Outsourcing is great and a needed thing for running a small business. Trying to do everything yourself is a quick route to burnout and lack of progress. However with that being said this outsourcing mentality that more and more defines our culture and world can backfire tremendously when applied to things that it should never be applied to.
Convenience and ease are two of the greatest goods of the modern world, things we are taught to seek above pretty much any and every thing else. What is easy is what is good and convenience is the highest of the good. And while this effects people to various degrees it still puts it weight on all of us. We are all told to just let things go and let someone else (an “expert” usually) handle it.
More and more I see this taking place and I see the problems that result from it. Last night I had a “nightmare” of sorts where I was teaching again. In the back were kids misbehaving and not paying attention. So I went over and talked with them. Going back to my desk I remember sitting there and thinking that they have no real reason to listen to me. The school won’t enforce any punishment, their parents could give a rat’s ass, and the subject matter is watered down politically correct, socially irrelevant history.
That might seem like a weird aside but I’ll get to the significance of it in a bit. It’s important to understand that there are certain things that should not be outsourced under any circumstance and the outsourcing of these things is a huge reason why we are in the straits that we are today. And by taking these things back we can make huge strides towards making this world a place worth living if, even though it’ll always be imperfect.
Never Outsource Your Self-Development & True Education
So what do I mean by this? Obviously you can’t pay someone to learn something for you or to go to school for you, so what does this mean? By outsource I mean count on other people or institutions to take care of your learning for you. For example some people think that school and college will prepare them for things in life or actually teach them facts about the world and how to thrive in it.
Many in older generations still cling to this falsehood (though not as bad it wasn’t true in their lifetime either). Aside from reading, writing, and basic math general schooling does you very little good and it certainly does not educate you. The same can be said of college. It prepares you to work a job (sometimes) and to become a modern consumer and unit. It fills you with falsehoods that those who pull the strings want you to believe and little else.
If you truly want to develop as a person and truly want to get a real education then it’s something you’ll have to seek after and put together yourself. You’ll have to figure out what truly matters and what is going to make a difference in your life. You have to take the classes, read the books, and get the knowledge that you need. And the vast majority of this isn’t going to take place in a government approved place of education and the books likely won’t be on any college reading list. And so on and so forth.
Take your self-development and education into your own hands.
Never Outsource The Raising Of Your Children
Here’s another one and brings me to my “nightmare” I talked about before. One big issue that I had with teaching was that the parents nor the school cared about the discipline of the kids and they knew it. So aside from them respecting me and deciding on their own to behave I had little recourse. And I knew that wasn’t something I wanted to be a part of forever (aside from other things) teachers were expected to give the discipline that parents wouldn’t.
So many parents expect the culture, school, church, and other such places to raise their children for them and that everything is going to turn out relatively good when they do. But this is a recipe for disaster (as looking around outside will tell you). Parenting is a hands on activity. I don’t mean being a helicopter or not letting your children fail (extremely important, especially young) rather that you need to put your input and hard work into it for anything good to come of it.
Just like anything else. You get what you put in for the most part. Teaching your children the importance of your values, your way of life, and the things you hold sacred and in high esteem is critical. Explaining to them the “why” of things and understanding that why yourself will give them a leg up as well as some resistance against the lesser aspects of our modern culture and way of life.
Never Outsource Your Deeply Held Beliefs
Ask most people why they follow a certain religion or creed and you’ll most likely get two answers. The first is that it’s what their parents followed or second it’s the opposite of what their parents followed or believe. The Sunday only Christian and the fedora tipping atheist have more in common then they’d ever like to believe. Something as important as your deeply held beliefs and life philosophy is something that you need to think of and come up with your self.
An unexamined life is not worth living and an unexamined faith or creed is not worth believing in or following. It’s not up to the church or community to figure these things out for you, they are things that you have to figure out yourself. And this will again, take time and effort (noticing a theme here?). But time and effort that is well worth it. Figure out the why behind what you believe and hold to be true.
This will not only help you figure things out but help to ensure that you are living the life that you actually want to live. Are you following societies rules and what society says is good or are you following the rules that actually make sense to you and are going to give you what you want out of life. An important distinction and something to spend time figuring out.
Outsourcing, Good For Business, Not So Much For Life
There are many things that you’d be a fool to leave to chance or in the hands of others. Your education and self-development, the raising of your children, and your deeply held beliefs, creed, and life philosophy. These are all things that take much time and effort to figure out, understand, and to work right. Time and effort which may cost you convenience but that is so worth it. So outsource what should be outsourced but go hands on with what should be hands on.
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-Charles Sledge
