Here’s an interesting quote from the book Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin (one of the many books I read in 2019! See my reading list).
It’s from the chapter on “learning to foretell the future”:
“There’s a lot of wisdom to be taken from ancient cultures. I have found that Chinese businessmen will still apply philosophy that is thousands of years old to today’s events. Among Westerners you find it less because of certain blindness that comes from being captivated by modern science and technology. You forget you can find knowledge in other teachings, especially if you want to develop your mind. If you want to know tomorrow, you must know yesterday.“
I find this interesting, because it’s saying two things:
1) All the “new stuff” that pops up today can be blinding (think: Tik Tok, Instagram, Alexa, things that “turn our lights on for us,” training us to be lazy).
2) None of that new shit will necessarily help you move forward…not like studying things that have lasted 2000+ years.
That’s why in 2019, I had a unique goal that I only shared with a handful of people:
I wanted to “allow more Christian insight” to come into my awareness. Whatever that meant.
You see, I had identified a weakness in myself… in the form of “automatically rejecting certain things that I didn’t know much about.”
Mom meant well, but when she put me in Catholic school for 11 years, that really messed with my mind…and my relationship with “the ultimate authority.”
So in 2019, I began studying two random Bible verses a day.
Just to see.
I watched my mind’s reactions from the beginning…
“This is nuts.”
“This makes no sense.”
“W.T.F.”
But I kept studying.
I let my mind be open to any wisdom in it.
(…Cause how the fuck does a nutso piece of writing last for 2000+ years? Clearly, there had to be something to it.)
Maybe it was written in code.
Soon I started studying Christian and biblical videos on YouTube…
I could see all the different vibes. Some were preaching in a way that was uplifting. Others were preaching in a very shaming way… like fuck you if you don’t bow down and submit to “the gospel.”
“This is actually fascinating…” I thought. “The way they’re teaching it is turning some people off!”
Nations go to war over this stuff…
All because of differences in “language” and “vibes.”
(As an English geek, it goes without saying, I’m fascinated by language…and all the meaning you can pack into a few words.)
I also started reading Thou Shall Prosper, an in-depth book on how Jewish people interact with money, based on their long-standing traditions. (The book also looks at why Jews are often stereotyped as “good at making money” — because they do everything based on principles.)
I dug deeper and deeper, and as I was doing this, “peace” was settling into my whole being.
It was changing my character.
Meanwhile, I see how certain modern day things were “blinding” me (namely, social media), so I reduced my exposure to those things in 2019.
Sorry, but I won’t be following you on Instagram or Tik Tok this year.
And now… I can see something coming a mile away:
Something big and “spiritual” is, and will be, happening for all businesses in the coming decade…
I can’t quite put my finger on it yet.
It might be something along the lines of… “We need divine help.”
“Now’s the time to have your ‘come-to-Jesus’ moment.”
Or something like that.
Not sure yet.
It’s a fact that negative forces are working AGAINST humanity (think: Pharma, decay mentality, entitlement mentality, Big Chemical, debt mentality, etc.)…and it’s really naive and dangerous to think these can’t hurt you. They’re a growing reality and threat.
They’re all fueled by fucked up language and a fucked up mentality.
At the same time, biblical teachings say “don’t fear anything.”
It’s like a “riddle” that humanity needs to crack.
…Collectively, we need to turn our back on these things that could hurt us, while also not fearing them.
ONE person can turn their back on it… but the masses also need to, as well.
Because when you’re a “free” individual roaming around in an “enslaved” society…eventually their enslaved mentality is going to affect you in some way.
(Like the student who won a full-ride scholarship to an Ivy League college, but then couldn’t get in because they required her to get vaccinated…and she refused to put herself in harm’s way by doing so.)
We’re going to need something “bigger than ourselves” to ensure that we aren’t obliterated by negative forces.
God gave us the power to “choose” what we do with our own lives… and obviously, our choices are on us individually.
…But we can’t forget that there’s a higher power at work.
It’s stronger than all of us, combined.
I can’t even pretend to partially understand what it/he/He wants from us…
Which is why in 2020 my goal is to read the entire Bible from start to finish!
I will read two versions of it, and compare the two for my own learning purposes.
Yep… go ahead and unsubscribe… go ahead and bash… I know this will piss a few people off.
I don’t care!
I find it stupid that there’s a piece of writing that’s existed for thousands of years… and I haven’t studied it yet.
Yet I’ve had the nerve to have “opinions” about it my whole life.
So I’m correcting that ignorance in 2020!
This might be the most important “business” goal that I’ve ever created for myself.
We gon’ see!
How is reading the Bible a business goal? Because the principles you base your life on, will spill into everything else you do.
By studying the past, I’ll be able to predict/create the future better.
Michelle
Founder, The Anti-Marketing Manifesto
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 