“I’m sure you’re doing your best.” This is a subjective statement.
“Your grade dropped to a ‘D’ this semester.” This is an objective fact.
“Management is satisfied with the company’s 2013 performance which was in accordance with expectations” Subjective.
The company lost $3.7 million in fiscal year 2013. Objective.
Measuring performance objectively brings success whether the goal is competing in the Olympics, losing weight, or increasing profit. Or, yes, learning.
Let me give you an example from Singapore, a tiny island nation with a racially and culturally diverse population that until 1965 was dependent upon Great Britain. Back then, less than fifty years ago, it was a sort of international welfare case with a Gross Domestic Product per capita about one twentieth of the United States. This means that on average, each Singaporean produced less than one twentieth of the economic value that the average American produced. Today, Singapore’s per capita GDP is slightly higher than that of the United States. What brought about that miracle?
Lee Kuan Yew, who served as Singapore’s first prime minister for thirty years and is still known as the Father of Singapore, stated that it happened because of their education system. How does it differ from education in America?
Among other factors, Singapore places a heavy emphasis on objective subjects like mathematics and science as opposed to subjects that have the word “studies” in their titles. They don’t do social studies, earth studies, and environmental studies in Singapore. The country routinely scores at the very top of each year’s International Mathematics and Science Study while the United States according to recent data, scored at number 23, well behind countries like Thailand, Russia, Slovenia, Hungary, and Belgium.
Lest you respond that we must spend more on education, another objective fact tells us that Singapore spends about $2,000 a year per student while in the United States the comparable figure is about $12,000.
There is much data that those who care about children should examine. Focusing on objective facts rather than subjective fantasizing would be a good place to start.
Concentrating on objective actions and behaviors also helped transform a rag-tag band of slaves into the Hebrew nation about 3,326 years ago. You see, little about life as a slave encourages objective analysis. Foolishly, a slave master’s goal is often to keep the slave working endlessly. The slave’s time loses all meaning since a high level of accomplishment rarely betters his situation.
The Exodus was surrounded by many of God’s rules and rituals for the precise purpose of introducing the concept of an objective way of looking at reality. Rather than fuzzy generalities, Exodus chapter 12 contains hundreds of specific details defining exactly what the Israelites must do before and during the Exodus from Egypt.
People whose lives lack objective measure amble and dawdle through the day. By contrast, God directed the Israelites to move with such haste that even the dough wouldn’t have time to rise. (Those of us who have ever been shocked to realize how long we spent surfing the Internet would do well to learn this lesson.)
Also, membership in the group that was to be delivered from Egypt was not left to subjective feeling. “Aw, c’mon, I really, really feel like an Israelite.” Instead, each male was to be circumcised, surely a very objective indicator. Either you are or you’re not. (Exodus 12:48) Then in precisely 49 days they were to be standing at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Not 48 days and not 50 days. Precise and objective detail. It is no wonder that the Israelites transformed from slaves to one of the most successful people in the world.
Understanding how details in the Bible reveal underlying vital messages such as this one, is an example of the type of ancient Jewish wisdom that I share in my brand new book Business Secrets from the Bible: Spiritual Success Strategies for Financial Abundance. I would love for this book to bless you and those you love and I can’t wait to hear your feedback. Find out more about it here and see how you or someone you know can greatly benefit from it, available now at a reduced price.
Please be aware that I will be conducting teaching on these and other Exodus topics at a special 8 day Passover Conference Retreat at the beautiful Rancho Bernardo Inn resort in San Diego from April 14 to April 22. I would love to share the Pesach festival with you.
