The other day, my friend posted a video on Facebook that’s called “Other Ways/Redefining Family”. I thought it was a great video in many ways to show that what we’ve always thought to be a wonderful thing is also the cause of a lot of negative things in the world! Here’s the video:
I don’t think that what the video is saying is that families are inherently “bad”, but that there are other ways of looking at it. Based on my experiences with online dating, most people out there think their families are just wonderful! But this idea of “my family is great” can lead to the “us vs. them”-type thinking. Stefan Molyneaux with Fredomain Radio has done extensive videos on the topic of family and the connection of war and violence to childhood trauma. Here’s one video on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU9QhhzNfTY
The idea that “it’s always been this way so it will always be this way” is better known as “groupthink”. This prevents progress and keeps us stuck and non-innovative in terms of the direction of our lives, and our own autonomy.
Where else can coming up with new ways of doing things lead to more freedom? James Altucher has a “Daily Practice” that involves coming up with 10 ideas everyday to exercise your “idea muscle”. Here’s a few I came up with:
1. “Have to’s”. These are time killers and stress inducers:
“I have to mow the lawn.”
“I have to make dinner.”
“I have to clean the house.”
The list goes on and on. It’s never ending. Can there be better ways to take care of these tasks? Uh-huh. I talked to the Four Hour Physician about outsourcing menial tasks like these in the last Freedom Lovin’ podcast. Cut down on the “have to’s” and add to your freedom.
2. Stoplights. I don’t know. They annoy the hell out of me. I’m not a central planner, and I don’t know what would be better. But I feel like I spend a lot of my time sitting at stop lights, often when there are no cars coming in any direction. Can we do better here? I think so.
3. Banks. I hate them. (I especially hate Paypal, but that’s a topic for another rant!). Is this the only way to transact? Is this the only way to store money? I don’t think so. Bitcoin has huge potential to become a much better system for buying and selling stuff without the need for banks. But there could be other ways too. Other currencies. Maybe gold & silver will be resurrected from the dead. Who knows? Let’s not close the door here and stagnate on paper dollars and a few people controlling the money of millions.
4. Getting gas. It sucks! There’s never a convenient time to stop and get gas it seems. Isn’t it time we moved on and make it more convenient to drive electric vehicles? I don’t know what exactly that would take. Probably ending monopolies and letting entrepreneurs take over. Maybe they could invent a car battery that lasts for a month. Or maybe forget about electric cars and finally bring those flying cars out on the market!
5. Plane travel. Every comedian on the planet tears apart plane travel for a reason. It’s terrible! High speed trains are a reality in Japan. Why not here? Oh yeah, government bureaucracies are currently responsible for transportation. And why is this? It’s because that’s the way things have always been done of course!
6. Renting apartments. The mountain of paperwork just to live in a place for a few months is loony tunes. And my last experience trying to get the place I’m currently staying in should have been part of a reality TV show, it was comical! I don’t know exactly what we could do, but how about let’s start with all agreeing not to require faxing, ever? That’s a good start. That would save time, money, and headaches. And dealing with Kinko’s for those of us who moved past owning a fax machine in 1998.
There’s a million other things that can be done differently. We can expand our world by thinking of these things on a regular basis. And this can change the world and make us a lot of money along the way.
