The Hidden Difference between Anti and Pro

In the history of mankind, the hidden difference I'm about to unveil has been stuck to the nature of vicious people. To be straightforward, the difference is whether you're holding values and feelings because you're actually pro-them, or just because you're anti-their opposite. I'll provide ostensible examples to make everything crystal clear.

First of all, probably the most prominent example crossing my mind is Nazi Germany's. The Nazis are the most suitable objects of discussion for what I mentioned in the introduction. These 'Aryans' built their entire ideology, morals, and worldview on being 'anti-everything' basically (starting with antisemitism and moving through every 'anti' combination imaginable). They were fueled by resentment and a hatred of 'the other' rather than a genuine love or obsession for their own ideals. It’s hard for me to state how massive that difference is, but the proof is in their failure: You cannot create a value system when you’re focused on destroying one thing just to build its polar opposite, but you must love the new value system to build it. So, you must be pro-vision and not anti-anti-vision.

The next example comes from my own startup. My competitor was running intense marketing campaigns, effectively shadowing my business and trying to suffocate my growth. Naturally, of course, my gut reaction was aggressive. When I launched my own campaigns, the initial goal was to bury them alive. I wanted to out-spend, out-post, and out-maneuver them out of pure spite. Thankfully, the idea I'm writing about came to me before I splashed all of my energy. I came to see that my true motivation for running advertisements was a sincere love for what I was creating rather than a desire to eliminate a competitor. I became pro-product instead of anti-competitor. Everything changed as a result of that perspective shift. It transformed a demanding grind into a heavenly, nearly euphoric attitude toward my work. I became more inventive, disciplined, and creative than ever because I was no longer watching what they were doing. I felt like a creator of the new.

Ultimately, an anti-vision is a parasite that requires an enemy to survive and leaves you a hollow shell once the hate burns out. True power only comes from the pro-vision, which taps into an internal, infinite source of creativity. You cannot sustain ANYTHING on the energy of "anti." To build something that lasts, stop being a reactive shadow and start being the source.