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If you are afraid of the new, then you are afraid of success. Seems obvious to us that we can’t follow the career path our parents did, right? We feel so smart when we say that it’s soooo evident, people change careers all the time, you can’t have one employer your whole life, etc. etc. [...]
My father was a career counselor that studied with Richard N. Bolles many years ago. As a result of this background, he always taught me a bunch of stuff about life direction, how to do the work that matters to you, etc. I was brought up with this stuff; it was normal to me. One [...]
I’ve been spending time with working artists and reading about art all week. First, I put up one of Wil’s paintings that he loaned me, and hung out with Justin Stephens last night. Donald Browne, a friend and gallery owner, lent me the great book 7 Days in the Art World too. So I’m feeling [...]
If you are taking part in this experiment, you are one of us. We are people who believe in individual liberty and the ability to determine our own fates. We are people who want to carve our names into history, even if only a small corner of it. We want the right to create meaningful [...]
When was the last time you had a total mental breakthrough? Do you remember the last time you got information so valuable to you that it changed your life? Was it from a book? Did a mentor teach it to you? Or did it come from a blog or a newspaper? Call me presumptuous, but [...]
Marathon runners have it. So do Crossfitters, gamers, art dealers, and social media people. Insider language is everywhere. All subcultures have specialized words that comes with being part of the insider class. These expressions (THAC0 comes to mind) represent specialized, complex ideas that are important to the culture, but meaningless outside of it. This is [...]
I was having a conversation last week with a few friends at a party. You know how arguments get more and more abstract the more booze gets ingested? Well this debate was about whether technology improves the lives of human beings or not. Someone eventually brought up World War II (killing the conversation and proving [...]
I’m starting to like these little thought experiments. The other day I talked about luck and acting as if it wasn’t there at all, behaving as if there was no such thing. Let’s see what happens when we do the opposite of this– in other words, if we considered ourselves lucky, how would we behave? [...]
What if, no matter the effort, you were never appreciated– for anything. Imagine you’d never get famous, never get known, for anything you’d ever do. What if no one saw your work– your friends, maybe, but no one else. You’d never get noticed, never achieve any acclaim, ever. Terrible, maybe? Expected, perhaps? But what if [...]
Three men working in a design company are all gunning for the same promotion. One has skill, the other works hard, and the other has luck. Which one would you rather be? George is skillful. He’s really good at drafting and he’s always had an eye for the thing. He can look at a problem [...]
We are cowboys. This place is a frontier. The way we experience media right now is the way all future media will be. Nobody knows that yet, but we do. What we are trying right now may seem crazy to some people, fruitless communication with no purpose, but in reality what we are trying will [...]
I was discussing with someone last night about the uselessness of the basic university degree. I compared it to an arms race– when one group has a BA, the other needs the BA to compete with them in the job marketplace, but when both sides have them, they no longer provide any employment advantage whatsoever. [...]
It’s ironic that Trust Agents talks about two things that are equally important, but actually contradictory. What are they? The first of the behaviours is understanding social cues, and the second is pattern-breaking. Why are they opposites? See below. Social Cues Being a human artist implies an understanding of social cues, like body language, status, [...]
Ok, I admit it. I am far too familiar with the self-help section of my bookstore. Alternative diets, positive thinking, 7 habits, four-hour workweeks– yes, I’ve read them all. I have a very high tolerance for bullshit, especially of that type. Always have, despite being rather cynical and dismissive of the majority of the category. [...]
