“How the fu$# did that fu$#er make over 200K last year? He’s got sh%& for brains!,” I joked with my friend Sean about a guy at the office who, at age 24, was rumored to be pulling in close to a quarter million dollars annually.
This was my first job out of college and I was a far cry from earning $200K (Or $50K for that matter). It still confuses me why I gave a crap about making gobs of money. I guess I figured making lots of cash would allow me to turn my newly adopted home, Chicago, into some type of personal playground.
But I was 22 years old…the city was my playground!
I had dozens of wonderful friends who I met in my company training. It was 60 kids straight out of college, learning how to build computer server solutions and sell to senior businesspeople. We partied all weekend, went to Cubs games, enjoyed nightlife that can’t be replicated outside a major city and managed not to get arrested in the process.
In other words, I had no business worrying for one second about what other people were making around me. Didn’t change what I was going to make. Didn’t change what they were going to make. Didn’t cure cancer.
Simplicity is the Highest Form of Elegance
I didn’t waste a lot of time thinking about other people’s paychecks, but I also wasn’t starting a side business in a city with over 6,000,000 potential customers. Nor did I volunteer to help an organization that was seeking a cure for cancer.
No, I don’t regret that. Now that I’ve turned 30 I have the wisdom to realize it was all part of my continuing education. I’m just learning how to spot opportunities and make the best of them. And life is fun! But only if I follow a few guide posts.
So here’s a quick and dirty ‘Fight Club’ style plan of attach for realizing success by killing your bankrupting thought process:
- Step 1: Don’t Gossip — Everyone says they hate gossip but no one seems to be able to hold back from participating. Two people who I try to emulate are my father, Gary Mescher, and my best friend, Dan Russell. These guys never gossip about others. I’ve heard Dan say to me once, “You know what — we shouldn’t talk about him when he isn’t around. Sorry about that.” Eliminating gossip gives you an instant 30% more brain capacity. And it tends to make you bulletproof at the office because people realize you’re a positive force.
- Step 2: Deconstruct — There’s this idea called ‘Occam’s Razor’ that states the simplest solution is usually correct (Until proven otherwise). I like it because it helps me see things in digestible bites when an idea seems too complicated. Thomas Aquinas put it this way:
“If a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several; for we observe that nature does not employ two instruments [if] one suffices.”
I try to use these as guides for thinking. So much of what we think and believe is derived from crappy news sources or (See Step 1) gossip mags. Often times we’ll latch onto an idea just because it sounds really cool and was delivered by a great speaker. But do the ideas we hold as truth stand the deconstruction test? Can you take an idea apart and respect it in its simplest form?
For example, it’s a near universally held belief that social media is transforming the way businesses interact with their customers and fans. Why is this true? How does it happen?
Let’s say business owners now have the ability to communicate directly with customers due to the ease and low cost of mass distribution. Now we peel back a layer and think, “OK, that’s true, but why did mass distribution networks become so popular?” Maybe this is because we, the consumer, became resistant to insincere advertisements and, coupled with the suburbanization of America and ‘Bowling Alone’ syndrome, desperately wanted to reconnect.
In other words, we’re lonely. So loneliness is one reason social utilities thrive?
- Step 3: Meditate — I don’t think I could cross my legs like a Yoga instructor if my life depended on it, but I do make it a point to focus my mind each day. That means ditching technology for as long as possible, too. Yes, a Digital Marketing Evangelist is telling you to minimize the time you spend with tech. Whenever I allow myself unlimited access to my computer and email and Twitter and have endless tabs open, my productivity takes a dump. Conversely, when I say to myself, “Alright, I’m going to spend 30 minutes posting to Facebook, checking email and dropping a couple of notes to friends,” I achieve exponentially more. Scarcity makes me want to work harder and faster. And I need a clear mind to achieve in a limited amount of time.
Applying Occam’s Razor to this entire post, my message is: Avoid negative influences and people at all times, pursue genuine thought without accepting conventional wisdom, and find purpose and happiness so you can focus more intently on things you really want.
And don’t make all encompassing resolutions. That’s a recipe for achieving disappointment. Think like a guerrilla war combatant and adjust as necessary.
Wishing you success today and all of 2012…