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Recently I wrote how I’ve been able to live a more fulfilling life by saying “yes” to opportunities and experiences instead of being afraid of them. Another way to look at this is that I’ve developed self-reliance — I’ve learned to take responsibility for my own happiness instead of being passive, leaving my happiness in the hands of others.
Here’s a short educational film from 1951 that explores the subject of self-reliance. “If you’re not self-reliant, you’ll never do any more than just ‘get by’,” says the narrator.
I love how in his desk, Mr. Carson, the French teacher, just happens to have a typewritten card with the four steps to self-reliance. Here they are, with a bit of elaboration.
- Assume responsibility. Take the blame for things that are your fault; look after your own work; plan your own time; depend on yourself to get things done.
- Be informed. If you don’t know some vital piece of information, find it out. Ask. Get the facts you need to make smart decisions. Knowledge gives you power. Ignorance puts you at the mercy of others.
- Know where you’re going. Set goals. Have a long-range plan so that you understand the general course you’re trying to make through life. Don’t simply react passively to the world around you.
- Make your own decisions. Develop the ability to think for yourself. Don’t rely on others to make choices for you — that’s a sure route to unhappiness. Be decisive.
These steps are very similar to habits espoused by modern self-help gurus. Taking control of your own destiny is a great way to improve your satisfaction with life, to increase your happiness. The film picks up bonus points from this lit geek by name-dropping Ralph Waldo Emerson and his essay, “Self-Reliance“:
There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:47 am
That was quite eye opening.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:50 am
I think the most important thing for self reliance (and life in general) is self confidence.
Too many of us don’t have personal confidence and this greatly influences the course of our lives.
In terms of reaching our financial goals, we all know people who spend money on expensive clothes, cars, and homes in order to boost their own image and confidence.
If these people had confidence in themselves, they could invest the money and secure their financial well being instead of spending the money on things that make them feel better right now.
June 16th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Awesome post. Alot of self-help tips are timeless and this goes to show. The advantage that our generation has is the internet, now we can harness the power of information more than ever. Number 2.(be informed) is much easier to achieve be it researching personal finance tips (blogs like yours and mine), stocks advice, mutual fund research, etc. The biggest as of late is real estate research. With zillow.com and new age brokerages like redfin.com, just about anyone can look up comparables, past sale figures, neighborhood stats and sometimes even videos and home tours. Being informed is much easier nowadays and we definitely need to take advantage of that.
June 16th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Hi J.D
I have come to understand the principle of success are timeless as mentioned in your article, Self Reliance or as I will like to call it taking charge is the quality which I am developing and seeing the results of it.
Thanks
Vijay
June 16th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I find it both great and odd that the best advice on how one should live their life comes from the 1950’s. Father (and Mother) really did know best. The image of a Leave It To Beaver family, though NOT 100% attainable, still was a nice thing to dream about.
June 16th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
JD, I don’t know how you found that video, but it was wicked awesome. As corny as it was, the advice is seriously timeless.
It made me realize that even though I lie to think I’m self-reliant, I could work on it a little more.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Hmmmm. I’m not sure how hard they had to work to make 1951 teens self-reliant. For many of them, their fathers were off at war during their early years. And their mothers were working in factories till about 1945 or so.
June 17th, 2007 at 8:28 am
[...] Secret: Another Bit Of The Real Secret Developing Self-Reliance: Personal Empowerment Lessons from 1951 Recently I wrote how I’ve been able to live a more fulfilling life by saying “yes” to [...]
June 17th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Being a chess player, I couldn’t agree with the movie more! I consider life a game of chess.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
This is a great find. Thanks for sharing.
June 17th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I always wonder about stuff like this when people discuss it. Doesn’t everyone know/do this already? No one can live your live but you. No one is in your way but you. Go.
June 19th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Just to drill home the point, the quote on the blackboard at the end of the film says “the Lord helps those who help themselves” (literally: “help yourself and heaven will help you).