I love philosophy, and I enjoy attending different philosophy groups in different geographies to learn different perspectives. In the Middle East, the topic of discussion for one of the groups was on loyalty. It ended up being quite activating with a focus on people, relationships, family, and business. But after leaving, my mind immediately put goals on the table.
A funny thing about loyalty. One guy said it’s driven by economics. Another guy said it’s driven by emotion. Others said there are multiple types and granularities of loyalty that include conditional and unconditional.
But at the end of the day, we usually know what loyalty looks like and doesn’t look like.
And something I wonder is why do so many of us give our loyalty to everything and everyone except our own fucking goals.
Disloyalty to your goals is expensive. It will cost your dreams. Yet, you’ll be loyal to substances, tv shows, celebrities, your vices, people that don’t give a shit about you, your boss, the next iphone, the next drop of your favorite brand, your games, your job, your social media feed….But you can’t be loyal to your own fucking dreams?
Ever notice people who are ruthlessly loyal to their goals? You may not like him, but I admire the shit out of Elon Musk’s work ethic. That right there? That’s loyalty to a purpose. It’s rare. You rarely see people work hard at something that means a lot to them. Most people work hard on other people’s dreams, or work hard on being comfortable with their hyper unproductive habits.
So, I ask you today…what are you loyal to? Are your goals and dreams included in that list?