What's your philosophy?

What is your philosophy about ____________? Fill in the blank with whatever, whomever, or any action you want.

We all have a philosophy on just about everything and everyone. No, we typically do not think about it in a philosophical way. But every single one of us has an opinion on persons, places, actions, events, circumstances, and objects. Let me give a few examples and then I will show why thinking about your philosophy on something or someone is important to understand.

I am a Pittsburgh Steeler's football fan. During the time I have watched the Steeler's in my life, they have changed philosophies about how to win football games. During the 1990s and most of the 2000s, the Steeler's philosophy in winning football games was run the ball, play good defense, and beat the other team into submission. For almost 20 years the Steeler's had great offensive lines, big strong running backs, a big physical defense, and coaches who called plays to destroy the other team by repeatedly punching them in the mouth. For 20 years the Steeler's stuck to their philosophy and as a result won a ton of football games and even made a few Superbowls. And I loved the Steele'rs football philosophy.

When a new coach came in 2008, the Steeler's began to change football winning philosophy. They began to focus on the offense and spreading the ball out. The defense shifted to speed and agility. As a result, the running backs got smaller and shiftier. The defense became faster and less physical. Over the last 10 years the philosophy of the Pittsburgh Steeler's has shifted away from smash mouth football, into a overwhelming flood of offensive football. This philosophy has worked just about as well as the previous philosophy. It is the fact it has changed and taken me as a fan, a lot to get used to and adjust to. This is one example of a philosophy of something. Or someone having a philosophy in how to do something.

Another example of a philosophy of doing something, is homeschooling. Homeschooling itself is a whole philosophical mindset. My wife and I have a philosophy of in-house training and educating, in raising our children. We believe this is the best way we can train up our children in the ways of the Lord and prepare them for a life to succeed and worship God. This is not to say that sending your child to public or private school is wrong. It is just an example of a differing set of philosophies that are in each of us as humans.

In the realm of homeschooling, there is also multiple philosophies in how to go about it. There are homeschooling philosophies of cyber-school or schooling the children from the computer. In homeschooling there is a classical philosophy of education. This is teaching the children in a classical way from classical methods and classical languages and literature. The philosophy we have in homeschooling is the traditional approach. My wife and I use regular school books with the Bible to teach our children the subjects. This is a method very similar to what children are using in the classroom, just from a Biblical worldview on every subject. Again, any one of these methods is good, it is just another example of a philosophical mindset.

The philosophical way of thinking or the philosophy of doing and knowing things is every where. Maybe your philosophy of cars is the "American way" or the cheapest way or the "German way" or the "whatever car I can pay cash for" method. None of them are wrong, they are just different philosophies.

If you care for your own lawn you have a philosophy in how to go about it. Do you pulls weeds or use a spray? Do you mow your lawn in lines or circles? Do you plant flowers or have more bushes? This is a fun area to see the philosophy a person has. But every single one of us has differing philosophies about everything in life, including other people.

But why do I bring all this up and think about philosophy? I bring all this up because matching philosophies matters for success. Let me repeat that again. Your philosophy on something must match up to the other person's philosophy on the same thing, for success to be found.

Think for example on the football philosophy. If a small fast running back would try to play in the smash mouth philosophy, the running back would sooner rather than later get hurt and have to leave the field becasue he is not a philosophical fit for the style of play. Or if a small fast linebacker tried to play in the smash mouth defense, eventually he would get hurt from the repeated hitting and crunching of the style of defense. A smash mouth style of play needs a big bulky running back and a big strong linebacker who can take a beating. And this example is the same in every area of life.

Understanding what your philosophy of things are, is important so a match can be found. Understanding the other person's philosophy of something is important, so we can know if we would work well with the other person. Finding a philosophical match on a particular action, event, or object is critical to finding ultimate success in the end. This is why understanding our philosophy on things is important. If we never ask the question, "what is my philosophy on _________," we might never find success in that _________.

So pick a subject, person, or activity. Ask yourself, what is my philosophy on how that subject goes about or how that activity should be done. If the other philosophy of the action or activity matches yours, success can be found. If the philosophy of the action or activity, does not match yours, success might and will probably not, ever be found. Thinking about your philosophy in every area and action is that important.

So what is your philosophy on ___________?