When someone feels like they need to make good timing while driving, they will speed through a traffic light that's turning red. Once they make it to the other side of the light, they get a feeling of accomplishment: "Yes, I made it!" Do you see how the thought of emotional achievement overrides personal conduct? However, this same person will speed through that light and hit someone on the other side. Now, which one had the outcome? Emotional achievement, or personal conduct? Amazingly, the one that has the least effect on the outcome means the most to us, and the one that has the most effect on the outcome means the least to us... Where are we getting our wires crossed?
We live trapped in an introverted prison built of our own emotions, thoughts, and ideas, totally oblivious to the reality of our personal conduct. Placing heavy emphasis on emotional achievement from moment to moment. We put absolutely no investment in personal conduct, even though the fruit of our behavior holds the biggest consequences in our lives. So, we unknowingly destroy things in our own lives, never drawing the conclusion that it's a product of how we're living. My purpose in this book to rip us out of that prison, and get us to see the reality of the effects our actions hold.