episode 83: the trap of conventional wisdom

Listen to this episode here. Transcript below.

Have you ever had an idea for a big change you wanted to make in your life, and when it came time to make a decision as to whether or not you’d pursue this new path, a lot of people told you stop.  Be sensible.  Be mindful.  That sort of thing never works.  Here’s why.  And then they backed it up with a bunch of very well-meaning advice, coming from a good place, that’s likely something you’d heard before over and over again.  Conventional wisdom, that’s what that likely was.

Now don’t get me wrong.  Sensible conventional wisdom can be a really GOOD thing in some respects…it’s like the “no duh” kind of thing when it comes to counteracting magical thinking or fantasy.  However, something to remember is that conventional wisdom is entirely that - conventional.  It doesn’t necessarily apply to all people, in all circumstances.  And given that we all are “an experiment of one” as I’ve said before in many, many other episodes - I think it’s extremely important to take conventional wisdom - along with well meaning advice from loved ones about YOUR future choices - with a gigantic boulder of salt, not a grain.

Here’s one example.  Conventional wisdom, when it comes to financial advice, tells us universally that “debt is bad.”  We should avoid that at all costs - I’m thinking of pundits like Dave Ramsey in this case.  OK, disclaimer, I’m not a personal finance professional and I’m not giving financial advice AT ALL right now, this is just an example of what I’m talking about.  I would venture to say that instead of “debt is bad” that it’s more like “uncontrolled debt with no hope or method of paying it off” is bad.  Seriously.  All you have to do is take a look at the history of business start ups.  How many extremely lucrative and profitable businesses start with zero debt?  Really.  Hardly any.  When it comes to business, and believe me I’m speaking from experience here, it’s all about learning how to leverage manageable debt in order to make profit, and consequently increase your personal income.  Now of course, it’s a gamble in some respects, but that’s definitely one secret of wealthy folks I’ve met over the years - they’ve learned how to leverage these manageable debts to create more personal assets.  So in this case, the adage of conventional wisdom - all debt is bad - isn’t necessarily applicable, right?

A personal example. Conventional wisdom often tells us to “focus on one thing at a time” and to avoid multitasking.  However, when you’re trying to make a huge life change, often times multitasking is absolutely necessary!  How many of us can afford to take time off from work and life to just think about stuff, reassess, throw everything and all caution to the wind, and start over?  Please.  So, case in point - years and years ago, when I was pursuing a PhD in music composition at the University of California, San Diego, I had a number of professors get super upset with me because I insisted on working full time while I was attending school even though I was on full scholarship and had a teaching assistantship at the university.  They told me I needed to focus on my schooling exclusively, and to take out student loans - the conventional wisdom - in order to pay all of my living expenses.

That was the last thing I wanted to do.  What was I doing?  OK, I held down multiple gigs while I was working on that doctorate.  I had a church job, playing the organ and directing choirs.  I was doing freelance recording studio work.  I was working as a freelance copyist.  I also started teaching as an adjunct at local community colleges.  I was playing in bands.  I even started working professionally as a sound designer at theatre companies.  And yes, it was hard, I rarely had days off…but when I graduated, I had a WEALTH of professional experience, in case I couldn’t find a job right away.  I didn’t have enormous student debt payments.  I wasn’t reliant on the UC system for anything.  In fact, I was able to purchase my first home WHILE I was still a graduate student.  I paid off all my vehicles, I had no credit card debt, no loans, nothing.  And…the kicker…I got a full time teaching job, tenure track, IMMEDIATELY after graduation.  Not because I even was looking for it, oh no - I got a call from a professor looking for applicants, and he found me through my professional connections that had absolutely nothing to do with my time in the UC system.

So - boom.  Had I listened to my professors while I was in school?  When I graduated I would have had - 1 a mountain of debt, 2 no full time work, 3 a ton of stress trying to find full time teaching because I wouldn’t have had many connections, 4 no health insurance, and 5 no provable income to secure a place to live, let alone buy a house.  Enough said.

The whole point of this - we tend to give ourselves excuses when it comes to making big changes in our lives, or when it comes to ambition or goals.  We tell ourselves, well, the conventional wisdom says otherwise.  But out of the box thinking is generally what’s the commonality between movers and shakers.  Conventional wisdom gives us this illusion of safety.  But - ask yourself this - is it really safe to stay stuck?  Think about it.  If you’re at midlife now, and you’re not happy with how things are going, I’m telling you right now, it’s not too late to start something new.  It’s not too late to try to shift.  And even if you’re younger, don’t get caught in that trap of thinking it’s too late to do something simply because conventional wisdom says otherwise.  Here are some things to think about if you’re looking to make a life shift, and you’re wanting to get outside of that proverbial box!

One - when it comes to conventional wisdom or well meaning advice, first consider the source.  Has the person who’s giving you the advice ever done what you want to do?  Do they come from the same background as you?  Are they even in the same field you’re wanting to get into?  Seriously, when I ended up giving up my academic career for one in tattooing, my academic friends thought I was NUTS giving up tenure.  But I knew they didn’t come from the world of tattooing, and I knew that they had absolutely zero clue of how lucrative the field of tattooing could be.  In fact, those people giving me advice basically had no tattoos, and had never even stepped foot into a tattoo shop.  So how would they even know?  Here I am now, making WAY more money than I ever did teaching, with infinitely more freedom, and I’m so happy.  Best decision I ever made.  Always, always consider your source when it comes to advice.

Two - Do your own research on conventional wisdom based advice.  Good example here.  I bought my first house in 2004, using an adjustable rate mortgage.  The conventional advice - when the market crashed a few years later - was to get into a fixed rate 30 year as soon as I could, otherwise I’d have to foreclose.  And a lot of my friends did that at the time because real estate values were tanking.  But I did my research, learned that I could just stay in that ARM and pay WAY lower rates for an indefinite period of time because the Feds weren’t likely going to raise interest during that recession.  So I ended up SAVING money with the unconventional mortgage, waited out the recession, and eventually sold at a profit, albeit a minor one.  But there was no foreclosure, no crazy hits to my credit, no bankruptcy, nothing everyone scared me about.  Had I listened and not done my research?  I’d be in a very different position today.  Now, I’m not advocating a gamble in this way - this is just one example.  What I am saying is to do your OWN research.  It’s sort of like reading a news headline versus an entire news article.  There’s a lot more nuance in the article if you get down into the details.

Three - when it comes to making big shifts in life, you don’t have to do it all overnight, and jump in with no safety net.  Toe the waters to start.  Big shifts are scary, but little actions?  Those add up to the big shifts in the end.  I knew, very early on in my full time academic career that it wasn’t for me, it wasn’t a good fit for my personality.  So I started tattooing slowly, beginning in 2007.  And I didn’t fully give up academia until more than 11 years later.  I held onto part time teaching for a LONG time, even after giving up tenure, in order to have the flexibility to build my tattoo career in a sustainable way.  And believe me, it’s really paid off.  Toeing the waters is simply building in a safety net.  Take it slow, and things will pay off if you can keep that long view in mind.

Four - accept that everything in life is a risk, even the things that seem the most safe.  I was having a conversation with a really close friend a few days back about layoffs in the tech industry.  People think all the time that full time work for a big company is SAFE.  I would say that’s the least safe position to be in.  Sure, you’ve got a salary, benefits, a regular paycheck - but you’re always at the mercy of the powers that be.  As a self employed person?  Things are hard, but I’ve got ultimate job security.  No one can fire me.  I can work how I want, whenever I want, and no one’s going to stop me.  Think about that.  What might seem safe is simply an illusion if you really analyze the situation.

In conclusion, don’t use conventional wisdom as an excuse to NOT go for it!  Some of the biggest successes or fulfilling experiences in life come from shaking up the norm.  Be smart, be analytic, be calculating, and I guarantee you that you can achieve almost anything you want.