verbal speech may be practical and ideal for the day-to-day conveyance of common and easily grasped information, the written word is the superior medium for obtaining important and complex knowledge and ideas.

For these reasons I recommend we establish book learning first and foremost as the primary and life-long avenue of our educational pursuits. From there we may incorporate gaining knowledge from other resources of education. These include learning by the aforementioned verbal method (often in conjunction with book learning), which can include being taught one-on-one or through group or class lessons. By this manner, knowledge may be transferred to us in person, or through various modern mediums.

Yet another suitable and valuable life-long strategy for acquiring knowledge is that of taking the time to consciously observe and reflect upon the cause and effects of actions and efforts taken by ourselves and others. Upon observing actions that successfully produced their intended and desired ends, we must not seek to merely copy them, but to reflect upon exactly why it brought forth the results that it did, and from these insights aim to fully exploit and perhaps further develop their influential or impactful aspects, and to then work to assimilate them into our regular thoughts and actions. Likewise, and by this same process, we may learn and benefit from observing and contemplating mistakes and failed endeavors, and adjust our understanding, methods, and actions accordingly.

Beyond utilizing the above educational avenues, take note that if we wish to pursue a career or business that requires official certification or recognition of being educated in a particular field, then we will also need to obtain a formal education from an institution capable of bestowing such recognition and certifications.

While it is certainly a legitimate way to gain knowledge (and even the ideal method for gaining the elementary and primary forms), we should never rely solely on formal schooling to fulfill our educational desires and thirst for knowledge. Despite it being highly revered by many, it is (especially in modern times) perhaps the least effective and efficient means of acquiring most forms of advanced knowledge, especially for those who are self-motivated and truly passionate about learning. This is in part because the regimented nature of formal schooling discourages in-depth questioning and explorations—this is not an environment conducive to individual critical thinking and gaining conceptual understanding. Instead, it only provides the framework, guidance, and materials to facilitate the often semi-passive process of receiving and storing prepackaged and sterile facts, figures, and procedures predominantly at their face value. This dynamic is responsible for the commonly seen lack of a thorough and comprehensive grasp many people have of the knowledge and ideas they possess. For while gaining static knowledge is indeed desirable and useful in and of itself, it is infinitely more valuable if it represents only the beginning of our educational journey, as opposed to it being the be-all and end-all. In regard to many types of knowledge, it is only through exercising our minds and engaging our intellects through open-ended, ongoing inquiries and contemplations that relations and comprehension of the underlying aspects of their relevance and importance in real-world applications may become most clear and readily grasped, expanded upon into novel and useful realms, and assimilated into our wider scope of consciousness and understanding.

Furthermore, because formal schooling by its nature does not involve or encourage the seeking of additional knowledge beyond that which is being presented, or force-fed as it may be, it produces the propensity to completely cease one’s education and learning post-schooling. This results in the widespread formation of intellectual plateaus among many with a formal education—not only in regard to gaining knowledge on a wider range of subjects, but often in regard to expanding their knowledge even within their own specialized field.

Therefore, if we are to put ourselves through schooling for the purpose of pursuing a certain career or business, or for any other reasons, we must always be wary of these negative aspects, and avoid or offset them the best we can through the additional and ongoing pursuit of self-education.

Notwithstanding those fundamental downsides of most institutions of higher learning as they relate to our actual education, we must not disregard the noneducational value (in addition to the education that they do indeed offer) that attending good schools can provide to us and our children, which may justify and make worthwhile the time and expense involved in attending these institutions, perhaps even if they are not attended expressly for the purpose of pursuing a particular line of work or its direct advancement. These benefits include the social cachet of attending them (due to it providing proof of—at the very least—a middling degree of ambition and work ethic), in addition to enabling us to intermingle with those who embody similar aspirations, values, and social norms as ours. As a result, we may have many more opportunities to form acquaintances, friendships, and romantic relations, and even make professional or business connections, with those of similar backgrounds and interests.

To conclude with some final thoughts, making ourselves a recipient of the torch of prior knowledge (through those various forms of education available to us) is indeed a worthy and valuable endeavor; but we must all the