Showtime: 4 Big Truths I Learned From The Homeland Series!
Today I decided to share some lessons I learned for my professional life from one of the series I have the greatest passion: Homeland.
Everyone knows how much I am simply in love — not to say fond — of series of all kinds and stories. They have the power to take me to unimaginable places, to make me travel, to make me question the world and put me in the actors’ shoes. Each investigation, each detail found, each suspect, each arrest or decision is a step in my process of self-knowledge and learning in the world.
The Bureau, NCIS, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, House of Cards, Revenge, Criminal Minds, Suits, Bones, The Americans and so on. But today I decided to share some lessons I learned for my professional life from one of the series I have the greatest passion: Homeland.
According to Wikipedia, “Homeland is a US television series developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, based on the Israeli series Hatufim created by Gideon Raff. The show stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA operations officer who has come to believe that an American Marine, Sergeant Nicholas Brody, played by Damian Lewis, who was an al-Qaeda prisoner of war, has gone over to the enemy’s side and now poses a significant risk to national security.”
Check out 4 great truths I learned from the series Homeland:
1st: “It is the lies that undo us. The lies we think we need to survive. ” — Carrie
The corporate world seems to us to be very harsh and, at times, too unfair. And, on top of this issue, we insistently cling to some “untrue truths” that are nothing but pure lies. Lies we believe we need to survive in this world.
And the biggest lie we believe, especially at a time of global crisis, is that the company we work for is our only option, that without it we have no more opportunities or that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. This is a lie we often tell ourselves because we believe we need it to survive.
Because of this belief, the professional doesn’t see the other side of the story, doesn’t try new things, doesn’t see new possibilities. Stop yourself in time! We forget that each day is a new day to learn, to change, to grow and to undertake.
I’m not propagating a rebellion against the companies we’re in today, nor saying our company is bad, let alone encouraging a change of jobs.
What I’m trying to say is that nothing is so absolute that it can’t change, that it can’t be better. Losing a job is not good, to be sure, but it can be the first step in a big change. And this is true… all opportunities for change can kick-start you to question yourself and find your way. To actually see a light at the end of the tunnel, and that’s not a train heading toward you. Believing that you are where you want to be, or that you are doing something you really love, this is true and that is what we must believe.
2nd: “What do we know? Very little, that’s what we know. But in our line of work, sometimes very little is enough.” — Saul
Every day we are invaded by a million pieces of information, newspapers, magazines, internet, blogs, eBooks, emails, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on. Information that our minds receive and often do not have the time or quality necessary to analyze, verify or validate. Information we receive as true.
And I wonder if this immense and intense amount of information makes us better, helps us to learn and learn more about what is really serious, necessary and important. And again I ask myself: What do we know? Very little, that’s what we know! But why so little?
First, because quantity is not always important, but the quality of what you are reading or listening to. The quality of what is being written.
Second, because we do not necessarily always need much or all of the information that comes to us. The feeling of perfectionism leads us to incessantly seek a greater amount of information, which in most cases, is completely unnecessary.
We need to understand that very little is often enough… sometimes the great is the enemy of the good. Search for the information that is truly useful to you, read it, compile it and do your job… sometimes very little is enough! It’s more than enough!
3rd: “Sometimes, I swear to God, people are their own enemies. ” — Carrie
Yes, we are our own enemies. We use our weaknesses against ourselves. Who has never felt down? Who has never felt frustrated? Who has never felt unmotivated? Who has never procrastinated?
Frustration, weakness, lack of motivation, indiscipline, lack of focus… all this translates, in my opinion, into a single word: accommodation! And what to do to win all this and not be taken in by this enemy? How do we stop being our own enemies?
Professionals have to be willing to leave their comfort zone! You have to be willing to get up and walk towards what you want to achieve.
And if we want to conquer, we have to face people. We have to learn new skills. Work in different areas. We have to come up with new ideas. Take risks, work hard. We have to act and be different.
Don’t be your own enemy. Don’t let yourself get carried away. Get out of your comfort zone and start changing from now on. “Change is needed”.
4th: “Why kill a man when you can kill an idea?” — Nazir
Everything we are, understand and live is what builds our ideas. These ideas come loaded with values, with experience, with experience of everything we have been up to now. It is these ideas that make us walk and take us to the crucial point in our lives: the feeling of accomplishment.
Our ideas are filled with the truest ingredients of ourselves. And that’s why we have to take care of them, we have to protect them.
“Why kill a man when you can kill an idea? ”
When we dedicate our working hours to a project, company or business, we are giving what is best in us as professionals. Who wouldn’t want to receive a compliment for their work? Who doesn’t like to feel productive? Important in the work chain? Who doesn’t like to be considered a great professional?
But the corporate world does not always meet these professional needs, sometimes a harsh word, poorly done feedback, poorly applied evaluation comes and collapses our professional ideals, but we cannot let this become true in our lives. Bad managers, unproductive teams, difficult co-workers, lack of professionalism, companies without a deep organizational culture, everything can come and try to kill our ideas.
We must not allow them to kill our ideas!
Turn the game around, turn around and go for what really matters. Focus on growth, development, attitudes and professional life. They can kill a man, but never our ideas. They are who we are! They often define us and complete us. Don’t let your ideas die!
Finally, I hope that all the teachings that I took from the series Homeland can bring some light to all of you. May you live a truth and not a lie to survive, that you understand that we do know little and that we need to filter out what is really important, that it is not your own enemy and that you do not let your ideas die! Share! Leave your opinion here! It’s very important to know what you think!
