Men. Intelligent.^{© 2016}

Challenge #3  Don’t start this challenge without first completing Challenge #2

This is IntelliMen 2.0. If you want to join the Project and get the best results, begin with the 53 Challenges.

Challenge: Fight against complacency and self-satisfaction with some type of change for the better.

Explanation: In 2011 the telecommunication company Blackberry sold $20 billion in smartphones, had approximately $4 billion in the bank and 70 million users around the world. In 2015, only four years later, its sales fell to $3 billion, a bank balance of minus $400 million and 46 million users. Visualize this:

 

Blackberry	2011	2015
Sales	US$ 20 billion	US$ 3 billion
Bank balance	US$ 4 billion	– US$ 400 million
Users	70 million	46 million

 

The Canadian company was the pioneer in accessing e-mail on cellphones, and for years its phones were the de facto standard for government workers, executives and lawyers in the US, Europe and in various other countries. Today, it’s fighting for survival and for relevancy.

The same happened to Nokia, also in the technology field, that for years was a cellphone leader. It was one of the most valuable companies in the world – $120 billion – until it was swallowed up by Apple and Google, and in 2014 was sold to Microsoft for a mere $7 billion. Today Nokia cellphones are extinct.

The world changes rapidly, not only in the technology field, but also in the fashion industry, business, politics, the arts, sports, culture and in practically every area of society. There is only one area where change is typically slow: the mind of men.

The mistake of Blackberry and Nokia was that they stopped learning and failed to keep pace with the changes around them. Not only did they stop making money, they lost the battle for survival and relevance. (Curiously, the company that created Blackberry was called “Research in Motion” but decided to change their name in 2013. Appropriate for a company that gave up on research and whose forward motion came to a halt.)

The need to evolve in order to survive is something so logical that Darwin was able to convince millions with his theory that we all came from chimpanzees. The argument is convincing: survival of the fittest.

And yet, many men are the very contradiction of the Theory of Evolution. They refuse to learn, adapt or better themselves. They consider themselves just fine the way they are. They hate learning new things. They hold on to outdated theories as if nothing new, or better existed. They stop being students and become irrelevant.

If you don’t change, you’ll be the one that ceases to exist.

Today you could be “the man” – in demand, well-known, respected. But if you allow complacency to take over, you’ll become extinct and will soon only be a memory.

You may not even like learning new things, but know this, if your way of thinking and outlook on life don’t keep pace with time and current trends, you’ll become obsolete and will be substituted by someone better. Injustice? No, the exact opposite of it.

You may say, “but I don’t do anything wrong.” You don’t have to. All it takes is for someone to do better than you, and you become dispensable. If you change for the better on your own, you guarantee your own survival. But if you’re forced to change because others are passing you by, it could already be too late.

Those who refuse to learn and improve become unnecessary, and will learn this lesson in the most difficult and costly way.

This is why, with this challenge I want you to fight against complacency and self-satisfaction with some type of change for the better. For example:

• Study someone who is good at what they do and try to be just as good, or better. Paul said: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1)
• Identify an important area of your life where you are complacent, frozen in time, devoid of evolution; advance and evolve in this area
• Identify an area where you used to be better, but are now being left behind by others who are doing better than you. Be humble, avoid being competitive, and go back to serving with excellence in what you do

Notebook: Who will you study, imitate or surpass? In what area will you stop being complacent, and evolve? How will you return to being better, like you were in the past? Set aside time to reflect. Note down your thoughts. Pray about this. Decide what you’re going to do about this.

Official Buddy: Speak about this challenge. Exchange experiences and conclusions.

Deadline: You can begin this challenge immediately and conclude it in 28 days, before Challenge #4.

Posting: After — and only after — you have concluded this challenge and spoken to your Buddy, post your comments on the IntelliMen Facebook page (not your personal page) or on Twitter, with this heading:

#IntelliMen2challenge3 completed: I fought against complacency and changed and/or bettered myself in this area: (add what you did or what you changed)

Links:

www.facebook.com/IntelliMenWorld
www.twitter.com/intellimenworld (when you post on Twitter, use @intelliMenWorld in your message)

 

Verification checklist:

☐ I identified and fought against my complacency
☐ I made notes in my notebook
☐ I spoke to my Buddy about the challenge
☐ I posted my comments on Facebook/Twitter

 

Phrases:

Our only security is our ability to change. – John Lilly

 

Also read:

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