941. There's a REASON Why You Are The Way That You Are.

You can justify anything. That’s why you’re stuck.
 Reasoning is unlimited—and that’s the problem.
 Use it carelessly, and it ruins your life.
 Use it selectively, and it builds one worth living.
 This episode shows you the difference.

Transcript

0:00

All right. 3, 2, 1. Let's get it. Welcome to another episode of What's Your Problem, the podcast. I'm your host, Marsh Buice and here on What's Your Problem? We tackle the three universal problems we all face, adversity, uncertainty, and complacency using five core skills that you already have within. But you gotta ignite these things and so that way you'll never be without. And those skills all start with letter C, communication, curiosity, creativity, continuous learning and action, and a productive confrontation. These are all skills, like I said, you already have these things within, but you have to work these skills. These are skills. They don't just. Come to you. They don't get, it's like a muscle. You gotta strengthen these things and the better that you work at these things every single day, this is what's gonna make you RFA ready for anything. Do I know everything? No. Am I ready for anything? Absolutely. That's what we're training for. So today, man, I read, you know, uh, those of you who have rocked out with me for a long time, you know how much I love to do random reading. And normally I set my timer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Today, it was about five minutes. And let me explain why, because once I read this passage from Tolstoy, and I've done a lot of Tolstoy episodes, I read this one, I was about to go to another book, and I'm like, Nope, can't do it. Gotta pay attention to the old soul meister. And so I ended up riffing on this one. So let me read to you for context, the, the, the quote that got me. And then I'll riff on that. The more something Tolstoy wrote, the more something is necessary, the more harmful it can become to use it. The vast majority of people's misfortunes stems from their abuse of the most precious tool that they possess. Their reason. To emphasize, the more something is necessary, the more harmful it can be. To abuse it. This is why titled today's episode, there's a reason why you are the way that you are today. I never thought about reason so deeply until I read this passage. See, the vast majority of people's misfortunes, your misfortunes, if you think about it, they don't come from outside circumstances. They come from abusing the most precious tool that you've been given, and that's your ability to reason. Reason is your most powerful tool. If you lack all kind of different things, the one thing that you will never lack is reason. It's the most powerful tool, but it's also the easiest to abuse. Reasoning, it sounds smart, it always feels logical, and it can be justified away when you're the one doing the reasoning. I mean, look back over your life. Look at your current situation. You can reason away. Bad relationships, poor financial decisions, unhealthy habits. And self-sabotage because when you need something bad enough, you'll stop at nothing to get it. You'll beg, borrow and steal from your future, from your peace, from other people, and you'll call it justified. Now, for a brief moment, once you commit the act, you're gonna have a flash of regret. You can have a blink of clarity, but then instantly you ignore it. You do it again and again until it becomes a loop that you can't escape. Here's the thing. We are the only species that reason like this. Animals don't. They act out of instinct. Wolves don't rationalize their behavior. They don't justify poor choices or chase after things that sabotage their future. They don't regret. They don't manipulate, they don't moralize it. But we do. We imagine, we justify, we overthink, we regret, and we repeat. That's the gift, but it's also the danger of being human. Lemme tell you something. Reason can either build you or break you you want proof. Look back over your life. Think about the times that you reasoned your way into something that didn't serve you. And the people who loved you, questioned you. And as they were questioning you, like they were the fools. Like they didn't understand. It made no sense to them, but it made perfect sense to you, and because they questioned it, what's the first thing you did? You shut 'em out and you began to surround yourself with people who agreed with your reasoning. They just simply said, I get you, bro. That makes sense, even though in hindsight it didn't. It wasn't the circumstances that caused your destruction. It was reasoning. Reasoning is unlimited and that's the dangerous part. Because you can justify anything, and this is why people continuously stay stuck. This is why people dig deeper and deeper and deeper holes in their life while others use reasoning to build wealth and their faith, their family, their fitness, their finances, and their fulfillment. That's what's crazy, both sides. Use reason one abuses it treats it unlimited. The other treats it as the precious tool that it is, they treat it with reverence. You gotta treat reason as a precious resource and you have to use it, not unlimited. Even though it's available, it's unlimited. Don't use it as such. Use it selectively. Use it to build, not to destroy. Don't treat it like it's infinite and free, even though that it is, don't do so because it will cost you everything if you do. So I want to give you a couple of reflective questions. That way you can selectively begin to selectively use reasoning. Dude, I'm gonna start doing this too. I mean, this totally puts a whole different perspective on everything. So before you just slide into some sort of justification.'cause remember, you can justify anything away. I tell my salespeople that all the time they're having a bad month, they can justify it away. They're having a bad week. They can justify it away. I said, dude, look, you can justify every deal. You could justify every customer. And if you do that with customers, you do that with your profession. You're gonna do that with your entire life. You gotta be careful. You have to use reasoning as the precious resource that it is and treat it selectively. When something is precious, man, you don't just waste it away. You don't just throw it all away. You don't just spend it frivolously. No. You use it sparingly. You give it pause and reflection. So just, this is all I want you to do. Just when you get into these cross airs and like before you just slide into something automaticity mode, just ask yourself, is this gonna harm me or harm someone that I care about? If I make this decision, will I have to work this off or dig out of it later? Does it feel good now? But I'll have regrets soon thereafter. I mean, if I played this out for the next five years, if I did this every single day for the next five years, is that the place that I wanna be? Is that gonna play out well? If this moment we're caught on camera, is this something to be proud of? Is it gonna be part of a highlight reel or a lowlight reel? And look, we've all done it and the reason why we did it. It is because reasoning is rational. It makes sense because you want it. It does. So I get it. No judgment. It's just something that now all of a sudden you wanna pause. And when you put this in perspective, that man, what can I build with reason? Who could I be if I used reason selectively and not unlimited? Understand this, God gave you reason as a gift. Use it wisely. Don't waste it. Don't treat it as though it's got no cost. Use it to build up, not excuse away. Alright, let's get outta here. Please share this episode with someone who is using reasoning in the wrong way. Also I'm always here for you. DM me on all the socials if you have any questions. With that. Remember, keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.