The Philosophy of Life! (Part 3) with Ross Jackson

In our final episode of this interview and our topic this week, you'll hear Ross Jackson talk about the philosophy behind being successful. He also gives some insight on parenting and the philosophy on why he has made certain decisions while being a parent. 

Ross finishes up this week with a bang! If you didn't get enough philosophy during the first two episodes of this series, our third episode will surely put it all together for you. 

Please tune in to part 3 of "The Philosophy of Life" with Ross Jackson. 

Thanks and enjoy!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Looking to get an edited link but haven't been able to figure it out. Looking to tend to win.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

Welcome back to Ten to Win the Podcast, the podcast focusing on how to create a winning mindset in 10 minutes. And to continue our non-traditional use of our episodes this week, what do we got, Kevin?

SPEAKER_00 0:34

We had a great guest on this week, everyone, Ross Jackson. We invited Ross on to talk about philosophy, philosophy of life, philosophy of winning. And it went so well, we ended up talking about all the material that Jason and I had created on philosophy. So what we did was we combined the interview into our regular parts. So part one, part two, and part three are all going to be interviews with Ross.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

This is part three of the philosophy of life series. Let's get it started.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

So Ross, you mentioned, you know, you've been thinking this way since you were a teenager. I know that for myself, I I I certainly didn't think like this when I was a teenager. I definitely didn't think like this when I was in my 20s, but at some point in my 30s, I really did. I I I used to be um I don't really know what the right word is, maybe combative on some level in a lot of conversation. And and this is with like friends, my wife, you know, family, etc. And at some point, I I I don't remember a very specific thing happening, but I do remember thinking in my head, like, why does it matter? Like, why does any of this matter? Why do why do I care if anybody thinks that I'm right in this conversation or or in this matter or whatever, right? And I remember distinctly thinking very shortly after that, like, my life is so much better now. And that has held true every day since that day, which now has been like 10 years. Like every day has been better than the day before. When I just I mean, it's a little bit like what you said. I mean, it's not like every day's Friday because I don't give a shit, because I I do give a shit in 99% of these conversations, but I also have no need to feel like I've won this conversation or that I'm I'm winning it, or that I'm right and you're wrong. And I think in a lot of instances we can both be right, and I think I've also adopted the philosophy of perception where I'm like, it doesn't really matter if I'm right or you're right, it only really matters what you think about the way this conversation happened, right? And some of that. And so I get the reason I'm going down this path is um I think a lot of the listeners, due to Jason and I's age, um, are parents and are and are parents of younger kids, and I feel like I am trying my best as a parent to tell my kids about this, right? And and so, you know, a lot of what you were just talking about um it is very relatable. You know, I'm I was 15 minutes late to start this podcast tonight because my daughter was at soccer practice and my son is doing a soccer tryout. And we were talking about things like all you can worry about is doing your best. You you really can't worry about any of these other players that show up. If they're better than you, it is what it is. If they're worse than you, it is what it is. All you can do is have the best attitude that you can have. You can show that you're the you could be the best teammate, and you can let your skill in soccer show itself. I know I didn't think like that when I was 10 or 11 years old. I'm trying my best to get them to think like that. I think on some level it's working a little bit, but not where I would want it to be at. So give give some advice or add in some philosophy there. What am I missing? What should I be telling them? What did you tell your kids? Let's hear it.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

So so I I'll start with um I'll start with two things that might be sort of seemingly off topic, and and then we can circle back. But um the the one starting with why people um try to persuade other people or convince them that they're right in their position.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Okay, I'm I'm intrigued. Go ahead. Yes, I want to hear that.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

Often is is when somebody is subconsciously unsure of the position that they've staked, they they try to seduce other people to the position because the more people that they can convince to take that position, it validates to themselves the correctness of the position. So it's not really that they're they're trying to win the argument, they're trying to seek some affirmation that they're on the right track, and and they don't even know that they're doing it. Um the the the other thing, which is, I mean, it's apropos because it's philosophy, but you know, I'm I'm reading Nietzsche, and there's this notion, the common notion that all power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Um Nietzsche has a very interesting contrary view to that. And and the the view is that power isn't what corrupts people. It is when weak people get power that their weakness diminishes power. That that the power's fine. When a good person has power, they're good and they do good things. It's it's only when weak people, when when very broken people get power that they then do destructive things with that power. So, you know, to me to me in talking with children, it it was, I mean, this this sounds like a joke, but I mean it is in fact true. I I adopted what I called the Whitney Houston philosophy of child rearing. And the Whitney Houston philosophy of child rearing is I believe that children are the future, which I I do believe that children are the future. When when in doubt, put your money on the youth, don't put it on old people. The future is theirs, it's not ours. They they have more of a stake in the future than we do. So when the chips are down, the children are the future. The only thing you need to do is teach them to love themselves. That's it. People who love themselves do good things. So, you know, I I I wouldn't I didn't go to every single game. I went to some games. I I tried to convince my children that um they're important to me, but they're not the only thing that's important to me, and that I will go to some of their games, but not all of their games, and that they should learn to do these things not for my validation, but because they like them, and that they're they're trying to come to people who are self-sufficient, that they don't they don't need my validation. I've I gave them tons of love, tons of encouragement, but but the focus was always on do you love yourself? And if you love my if you love yourself, eventually you will be okay either not having my love or eventually I'll be gone. And and you know, you you'll have to go without it. So if you have the well within that you you value yourself because you see the value of yourself, you you stop doing things as a basis of performance, right? You're not doing this for the accolades, you're doing it because it's authentic to who you are and you find the value of having done it.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

That's good stuff there. And me, I know we're talking about kids here, but I think it's a good segue into kind of the next topic here, which is the philosophy of successful people. So you kind of just broke it down, right? Do you believe that that same philosophy, the statements that you just made about loving yourself, ties into how you be successful as an adult, both in your personal life and maybe within your job as well?

SPEAKER_03 8:46

I I do. I I think that it provides the basis that you can transcend fear, that you can that you can have the confidence that no matter what happens, you're gonna be able to pick up the pieces and move forward in a productive way. I I think it provides the basis that you're not pursuing somebody else's dream, that that you're not adopting um subconsciously someone else's definition of success. The degree to which you can be authentically yourself and have precision understanding of what it is that you want to accomplish with your finite existence is is the basis for all success.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

No, I mean it's good. Kevin and I've talked at length about what is success within your life, right? Does that mean and and we just did this, right, a couple weeks ago, Kevin, where we were we were telling people not to compare themselves to ex-celebrity, right? Because ex-celebrity who might have a nice house and a nice car has a trillion problems that we don't even know about. So don't don't model yourself after that person just because they have a nice house and a nice home, or excuse me, a nice house and a nice car. You have to define success for what works with you. I mean, think about how many people you've heard in your life say, you know, well, this is the first kid that ever went to college. Well, that's that's that's the definition of success within that family, right? Or this is the first person to have X job, or this is the first person, you know, to make it, you know, within some sporting league, you know, to to whatever level. I mean, everyone has a different level of success here, and I and I agree with you that only you can kind of define what that means. And if we go all the way back to the beginning of this, maybe some goals are tied into that as well, right? Maybe, maybe, maybe it is that mantra and that motto that you're waking up and looking at, okay, do more, work harder, whatever that is every single day. And you can look back and say, Yeah, I busted my butt, you know, for the last 20 years. I busted my butt as a dad, I busted my butt as an employee for for X company, and that was the success. I might not be a millionaire right now, but you know, I was able to influence people, I was able to change their perspective on certain things. I think that's what success is, and I think that our listeners need to understand that as well. It's not necessarily a tangible thing like you talked about, Kevin. It is how do you define this within your own mind? And how are you happy then with the results at the end of this? I think it's very important to do that.

SPEAKER_03 11:25

Yeah, and and I will say, so um, kind of to your point, right? I I think that children look at other people and and they have that, oh, I wish I was this person. Um, and and that's foolish for the reasons you you've indicated, and I mean it's impossible you're not going to become that other person. Sure, right. Um but but there is there's an element of we we can look at each other and and see aspects of a way of being that we failed to recognize how enriching or powerful and or important it will be. So I mean, going back to the everyday's Friday when you don't uh give a shit, um hopefully that you know that was the only sort of blue language that I've used, and and I've been able to articulate at least some points well without uh using crass language. Uh, but that was something that wasn't innate. I I had uh a friend who had a brother that was five years older, and that brother was in college when when I was in high school, and that person's way of comporting himself and communicating was was something that I saw, and and it it wasn't like, oh, I want to be cool because this person. I I could see that by being able to articulate things well and effectively, that that he had a degree of power that that was unlike anything I saw. And I was like, I want to cultivate some of that into my personality, and and I think part of success is is looking at who do you admire and and how can you authentically cultivate the things that you admire in yourself, and when you do you are successful, yeah, but because you're still you're still being true to yourself, you're being authentic, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Right. You you can take these traits from people, but sprinkle them into your life, don't become their life, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

I was just gonna ask you to give advice on it, and then you just gave the advice. I love it. Um, so I mean I the the whole notion of success, and and I want to stick with that and and even just again, just keep going philosophical on it. So I teach young college kids, and I and I feel like I get them, and they say things like, well, either parents, guardians, uh high school teachers, coaches, guidance counselors, whoever told them something like, Well, if you want to be successful, you have to get a good job. And if you want to get a good job, you have to go to college. I mean, what do you think about that statement? What do you think about that philosophy? Is that success, right? And what I because what I say to them is, but no, but they never even asked you what you think is successful. They they just told you how to get to be successful for them, but they didn't ask you what you think is successful. And I don't know that there's even a lot of 17 or 18-year-old kids that can even define what they think is successful, and I don't know that how many of them would even be right at that age either. I mean, what do you think about all this?

SPEAKER_03 14:47

So um I'll I can share a story from my freshman year of college. My freshman year of college, uh I was reading books that weren't assigned, so in addition to the schoolwork, I was reading the classics, and and I read uh Walden by Henry David Thoreau. And uh a passage from the book spoke to me, so I actually wrote it down on a three by five card and and taped it to my desk. And to this day, 30 years later, I still remember the quote. The quote was, shall we always study to obtain more of these things, and not sometimes to be content with less. So, you know, to to me, I I don't necessarily think that everyone should go to college. I certainly don't think that the only way to get a good job is to go to college. There's great jobs and necessary jobs that are either skilled labor uh or or just things entrepreneurial that you wouldn't have to necessarily go to college to do. Um the the value of an education is that it it does provide the framework to truly interrogate and question things. So it's it's not that it gives you a great job, it it does provide the ability to critically think and interrogate things and and hopefully those skills then enable people to become more successful, whatever they do, right? I mean, I I know I knew a college graduate that then enlisted into the Marine Corps. And and people, I mean, the the literally he was taking ancient Greek and Latin and he was like, Can you send me uh ancient Greek and Latin to to translate at Paris Island? And the professor was like, Don't your uh don't your Marine friends make fun of you that you're translating Latin and Greek? And and he goes, They make fun of me because I can read. So, you know, the the the road to success isn't a single road, it's it's the road that you have to pave and build yourself.

SPEAKER_02 17:15

Sounds like a social media clip there, Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Yeah. I I put in my I put in my syllabus for all of my classes a quote by John Adams, our second president, which is a scholar is always made alone. And I take time in the very first class to discuss it. That this is you. I there's no amount of of material that I could give you. There's no amount of homework that I can give you. If you don't really want to learn this yourself, you're not gonna learn anything here. Right. You may you may be able to listen and regurgitate the answers on quizzes and write a paper, but if you don't really care about learning it, you're really not going to walk away from this with anything other than a letter grade on a piece of paper. That's what you know, that's what it is, right?

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Yeah, and and I think, you know, again, uh there's tension within our society. There, you know, there's a group of people that understandably question, well, why would somebody get a degree in humanities? How how does that serve any purpose? What kind of job, you know, are you gonna sit on a rock and think? And and you know, those critiques are fair, especially when parents are forking out tens of thousands of dollars. But on the on the other side of that equation, taking four years and and truly interrogating what does it mean to be a human? What do what do good societies do? How how do people in power relate to those without power? And and taking four years and reflecting on those, as one then goes out into the world and does something of merit, having a bedrock that says, okay, when I'm a manager, I have power. What does it mean to have power? Though those things, while they're indirect, are actually quite important.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Totally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

We don't want to monopolize your your whole day and night here, Ross. So we'll let you get out of here on just uh just anything else you want to leave for the listeners. Any last words of advice, any final quotes, any anything that you want to get out there on these airwaves?

SPEAKER_03 19:40

Well, the the only thing that I will say is that I think your listeners are well served, that you are trying to help them cultivate a winning mindset. So, Jason and Kevin, thanks for the work that you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Thank you very much. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Thank you, Ross. Yeah, thanks for coming on. Jason, you want to take us out of here.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Once again, uh appreciate everything. Ross, that's going to be it for part three of our series titled The Philosophy of Life. We want to thank Ross Jackson for coming on and giving up giving us his insight on the philosophy of your life. I mean, I mean, we dove into so much stuff here, Ross. We this is this is this is excellent, man. I mean, it has truly, truly been uh an award-winning episode in our podcast here. So thank you very much. So if you want to listen to some other award-winning things, please make please make sure you subscribe uh to our podcast and rate and review of the podcast as it helps get this podcast out to more listeners. And why don't you go ahead and subscribe to Ross's podcast? Give them another uh clip, Ross, on uh the name of your podcast and where they can find you.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

It is uh don't overthink this, and it's available on Spotify.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

Perfect. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

And check out Ross's book, Management in Quandary: A Critique of Organizational Power, which is available on Amazon.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Buy it up, it's all good stuff. So we will be back in better than ever on Monday for a brand new episode. And as always, if you're impacting or influencing one person a day, it's worth it. Everyone has 10 minutes to learn a winning mindset. Thank you very much, Ross.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Thanks for taking the time to create a winning mindset. Remember, we'll release a new episode every Monday. So be sure to start your week off right by listening to 10 to win. Please subscribe, like, comment, and share our podcast. And remember, if you're impacting or influencing one person a day, it's worth it. Everyone has 10 minutes to create a winning mindset.