I am pretty sure conventional wisdom has been passed on for the sole purpose of keeping people in check. You know, don’t walk into oncoming traffic, don’t shower with poison ivy, don’t poop where you eat, if a cheetah is going to eat you you probably shouldn’t let it, etc. But conventional wisdom is often times wrong. Wrong because it keeps average people…well, pretty average. But awesome people don’t listen to conventional wisdom many times with great success. Here is some unconventional wisdom that has worked for me:
Honesty is not always the best policy – I learned this lesson at work. Remember, business is business, everybody is out for themselves, you should be, too. You don’t see poker players telling their opponents what they have or showing them their cards all of the time, why should you? Its not lying, its just not putting all your cards on the table at once.
Eat fat to lose fat – Low fat diets are crappy. Eat fat to lose fat, especially the saturated kind. Try it, it will work. Living proof right here.
Balance is overrated – Everybody who was ever successful at anything in life hustled. Pick a thing, pick a person who was good at this thing, and you’ll see it over and over again. Hustle. There was no balance, only meticulous obsession. Straight up hustle. Balance isnt always good. Many times, imbalance will send you into superstardom.
Moderation is for the mediocre – I hear this one all the time. Everything in moderation. Thing is, the people I hear it from arent exceptional in the thing they speak of to do in moderation. Everything in moderation, including moderation.
Burn bridges or blow them up completely – Burn them to a bloody hell. Cortez arrived in the new world and burned all the ships and went to war. Outnumbered by the natives 300 to 1, there was no other option but success. It was victory or death.
Be as selfish as you need to be – Who ever first said not to be selfish probably got beat up a lot as a kid. The most selfish people in the world are many times the most giving. But first, they had to be selfish enough to get ahead and look after themselves before they had the opportunity to give back. Tip: If ever stuck in an airplane low on oxygen, put on your oxygen mask first before putting on someone else’s so you don’t pass out and die. Selfish.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, say it anyways – That’s how progress is made. Unless you are being petty, then just punch yourself in the face and move on.
Other conventionally wise nuggets that are often full of it: Buy a house, its a good investment. Righto. Recycling is good for the environment. Righto. Don’t do that or you’ll go blind. Righto. Get married. Righto. Wear shoes to protect your fragile feat. Righto.
Updates on me: You ever feel like things are moving at the speed of light while simultaneously feeling suspended in time? Probably not, but that’s how I feel right now. Its like doing a billion things at once but not getting anywhere, kinda like the karate kid’s training with Mr. Miyagi. Since December I’ve been full throttle and progress has been minimal. But things are about to change really soon. I’m also in the middle of moving, finishing another workout program called RMAX BER, getting ready for vacation, selling all of my stuff, and a bunch of other stuff that is keeping me busy. I was on an all meat diet for a while but couldn’t keep it up and stopped. Currently, I’m still in ketosis and feel fine. I can’t tell how its affecting my mental and emotional state, there are too many changing variables in my life right now so its difficult to pinpoint exactly what is doing what. I can say I have absolutely zero tolerance for nonsense right now, am temporarily not going to play fair or honour my values, am putting myself first far ahead of everything else, and am in full on experimentation mode. Necessary evils.
Happy Valentine’s day, Happy Chinese New Years, and Happy Family day.