Walk, Idiot, Walk
How I use hypocrisy as my secret motivational weapon
Nigel Powers: All right Goldmember. Don’t play the laughing boy. There’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures… And the Dutch.
I can think of few more disappointing examples of the human condition than our tendency towards hypocrisy.
We all know someone who tends to display this more than others (or is simply worse at hiding it) but every grown adult has spent enough time inside their own mind to understand how lame someone appears when pointing out annoying traits in others, while displaying the exact same trait themselves.
You can tell just how badly we despise the act of hypocrisy by the long, deep intake of breath taken just before someone actually uses the phrase.
‘You… [inhale through nose, frown like hell] … hypocrite.
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye — Luke 6:42
If ignorance is bliss, the antidote for hypocrisy is self-awareness.
There’s no doubt that some people simply prefer ‘not knowing’ how their words or actions affect others. Some may even genuinely believe that this is the way everyone should act.
“I don’t care what you do, as long as you’re not hurting anyone”.
Instead, I’ve spent my life searching for — and aiming to surround myself with — people who feel the direct opposite to this.
“I am curious and care deeply about how the world works. Help me understand why you’re behaving that way”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve spent many late nights wishing I could switch off my innate desire to deconstruct, document and redesign even the most mundane, details of life. Like many emotional people, I struggle to stay motivated in the face of stagnation, negativity or even worse — actual regression.
To combat this, I’ve spent years developing a technique to harness the power of the strongest force I know — my own ego.
An idea so simple, yet so difficult in its execution, I’ve spent more than half my life practising, but still feel like I’m starting from scratch every single day.
Walk, Idiot, Walk
Besides being one of my all time favourite songs from one of the best live bands to ever descend from Sweden’s incredibly potent music scene, these are words I do my best to live by.
Growing up, two things were made painfully clear to me;
1. I love talking to people.
2. Most people think people who love talking are just full of sh*t.
Forget the fact that this is how my brain absorbs information, nobody wants to feel like they are just talking for the sake of it.
I hate being told I talk too much. It stings. But the funny thing about pain, is it can motivate us just as strongly as it can de-motivate us. Nothing inspires me more than watching an athlete pushing through pain to continue towards their goal.
Maybe they need to win.
Maybe they’re more embarrassed to lose.
Either way, the lesson I choose to take when watching those extraordinary psychological battles play out is to use the same stinging moment of shame as motivation to stop talking like just another hypocritical idiot saying they could play / run / kick / move faster than the actual participants…
And just keep walking.
