Why You Should Be Ruthless

You should be ruthless in every area of your life.

Horst Faas/AP

When you hear the word ruthless, what comes to your mind?

Maybe you think of a foreign dictator? Or a sleazy businessman who has exploited thousands of workers to amass wealth?

You wouldn't be wrong for thinking of those examples but there is more to being ruthless than that.

Ruthlessness holds the keys to the life you want. It is the secret tool that every person who makes big decisions uses. You should be ruthless in every area of your life.

Hold on, are you telling me to behave like a dictator to get what I want?

Well, yes and no.

It is wrong to think there is only one way to be ruthless. Rather than viewing ruthlessness as something evil people use to get what they want, view it as the mark of a decisive person.

You want to be as comfortable as a dictator is with being ruthless, but use it to improve your life rather than hurt others.

I’m not sure I get it, can you give me an example?

Let’s say you have a friend who always makes you drink and go out till early in the morning on weekdays. You struggle to get up for work on the days after your outings but are scared to tell them no whenever they ask you to go out because they might stop hanging out with you. You constantly put your well-being aside to keep being friends with this person.

This is a prime example of where being ruthless will improve your life. Saying no to your friend when they ask you to go out late might hurt their feelings but will be good for you in the long run. A friendship built on things that are not beneficial for you is not a friendship you want.

Ruthlessness cuts away the unnecessary things in your life. When you develop the habit of not tolerating anything that brings no value to you, you weed out negative relationships, habits and many other things that don’t serve you.

I can see your point, but this is easier said than done. I don’t think I am naturally ruthless, how do I develop this ruthless streak?

That is easy. You simply have to know when to choose yourself over others.

Pleasing others at the detriment of yourself is irrational. It will harm you in the long run. When you truly value yourself, ruthlessness becomes the order of the day for you.

There will be many times in your life when the right thing is to be selfless. There will also be many times when the right thing to do is to prioritise yourself over others.

If you are a people pleaser, this might be a tough thing to do. You may derive joy from making others happy and get your validation from how useful you are to others. This is a character trait that you must kick out. You can’t give from an empty cup.

When you constantly prioritise the feelings of others above yours, you unknowingly start living for other people. You need to rid yourself of this mindset. You are not a bad person for refusing to do things that do you no good.

Realising this will make it easy to be ruthless. You will see no problem with it. It will become the only way to live your life.

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