Strive to be a zero
I picked this thought from Chris Hadfield, a very famous and celebrated Canadian astronaut. In his book, An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth, he introduces this notion of striving to be a zero.
Every person in this world can be one of the following three numbers:
A minus one.
A plus one.
Or a zero.
And a person who strives to be zero has the highest chance of becoming a plus one.
But what are these numbers? What do they have to do with people? What do they have to do with you and me?
Let me refine this concept for you in the remainder of this article.
A minus one
The world is yet to see a decline in the minus one personalities. These are the people who neither lead a good life themselves nor let others lead one. These are, in layman terms, the troublemakers.
In any given situation, their best plan of action is to ruin everyone else’s peace. They go about complaining about every living and dead ounce of this universe. They have issues that more often than not, they have themselves created in the first place. And the most unfortunate deal about them is that they know not what they’re possessed of. They are right in their order of business.
There are three important things to remember about the minus one category:
- A person from this sect of humanity is perennially part of the problem rather than of the solution. He causes more issues than he ever solves.
- When we happen to bump into a person of this class, we should steer clear of him at the earliest.
- And more importantly, we should, at all costs, avoid falling into this division ourselves.
A plus one
A plus one individual is from an ideal state of affairs. They are positive beings. They ooze warmth and wisdom with their mere presence. Everybody likes them and everybody wants to be like them. You often see these guys as ultra generous and congenial.
You know them. They are the leaders that take responsibility for their team. They are the samaritans who help their fellow citizens in the hour of need. These are the people that strive to keep your peace.
There are three important things to remember about the plus one category:
- The plus one personalities always aim to be elements of the solution rather than of the problem.
- We should always stick close to these marvelous individuals.
- And most importantly, we should not strive to be plus ones.
Yes. You read that last point right. You should not strive to be plus ones. Anyone who tries hard to be a plus one invariably ends up not being one.
You cannot push yourself into becoming a plus one personality right away. That’s where a zero comes in.
A zero
Zeroes are the neutral candidates. They do not cause troubles nor do they perform superior feats. They are not famous for there genial abilities nor are they infamous for their annoying behavior. These chaps do what is meant to be done. No more. No less. This is the division you should aim to be in if you are serious about becoming a plus one.
Hold on a second chap. I hear you screech. You are asking me to be mediocre? A speck in the dust. Not a dent in the space? I do not understand.
Allow me to explain.
Every time something goes wrong, you have one of the following two choices:
- You can rant on and on about the situation. Yell at every person in sight. You can use your entitlement card and make a fuss about it. As a saying from the above-mentioned book goes: There is no situation in the world bad enough that you cannot make it worse. And you can live up to this saying.
- Or you can do what is needed to be done. And sometimes it might mean that you just keep mum and continue with your duties. Although you are not directly being a part of the solution, at least you aren’t becoming a part of the problem either. You are inert in a situation that is perhaps highly inflammable.
And every time you make the second choice, you become a zero.
But you can be a zero even in non-troublesome situations too:
- You can walk into a room and not feel high handed and superior.
- You can complete your tasks on time.
- You can not throw garbage on the streets.
- You can adhere to traffic rules.
- And you can do zillion other things like this that you ought to do but you mostly don’t.
By being a zero, you improve your odds of being a plus one. If you identify and remain a zero in enough number of circumstances, you’ll someday become a plus one.
On the closing note, I’d like to let you in on a defining secret of plus ones. Anyone who is a plus one strives to be a zero. Such is the paradox of this whole idea. By aiming to be plus one, you do not become one. But by aiming to be a zero, you become a plus one.
Thank you for reading!
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