Are you a Sheep or a Wolf?
You have been brainwashed.
You have been programmed.
Your life has been created by someone else.
Do as your told.
Follow the rules.
Stay in line.
Single file.
Hands by your side.
Walk straight.
Stop.
Go.
Work.
Relax.
Eat this.
Buy that.
Talk like this.
Dress like that.
Think this.
Believe that.
This is right.
That is wrong.
You are this.
Not that.
This is your life.
That’s how you’re supposed to live.
Follow the Rules, or else…
What we consume controls our narrative.
It shapes how we perceive the world.
We begin learning the rules from the day we are born. The rules that they want us to follow.
We learn from our parents, siblings, relatives, friends, friends’ parents, teachers, coaches, schools, books, social media, music, TV, movies, advertisements, the news, religions, and politics.
When we’re young, we don’t decide what we’re taught.
It’s decided for us.
There comes a point when we do, however, have the choice to either follow the rules or question them.
“Why is the sky blue?”
Because that’s how it is.
“okay, but why?”
That’s how it’s always been.
“I heard it’s the reflection of the ocean.”
Oh yea? Well, that makes sense.
“Yea, but why’s the ocean blue?”
…
“But why?” “But why?”
Kids are so curious.
Why is it that we ask the question “but why” less and less as we get older?
Is it because we think we already know the answer?
That there is only one answer?
Or worse…
Are we afraid?
Afraid that we can’t ask “why” anymore?
Afraid that we can’t question the norm?
Afraid of other people’s opinions of us?
Afraid that society will reject us as an outcast?
Afraid of losing our identity?
If we found out that the truths we believed in our whole lives weren’t actually true, would anything make sense anymore?
When we stop asking “why” we begin to take everything we see, hear, and read at face value.
Life becomes easy, comfortable, and convenient.
You no longer have to decide what you should or shouldn’t believe in.
The choice is not yours anymore.
You’ve given it up.
You just listen to the person on the TV telling you what you should believe in.
You’re just regurgitating what someone else is telling you to say.
Because it would be uncomfortable to question what’s “right” and what’s “wrong.”
Yet you still think your opinions are your own, and that’s the scariest part.
The truth is…
Most people are followers.
Few are meant to lead.
On all the ships that sail the seas, there are many passengers and many workers, but few captains.
And the reality is, most people are totally fine with being a follower.
They want someone to follow. Something to believe in. Someone to tell them what to do so they don’t have to make the call themselves.
They prefer living this way.
In fact, they crave it.
They don’t have to think. They just do as they’re told.
Without someone telling them what’s right and wrong, they would be lost.
Their sense of self is created entirely by the rules they follow.
Anything that falls outside of their “normal” is a threat on their life.
Maybe you think you’ve made this far in life unscathed by “the system”, and that you chose to follow your own path without being manipulated by the rules modern society has created for us.
Well, I hate to break it to you, but if any of this sounds familiar, I’m sorry to say, but you’ve been affected…
School: Sit down. Pay attention. Do as your told. These are the skills you should have. If you learn them, you might be lucky enough to get a JOB.
Work: Show up at 9am. Leave at 5pm, or later. Put in your time. Work your way up the LADDER. 50 years is what you OWE us. Then we’ll let you RETIRE.
Religion: This is your GOD. He says to do this, this, and this, and you will go to HEAVEN. If you don’t do this, this, and this, then you will go to HELL where you will SUFFER for ETERNITY.
Politics: YOU believe in this because WE believe in it. Those OTHER PEOPLE ARE WRONG because WE ARE RIGHT. Follow us, attack them.
When you accept the rules, they become your identity.
You begin to think that anyone else who chooses to do something outside of this framework is wrong. Because how could they?
Unfortunately, there are so many out there living in this way.
This mindset is the cause of so much hate in the world.
People think that their rules should apply to everyone else.
They want so badly to be “right” that they can’t imagine being wrong.
It’s a sad way to live.
But YOU don’t have to live like this…
Is it possible to remove yourself from this framework?
Is it possible to live life on your own terms, by your own set of rules?
The short answer is yes. It is.
In fact, it’s easier now than ever.
A New Set of Rules
The world is changing.
In a lot of ways, it’s already changed.
Do you see it yet?
There is an awakening happening.
The world that our parents and grandparents grew up in is so much different than our own.
We are the first generation that grew up with the internet.
Instant access to information and communication with anyone in the world at any time.
The internet leveled the playing field.
Anyone can learn anything.
Anyone can say anything.
Sure, there’s more noise to sift through now, but that’s the greatest part.
Topics are being explored, opinions are being formed, and conversations are happening now that haven’t had the chance to happen before.
Some people still follow the traditional rules: Go to school. Get a job that you hate while working for someone else. Worship your God. Follow your political party. Get married. Buy a house. Have kids. Retire.
But there are more people now than ever before who are choosing not to live that life.
These rules once so seemed untouchable and invariable that it was unthinkable to challenge them.
And those that have questioned this status quo have been ridiculed, persecuted, exiled, and murdered for doing so.
But now, there’s a new game being played.
Challenging the traditional rules of society is becoming more and more widespread.
You don’t have to work for a company in a job you hate you’re whole life anymore.
They want you to think that that is the only way.
We’re living in a new era. More and more people are waking up.
Now look, we’re always going to need people with “normal” jobs - pushing the buttons, shoveling the sh*t, and keeping the fires burning so that the ship can sail on.
Maybe you’re okay with that. If you are, thank you for your service. I genuinely mean that. Someone has to do it.
But if you’re anything like me, that’s not the life you want for yourself.
You know that you’re meant to lead.
You may have had rules shoved in your face you by the environment you grew up in, but you’ve always been little skeptical of them.
Maybe you chose to follow them for some time, but eventually you realized that the people making the rules may not know what they’re talking about. That’s the only thing they’ve ever known, so the thought of something else never occurred to them.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to this realization myself.
The adults who were supposed to know everything, who have taught us everything we know know, who have created the framework of our lives to date, are simply just like you and me.
In fact, they were us at one point.
Of course, it’s important that we respect our elders, but we don’t have to agree with them on everything.
The game was different for them back then. It was much more rigid and absolute.
Very few strayed from the “normal” path because the other paths weren’t visible yet. And in some ways, they didn’t even exist.
But while they were on the “normal” path, something tragic happened.
A lot of them forgot how to question anything at all.
The new game is far from that.
The only rule of the new game is: question everything.
Here’s how I see it…
There are kids who grow up choosing to follow the rules.
To do as they are told.
To live by the rules of society.
To get the good job at the good company because that’s what you have to do to live a good life.
And then…
There are the kids that wake up along the way.
The kids who realize that it’s all a big facade, a sham, a way to control the masses, to keep the wheels of the machine turning.
Once these kids open their eyes and begin to see “the system” for what it truly is, they say:
“F*ck that. I’m making my own rules.”
What we are taught isn’t up to us.….until it is.
You’ve been programmed up until now.
You’ve been told how to live the life that is easy, the one that you don’t have to put any thought into, the one that was made for you, not by you.
“If you don’t know what you want, you will be told what you want, and you will believe it. If you don’t create a purpose, you will be assigned one. If you don’t create a career, you will be assigned one. If you don’t create a hierarchy of goals to invest your mental energy in, you will be assigned one, like climbing a corporate, religious, or status ladder just to realize you’ve wasted 80% of your life.” - Dan Koe. The Art of Focus: Find Meaning, Reinvent Yourself and Create Your Ideal Future (p. 57).
So many people live their whole lives like this, only to finally wake up in their final hour realizing what they missed out on by choosing to not rock the boat.
But you can choose to deprogram yourself now.
Start reshaping your life according to how YOU want live.
Following your own path can seem scary.
No more safety net anymore.
Working for a company comes with stability, so we’ve been told…but is it actually stable?
The “stable” job is a myth. They could fired you today.
People think working for yourself is risky.
But the truth is, it’s actually a bigger risk to work for someone else.
I’m not the only one talking about this either…it’s becoming more and more prevalent.
Once you realize that you can control your own destiny, there’s no going back.
Many Sheep. Few Wolves.
People say “many sheep, few shepherds.”
But the reality is a little more brutal than that.
It’s true, there are many sheep.
The sheep’s fate lies in the hands of the shepherd. The sheep are told when to eat, how much, where to graze, and for how long.
Then, there’s the wolf.
The wolf lives in the woods, and only chooses to show his face at the farm when he pleases.
The shepherd has no control over the wolf.
No one does.
The wolf lives his life on his own terms.
His next meal isn’t promised like that of the sheep, but he’d rather find his own food than be controlled by someone else.
Maybe at some point you’ve asked yourself…
Is what I learned in school actually helpful? When am I actually going to use calculus or trigonometry in real life?
Why didn’t they teach us about how the financial system actually works? I have all these student loans but never learned how they actually work or how to pay them off quicker.
I have this idea, but how do I start a business with no cash?
I’m making money now, but how do I budget my paycheck? Why didn’t they teach us that?
How are people using credit card points to fly for free around the world?
Why didn’t they teach us how to buy a house? What’s a mortgage? Should I even buy a house? Or just rent?
I heard there’s a lot of money in real estate, but how do I actually buy an investment property to rent out?
I have this job, and it’s okay, but what if my job isn’t fulfilling? What do I do then?
Is that how I’m supposed to live the rest of my life? Unfulfilled? Slaving away. Working towards someone else’s dream.
Why did I sign up for this? Is this really what life is?
What about my dreams?
What if the job I see myself doing doesn’t exist at any company? Can’t I get paid for doing what I know I’m meant to do somehow?
How are there so many different religions, yet they all talk about the same God?
Is my God not the same as your God?
If I go to church, you go to a mosque, and someone else goes to a synagogue, are we not all worshipping the same entity?
Are any of us actually right about God or the afterlife? Does it even matter if we’re right?
How are we ever going to make meaningful changes to improve our country when no one actually listens to each other?
Why would you ever listen to someone when you already disagree with what they’re about to say before they even say it?
Can we not agree to disagree? Or maybe even…compromise?
I don’t know what this life is I’ve found myself in, but can’t it be better?
You might not have know it before, but if you’ve asked yourself any of these questions, you are a wolf.
The more of these questions you’ve asked, the closer you are to living a life on your own accord.
The sheep can’t even conceive the thought of asking questions like these.
They’re numb to the uncomfortable. Scared of not knowing. Afraid to have the subtlety to be wrong.
The world needs more wolves.
Join the Pack
“I’m a sheep, but I want to be a wolf…how do I join?”
Question everything.
Everything you see, hear, and know has been thrust upon you by someone else.
Not all of it is good. Not all of it is bad.
But you have to make your own choice to decide what is and isn’t.
You can’t let someone else decide for you.
When you start to take a step back and question the truths you once believed, your world changes.
You begin to see the same things you’ve always seen in new ways.
You may eventually try to show others the world that you now see, but be careful...
The sheep may not like what you have to say because it will put their own reality in question.
Remember, you are a wolf.
If you show up to the farm unannounced, your very presence is a threat on their lives.
Don’t get mad at the sheep for not understanding things as you do.
It’s a noble act to try to help them see the world for what it is, to warn them on how they’re being controlled so that they may one day join the pack.
But I urge you, please be diplomatic in your approach.
Not everyone is meant to be a wolf.
Proceed with caution.
And above all else,
never stop questioning.
-Ryan Ward
