Crazy Alternative
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Being different is scary. Being different is hard. Being different is one of the best things you can ever do.
When I was young, fitting in was often the last thing I cared about. I generally had one or more passions that I pursued ad nausem and never really noticed that others were watching.
You hear a lot about how you are unique and you should be proud of your individuality, but you rarely hear about how much you have in common with other people.
For example, if you go up and give a speech and are scared out of your wits, did you know that just about every person in the room is sympathizing with you? Everybody there knows the feeling of getting up there in front of everybody and forgetting everything you had planned. That's right; they're not so much different after all.
Everybody else is just as scared as you are.
I have a friend who is probably the most successful man I know. He's friends with everybody, lives in a huge house, has a beautiful wife, is respected by everyone and makes enough money to have the option to retire any time he wants. Is such success within reach? I know when I was younger, my imagination of heaven wasn't too far away from what he has on Earth. As far as I could tell, such attainment is possible, yes, but very difficult; the absolute highest.
Until he told me a secret.
He was giving me advice on who to marry and referred to his own wife as an example. He said that's the kind of girl you need to go after. And then he said, "But you know? I never would have had the courage to ask her out."
That's where being different comes in. Being different is something I've spend a lot of energy on. In fact, I have some friends who share the term "crazy alternative" with me. Is being different so hard? No. All you have to do is listen to better music, dress better, have the courage to ask out that perfect girl and go after your dreams.
Think of things this way: everything on this world has a purpose. You have a purpose and the world has a purpose. Your purpose is to conquer the world and the world's purpose is to be conquered by you. That's a pretty big task; you'd better get started right away. Like, right now. Go and do it.
Chris Guillebeau, the writer behind the Art of Nonconformity, recently released a free ebook entitled "A Brief Guide to World Domination," available here. If you have the chance to read it, please do so; it will inspire you to go above and beyond. I also suggest reading around the rest of his blog, as the material he writes is certainly top-notch and helpful to just about anybody.
That's an opportunity. Now go and do it!
When I was young, fitting in was often the last thing I cared about. I generally had one or more passions that I pursued ad nausem and never really noticed that others were watching.
You hear a lot about how you are unique and you should be proud of your individuality, but you rarely hear about how much you have in common with other people.
For example, if you go up and give a speech and are scared out of your wits, did you know that just about every person in the room is sympathizing with you? Everybody there knows the feeling of getting up there in front of everybody and forgetting everything you had planned. That's right; they're not so much different after all.
Everybody else is just as scared as you are.
I have a friend who is probably the most successful man I know. He's friends with everybody, lives in a huge house, has a beautiful wife, is respected by everyone and makes enough money to have the option to retire any time he wants. Is such success within reach? I know when I was younger, my imagination of heaven wasn't too far away from what he has on Earth. As far as I could tell, such attainment is possible, yes, but very difficult; the absolute highest.
Until he told me a secret.
He was giving me advice on who to marry and referred to his own wife as an example. He said that's the kind of girl you need to go after. And then he said, "But you know? I never would have had the courage to ask her out."
That's where being different comes in. Being different is something I've spend a lot of energy on. In fact, I have some friends who share the term "crazy alternative" with me. Is being different so hard? No. All you have to do is listen to better music, dress better, have the courage to ask out that perfect girl and go after your dreams.
Think of things this way: everything on this world has a purpose. You have a purpose and the world has a purpose. Your purpose is to conquer the world and the world's purpose is to be conquered by you. That's a pretty big task; you'd better get started right away. Like, right now. Go and do it.
Chris Guillebeau, the writer behind the Art of Nonconformity, recently released a free ebook entitled "A Brief Guide to World Domination," available here. If you have the chance to read it, please do so; it will inspire you to go above and beyond. I also suggest reading around the rest of his blog, as the material he writes is certainly top-notch and helpful to just about anybody.
That's an opportunity. Now go and do it!
Labels: Action, Courage, Individuality, Personal Development
MAD Success!
Friday, June 20, 2008
If you've ever studied nuclear strategy (if there is such a thing), you'll know that the acronym MAD stands for Mutual Assured Destruction, a situation in which the only move that doesn't end poorly is to make no move at all.
In cinematics, the same situation is called a Mexican standoff and in chess, it's called zugzwang, meaning "an obligation to move."
If you look at the circumstances of each of these situations, they are all something you should never find yourself in. Nuclear war is one of the most unnatural events there is and it's also entirely pointless because in any situation, losses are unacceptable. A Mexican standoff is the result of someone not taking action when they had the opportunity and zugzwang you will only ever find yourself in when someone is deliberately working against you AND you have a restricted set of options available.
Ergo, if you avoid unnatural situations, take action with opportunity and keep an open mind with lots of options you will never find yourself in a situation in which you are guaranteed failure.
Let me restate that: you are never in a situation in which you cannot succeed.
When I graduated from high school, a lot of my fellow students had no idea what they wanted to do. A few of them used this situation to learn more about themselves and traveled or signed up for the local community college, but most didn't. Too many fell into the mindset that until they know the right thing to do, the best option was to do nothing. So they decided to work at the tinning plant until they decided what they wanted to do, or at least found a better job. A year passed, two years passed, three years, four. Now their old classmates had degrees, wonderful experiences and memories; they knew precisely who they were and were moving on into their careers and lives.
Why?
Whenever I am asked to list my interests, I have trouble narrowing it down enough to a list. It's like being asked to list everything. I used to just shortcut it and write, "everything," but now I force myself to make a decision right there what my interests are. It pushes me in a direction and teaches me something about myself.
If I'm interested in everything, how did I decide what I wanted to do when I graduated? To be completely honest, I did a little bit of everything. I started with the end in mind, I set goals, I listed desires and I researched abilities. The result: nothing; everything pointed me in a direction, but was too vague for me to act on it.
It took me nearly an entire week of confusion and prayer and self-reflection to arrive at a decision. What I found was rather interesting: it doesn't matter what you do, only that you do something. If what you do wasn't the best option, you'll know. You'll have made a mistake and you'll have learned from it. Most importantly, you'll have grown.
So next time you're in a situation in which you don't know what to do, just do something, anything! In a year from then, you'll thank yourself for have the courage to act and the assertiveness to be successful.
In cinematics, the same situation is called a Mexican standoff and in chess, it's called zugzwang, meaning "an obligation to move."
If you look at the circumstances of each of these situations, they are all something you should never find yourself in. Nuclear war is one of the most unnatural events there is and it's also entirely pointless because in any situation, losses are unacceptable. A Mexican standoff is the result of someone not taking action when they had the opportunity and zugzwang you will only ever find yourself in when someone is deliberately working against you AND you have a restricted set of options available.
Ergo, if you avoid unnatural situations, take action with opportunity and keep an open mind with lots of options you will never find yourself in a situation in which you are guaranteed failure.
Let me restate that: you are never in a situation in which you cannot succeed.
When I graduated from high school, a lot of my fellow students had no idea what they wanted to do. A few of them used this situation to learn more about themselves and traveled or signed up for the local community college, but most didn't. Too many fell into the mindset that until they know the right thing to do, the best option was to do nothing. So they decided to work at the tinning plant until they decided what they wanted to do, or at least found a better job. A year passed, two years passed, three years, four. Now their old classmates had degrees, wonderful experiences and memories; they knew precisely who they were and were moving on into their careers and lives.
Why?
Whenever I am asked to list my interests, I have trouble narrowing it down enough to a list. It's like being asked to list everything. I used to just shortcut it and write, "everything," but now I force myself to make a decision right there what my interests are. It pushes me in a direction and teaches me something about myself.
If I'm interested in everything, how did I decide what I wanted to do when I graduated? To be completely honest, I did a little bit of everything. I started with the end in mind, I set goals, I listed desires and I researched abilities. The result: nothing; everything pointed me in a direction, but was too vague for me to act on it.
It took me nearly an entire week of confusion and prayer and self-reflection to arrive at a decision. What I found was rather interesting: it doesn't matter what you do, only that you do something. If what you do wasn't the best option, you'll know. You'll have made a mistake and you'll have learned from it. Most importantly, you'll have grown.
So next time you're in a situation in which you don't know what to do, just do something, anything! In a year from then, you'll thank yourself for have the courage to act and the assertiveness to be successful.
Labels: Action, Courage, Failure, Mistakes, Success
