Why Am I So Confused? Why Confusion is a Good Thing
The minute you lose your curiosity is the minute you lose your ambition.
That’s just a fundamental truth.
So if you are an ambitious individual, then curiosity never ends.
It just gets sweeter with more knowledge & experiences accumulated.
But we need to ask ourselves:
What fuels curiosity?
The first response may be…
A desire to know.
Scratch that…
A BURNING desire to know.
Excellent definition!
Yet, that’s just one side of the coin.
What’s another not so poetic way of saying a burning desire to know?
‘I don’t know.’
Being confused as hell.
Only when we are confused do we cultivate that burning desire to know.
Confusion is good.
Along with curiosity, confusion too helps us propel ourselves into new heights.
The Lifelong Student
‘Why am I so confused?’
Because that’s a game of the mind, my friend.
The mind is wired for a few fundamental acts.
- It will generate thoughts.
- The mind will hold your memories in a memory bank.
- The mind has the capability of making True or False statements…aka the intellect.
And the mind creates an identity based on the preceding 3, aka the ego.
Confusion happens when the intellect is trying to grasp onto new information.
And confusion happens when the intellect is trying to make sense of past information.
If you’re a lifelong student, don’t expect things to always be sunshine and rainbows.
The dark part of being a lifelong student is being confused more than the average.
This can kill a lot of autodidacts.
Who wants to feel confused?
There’s a bit of terror that can be associated with this feeling.
People pay a lot of money to operate in certainty.
Confusion is a part of uncertainty.
A dark realm beyond the comfort zone.
‘Does this kill most autodidacts?’
It kills a lot.
However, a few love confusion.
For this group, confusion lights the fire for more curiosity.
Curiosity guided towards a goal is an ecstatic feeling.
A feeling that other practices like gratitude can generate.
What to do About Confusion
When you’re angry, distance.
When you’re sad, introspect.
And when you’re confused, learn.
It’s much better to learn as a confused student rather than a proud student.
Yet, a lot of formal education punishes confusion.
The world of being self-taught operates with a MUCH different ruleset than formal education.
I’m not hating on formal.
But if you’re going out of formal to informal, aka street smarts, get ready for new rules.
To understand something, we need to Stand UNDER.
- Understand = Stand Under
A proud person does not stand under shit.
In their world, their self-image takes a hit when they do that.
A confused person will gladly stand under.
Because confusion leads to an influx of feelings inside.
And until the confusion is mitigated and the intellect is satisfied, that influx of feelings can only get worse.
When we leave the influx of feelings unattended, we can get anxiety.
When we cater to the influx of feelings, we get genius.
Ironic, huh?
The trait which normally symbolizes a dumbass, confusion…
Is actually a secret weapon of genius.
Why Confusion Leads to Long Term Thinking
I’ve met a lot of leaders in different fields.
Whether they were authors, multi-million dollar businessmen, or ran a mom & pop shop for plenty of years.
You know what I noticed about them?
‘What did you notice?’
They were very down to earth.
A lot of society depicts people on top of the food chain as being snobs.
While that’s rarely the case.
Those who rise up often had to get humbled to rise up in the first place.
Normally, it’s the people who are talking the most shit, the people on bottom of the totem pole…
Who are the real snobs.
‘Why do you think these leaders are so down to earth?’
It’s because they know that they can be presented just ONE piece of information which can completely change the way they view life.
‘Hm… That seems like a bold claim.’
It’s bold because it’s true.
A true learner needs to have an open mind.
And an open mind can only be built thru tension.
Tension is the language of the heart.
Luckily, confusion gives the heart the tension that it needs to stay agile.
To remain versatile.
A lifelong learner with little to no confusion starts to get complacent.
And complacency often leads to a lack of manners.
Find a common theme among 3 of the biggest assholes you know.
They all have a complacent attitude born thru the habit of thinking they have all the answers.
The Fearless Learner
It’s sad to learn scared.
Yet, it’s an easy trap to fall into.
The intellect thinks in the finite language.
In the intellect’s world, there is always an end that is coming.
By the time an autodidact becomes an autodidact, there is a sense of joy that is found.
This particular self-taught individual made the realization that they love learning.
Such a different narrative than their past C student self.
Who wants the fun to end?
Why learn everything and ruin the joy of self-education?
^This can be a subtle thought that comes to the mind.
Although the thought seems harmless…
It’s actually a very harmful thought.
And a thought which will lead to self-destruction.
Let’s say Mr. Johnson read 5000 books in his life, watched 5000 hours of documentaries, listened to 5000 lectures, etc.
He built patented products.
Designed profitable businesses.
Overall, a very well-educated individual.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Mr. Johnson may start thinking he’s running out of things to learn.
Let’s just assume that to be the case.
He doesn’t want the joy of self-education to end.
So he starts learning with fear.
Thinking that the new information may be his last.
Fool’s thought.
The more you learn, the more you learn.
It’s impossible for the mind to grasp everything in a way where further learning is not required.
Can the mind grasp fundamental truths which will shed insight into a lot of other truths?
Yes.
But still, learning needs to be AMPED up to prove these fundamental truths.
Meaning that a theory of everything needs to amp up drive, not kill it.
Confusion was primed into the man to prevent them from getting complacent.
Don’t lament in this.
Rise above & put your arms around confusion.
Take it on a date.
And keep it by your side for life.
Convert Confusion into Insights
Modern alchemy is turning confusion into insights.
Disorder into order.
Flux into cultivated curiosity.
Find the most ambitious people & you’ll see they always have that hunger.
To the outside world, these ambitious people are working so hard.
But to the ambitious person, the game is different.
They are just working on a few select things which allow all work to feel effortless.
A few of those things include:
-Selfless work.
-Curiosity.
-Set routine to prime the nervous system.
And yea…
Leveraging confusion.
Confusion can create anxiety.
And confusion can create winners who are difficult to replicate.
This era has tremendous tools to self educate.
But the tools mean nothing if there’s not that initial confusion, which sparks the movement.
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– ArmaniTalks 
