Are you on the side of the majority?

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Happy Sunday and thank you so much for opening today’s newsletter! 😊 

Thankfully for me, this past week was a short one at work because of the 4th of July holiday, so I’ve been able to rest a bit and take some time away to myself and with my family.

On the home front - back in Jamaica 🇯🇲 - I’m sending all my love and support to my family and friends back home that were affected by Hurricane Beryl on Wednesday. Thankfully my immediate family was here in the US with me, so not at risk, and it seems like all in all, the effects of the hurricane weren’t as bad as they could’ve been.

Despite that though, if you’re interested in donating or helping out Jamaicans who were affected by the hurricane, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] and I’m happy to direct you to places that you can donate to.

What I’ve been reading lately

Lately on the booklist, I’ve been reading Timothy Ferriss’ “The 4-Hour Workweek” as I begin to take steps to create the career that I want for myself, and to figure out how to work less and live more.

So far it’s been a very radical change in perspective in terms of how to think about a career, and one that challenges the status quo, especially in the American capitalist context.

I’ve been enjoying the read so far, and this week I wanted to talk a bit about a quote that stood out to me from the book:

What is the “side of majority?”

When I read this quote, the first thing I thought was that I’d never heard the term “side of majority” used before. It’s pretty self explanatory, but when I thought about it further, it brought me back to the days when I studied Shakespeare in high school and there was this idea of a “crowd mentality” and the crowd was always fickle-minded when referred to throughout the literature.

Being on the side of majority was somewhat viewed as being a negative thing, and indicated that you were just following everyone else rather than thinking for yourself.

So, is it time to pause and reflect or what?

The second thing I thought when I read that quote was “hmm, am I on the side of majority?”

In the context of the book, yes I am.

And that’s because the book is targeted at people who work an unfulfilling 9-5 and become comfortable making money doing something that they don’t necessarily love or are passionate about.

As a caveat, (if you’ve been a part of #TheLifeofJLOWE long enough you’d know) this is my first job, and even people at my company tell me all the time that your first job isn’t your last job. So as I write this, read with the caveat that I’m not deep into my career, and have a lot of time and flexibility to pivot. (And pivot I will)

HOWEVER…

This is important to me as a foundational perspective to keep in mind to ensure that I don’t get stuck in an unfulfilling career, and in turn, an unfulfilling life.

So yes, for me, it’s time to pause and reflect.

Is it time for you to pause and reflect too?

Now, although the book is career-oriented, I don’t think that quote is limited to “do you work a 9-5” as the definition of the majority.

I think it extends to pretty much any identifying feature about ourselves that we can discern. For example, do you drink coffee every morning?

If your answer is yes, well so do 63% of Americans, so you’re on the side of the majority.

And so what does that mean?

It’s time to pause and reflect!

Are you drinking coffee every morning because you enjoy a cup of coffee? Or is it because it’s a routine that you developed because everyone at work is doing it? Are you just following what others are doing or do you have your own personal reasons for having that cup of coffee?

For me, sometimes the answer is that I’m just doing it out of habit, and because everyone else in the break room is “grabbing a coffee” so why not?

Reflecting on that allows me to recognize that sometimes that cup of joe is really just me “following the crowd” and not thinking for myself, even though that might not always be the case.

Reflection doesn’t mean rejection

Here I want to be sure that you’re understanding this week’s message.

When you reflect on why you’re on the side of majority, the goal isn’t necessarily to change. It’s not always a bad thing to be on the side of the majority, because oftentimes it’s because the majority is right.

However, the point here that you shouldn’t miss is that this quote is challenging whether you’re doing things because you want to or because others want you to. It’s ensuring that the decisions that you make are your own, and that as you go through life, you’re conscious of when you’re doing things because of societal norms or because everyone else around you is doing it so that you can catch yourself and make more active, personal decisions.

It’s when you catch yourself in those moments of following others that you should reject being on the side of majority and consider what you want instead.

Conclusion

If you find yourself on the side of the majority, reflect on it. Make sure that you’re doing what you’re doing because you want to be doing it.

What are the things in your life that you’re doing because you want to do them, and what are the things that you're doing because others want you to?

Honestly, when you start to think about it, and reflect on it, it’s actually a pretty difficult exercise.

But the truth is, there’s only one of you in this whole universe. That thought blows my mind sometimes. And what that means is that life is a journey of figuring out who it is that you are, and how you want to navigate this world that we’ve been put in.

It’s this wild ride of figuring out what makes you, you and how you can celebrate your differences and enjoy the things in life that make you the most happy, despite what others say should make you happy.

At the end of the day, I share these stories with you because I want us all to live the lives that we were meant to live, and to experience happiness in its truest form - whatever that looks like for us (and trust me, it looks different for each of us).

But as usual, thanks for being here, stay tuned, subscribe if you haven’t yet, tell a friend to tell a friend, and have a happy Sunday and rest of the week (btw we’re half way through 2024 already WHAT 🫢 )

Until next Sunday,
Justin

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