It is very common to follow what you believe as “ideal ways and ideals set (by others)” in your pursuit and passion for achieving your goals. When success starts to turn in, a turning point also comes when your passion for such ideal ways and ideals set becomes stronger and stronger. Such strong passion invariably leads to obsession, which is Idealism. In short, it evolves as:
Innocent Ideas –> Ideal ways –> Ideals –> Idealism –> onset of Ills!
Remember, every individual has his/her own definition or understanding of what he/she perceives as ideal, ideals and idealism. But one thing is blatantly common – beneath idealism is obsession!
How Ideal ways leading to Idealism gives birth to Autocratic Bosses
In corporate life, for instance, many are very dynamic and believe in quick actions and results. They perceive it as their virtue, passion and an ideal way to turn over great performance for the company. Such people would be highly demanding by nature and expect team to take prompt actions and deliver. In most cases, such drive over time becomes their obsession, regardless of comfort or crisis in the team. They would then impose their decisions on team, set tough targets and disallow dissent under garb of getting results for company. Unless conscious, which most are not, they would develop strong belief in their methods. For them, it is an ideal way; but it has already got translated into Idealism and gives birth to their autocratic leadership with toxic behavior!
Turn to private life – it is not bad to behold old traditions and values; but if you, as head of your family, become strong advocate or hard headed for same, you would impose these on younger generation in your family, refuse to compromise and in that process, crush their desire to lead a modern life! Such idealism would invite several ills!!
Ills of Idealism
So, idealism hurts in several ways:
- Isms trigger Issues, except few like optimism.
- It instills inflexibility.
- It inculcates hard notions.
- It insulates you from realities and rationales.
- It instigates you to over-zealously protect your ideas.
- It makes your vision and perspective parochial.
- It makes you inconsiderate and self-centered.
Ugly side of Idealism
Hard ideas/thoughts/notions go hand-in-hand with idealism. Hard ideas cannot remain stagnant and still in our mind. These are bound to come out in our actions or behavior; otherwise, these cannot remain “hard” anymore! Therefore, we feel strong urge to practice the same and proliferate around.
People, who are already in power and position, would demand that their ideas be implemented; failing which they would even enforce. Let us categorize them as “A” for corporate or institutional leaders/bosses and “B” for political and religious leaders, wielding formal power.
Those, who do not have formal power or position on public or professional platforms, would seek surreptitious methods to propagate. They generally take route through faith, indoctrination, public movement or preaching! Let us assign category “C” for them.
Methods and measures of categories A + B + C bring ugly side of Idealism! As a consequence, it shows up in variety of ways:
- Ideology in case of A+B+C
- Ferocity (Ferociousness) for A+B+C
- Fundamentalism for C & partly B
- Fanaticism for C & partly B
- Extremism for C
You can see that category C, who swears by Idealism but without accountability, can unleash the most havoc and this is what history has witnessed!
Above 3 categories of people have several characteristics in common:
- Overwhelmed by obsession.
- Mistakenly perceive their obsession as passion.
- Wrongly believe their ideology as legacy.
- Foster fear factor.
- Live in fantasy, rather than reality and induce others to do so.
- Ruthlessly protective of their ideas.
- Thoughts are mixed with myths and mythology.
- Have vanity and vehemence.
- Implant ideology in your mind through indoctrination!
- Shut your mind, so that thinking beyond perimeters of what they preach and proliferate is not possible.
Inferences, you would be amazed with!
You need good ideas/thoughts for anything that you pursue.
You need to focus on these to get success and your notions are still soft (can be subject to change).
When success comes, you develop liking and love for those ideas and you start to believe those “ideas” are “ideal” for you.
That is how every passion gets developed, as also hard notions.
You see more wins coming your way.
This is when you start believing those “ideas” as your “ideals”.
Here is when you come on the edge!
If you stop being more possessive and passionate about these ideas/ideals, you would sustain and continue to swim through successes superbly.
If you push and perpetuate your passion and hard notions further, your ideals would translate into idealism. And you would invite ills!
You, then, run the risk of being fierce, ferocious, fanatic…….
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