For Fun
Fast Company Daily is just a cool site. I feel like it's just a bunch of ideas that don't really lead anywhere but if you're the type of person that likes thinking and discussing for the subtle effects insight have on practice then their writers do a good job of bringing together a string of topics worth investigating even if 80% of their articles begin with "HOW TO."
That part's actually annoying. I mean the titles do the job but you can tell they came out of a copy-writer's manual for people with no imagination and fear written into their contract. Whatever, it's not important.
What is important is to gather up the conceptual nugget provided by the first two articles. Primarily these are you have to consciously project yourself and then project yourself into an advantageous position. It really is a time of conscious manifestation. No more leaving it up to god, luck, karma. Build the karma, create the luck and divinely insert your better judgement into your actions.
Why I like these articles is because they both require we do the thing that is the most uncomfortable thing for people that need this kind of advice - break out of our comfort zone. Anyone of us will admit these points make sense and that other should do it. At the moment of reading the article, they all seem like familiar actions streamlined for efficiency. But I also think a lot of people are like me and can't remember the last time we went out of our way to network strategically. My excuse is I hate not being able to afford my own drink. I have no money and I'm looking for a job so there. But when I've had money I do recall hesitating to involve myself at social occasions and it's because many of the things I accept logically I have yet to pursue instinctively due to certain inherent biases and fears. So I look at articles like these with more interest now because if the strategies are so simple then why exactly is it that they don't come naturally? What gets in the way and why should we push through these obstructions? That brings me to the 3rd article.
We exist in a world where you win if you're like Francis Underwood. You take initiative, push buttons, and anticipate the reactions to your benefit. Everyone dances to your tune because no one else knows how to play the music. SPOILER ALERT: the only time Francis seems to have been undone is by the nature of the object of his desire - ultimate power as presented by the office of president is only granted in return for ultimate service. Francis operates phenomenally when he and all his rivals are looking up. But at the top everyone is looking at him and he actually has to do the Lord's work, his duty or whatever you want to call it.
If good people don't understand social science and don't learn to forgive themselves enough to put their energy out into the world, it will remain in the hands of bullies, A.K.A. psychopaths. I'm not just talking about artistically, but in business and education too. This sounds like a familiar quote about what happens if good people do nothing and it's true. Why does it always seem that the progressive side is fought by the underdogs when the conservatives largely appear to be uneducated bigots? Is it that folks are so educated they've become cynical and have put themselves above lending that education to those who they are meant to support with it? How distracted we've all become, even from each other...
Much of what we experience in our lives is created by choices made by people willing to follow them through. That will is developed by a certain criteria that favors the individual above all else. For those of us who abhor that personality, we relish the quiet and relative peace of mind that powerlessness affords. But then it's only our fault when the eventual consequences affect us and those we love.
Star Wars continues to affect me as an adult because of how it teases out this equation over and over again for generation and across multiple platforms. The Jedi are doomed to their struggle because their nature is selflessness. The Sith are doomed to only brief spurts of power because the corruption necessary to achieve power is the same corruption that breaks it. Neither side can truly create imbalance because either nature at its zenith is the downfall.
To learn from this we have to abandon notions of polarity. We have to embrace our ultimate desires and their place in a larger world. The future is equality, sustainability and end to war and stupidity. It must be inevitable as long as people die and new people are allowed enough opportunity to see the truth of human culture.
The people who neglect their children or teach their children hate alone should be decapitated. It's draconic but I still believe folks should be required a license to procreate or have their newborns forfeited to the government - and I'm not saying you can trust the government any better but at least that's a system that will be influenced by some kind of principal, philosophy and infrastructure in theory. To unprepared, uninterested or uneducated parents, a child is just as likely another Hitler as he is a nobody. And yes many orphans have risen to become respectable, sometimes affluent and often worthy people in our society. But I'd bet millions more are starving, criminals, or perpetuating the mistakes of their parents. The sum totality of this consequence embitters the world and creates an unsafe place that encourages us to keep silent, remain unseen and satisfied with whatever positions we've been allowed.
I digress. Networking and branding yourself means you have to believe the ugly truth that you are important. Get over it. Find your style, your voice and your kin. Bring them together and bind them in a purpose and allow them to bind you in one as well. This generation must find it's own way. The economy is a hindrance and only the bullies make it because regardless of the motives, they act as if they're worth it more than we are. Complaining in our homes and to our friends doesn't count.
There was a moment in the networking article where the author explains we're not their to ask for anything even though we all know we want something. I instinctively took offense because the idea of hundreds of people trying to listen to each other for selfish reasons seemed like a complete circle-jerk. In fact a circle-jerk would be more honest.
But then I realized that the process is less important than the merit when the alternative is letting less discerning people who don't dispute the nature of these events succeed. The bullies, the haters, the greedy - they all hold to their own creed and win because good people let them and are afraid and unaware of how to engage the paths of success - myself included.
Let us become more actively self-aware and less afraid. Let's use the simple tools and become memorable. We have so much more to offer. Plus there's a lot of douche-bags waiting for you to convince yourself you're not worth it. They don't need any favors.
- Carlos
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