It’s been a solid 2 months since my last blog – and life is good. Finished another co-op, school in the summer term, chilling out maxing relaxing all cool while shooting some b-ball outside of school…what could be better?
If that didn’t make you laugh and remember how awesome the Fresh Prince was, then you’re too young 😛
On a more serious note, I’ve read a couple of pretty insightful articles (CREDITS: the material in this post comes from David Wong at cracked, and Gregoris Kalai at Huff Post) this past year that I have been meaning to blog about, but never got the chance to until now. So LGI baby lets get it lets go (David So fan here :P)!
Take a second, and name five impressive things about yourself. Write them down or list it in your head. But here’s the kicker: you cannot list anything you are (e.g. I’m a nice guy, I’m honest, I’m funny), but instead can only list things that you do (e.g. I can cook a mean eggplant dish, I am good at basketball, I made the 99th percentile on the MCAT).
Done?
Did you find it hard?
Welcome to life. Confused? Well imagine this scenario…
Your dearly beloved mother has just been shot. She is lying in the street, bleeding and moaning in pain. A guy rushes up and says, “Step aside. I will handle this.” He takes a look at the open wound, and flicks open a pocket knife – he’s going to operate right there in the street.
boom gutshot
You ask him, “Are you a doctor?”
The guy replies, “No.”
You’re worried now, but you say, “But you know what you’re doing, right? You’re a nurse, or a paramedic, or…”
At this point the guy becomes annoyed. He tells you that he is a nice guy, he is honest, he is always on time. He tells you that he is a great son to his mother and has a rich life full of fulfilling hobbies, and he boasts that he never uses foul language.
he’s a NICE GUY.
Confused, you say, “How does any of that fucking matter when my mother is lying here bleeding! I need somebody who knows how to operate on bullet wounds! Can you do that or not?!?”
Now the man becomes agitated – why are you being shallow and selfish? Do you not care about any of his other good qualities? Didn’t you just hear him say that he always remembers his girlfriend’s birthday? In light of all of he good things he does, does it really matter if he knows how to perform surgery?
CAN YOU DO SURGERY OR NOT!?!?
In that panicked moment, you will take your bloody hands and shake him by the shoulders, screaming, “Yes, I’m saying that none of that other shit matters, because in this specific situation, I just need somebody who can stop the bleeding, you crazy fucking asshole.”
Welcome to life.
Where everyday YOU are the confused guy with the pocket knife, and all of society is the bleeding gunshot victim.
POCKET KNIVES
Society is full of people who need things. They need houses built, they need food to eat, they need entertainment, they need this and they need that. Either you will go about the task of seeing to those needs by learning a unique set of skills, or the world will reject you, no matter how kind, giving and polite you are. You will be poor, you will be alone, you will be left out in the cold.
You are defined not by who you are, but what you are able to do. Because family notwithstanding, no one gives a shit who you are. They care about what you can DO. That is why surgeons make the big bucks – their job is hard to do. That is why TTC drivers make good money too – no one wants to put up with godforsaken hours and rude public. And that is why unemployed people are unemployed – they can be the nicest and greatest people ever, but if they have no marketable skills, no one wants them.
Does that seem mean, or crass, or materialistic? What about love and kindness – don’t those things matter?
Of course.
As long as they result in you doing things for people that they can’t get elsewhere. Are you smart? Are you funny? Are you nice? Ambitious? Creative? Romantic? That’s great. Now, what do you do to demonstrate those attributes to the world? Don’t say that you’re a nice guy – that’s the bare minimum. Pretty girls have guys being nice to them 50 times a day. What you are on the inside only matters because of what it makes you do.
The patient is bleeding in the street. Do you know how to operate or not?
You always hear “How can I get a job?” when it should be “How can I become the type of person employers want?” It’s always “How can I get pretty girls to like me?” instead of “How can I become the type of person that pretty girls like?” See, that second one could very well require giving up many of your favorite hobbies and paying more attention to your appearance and God knows what else. You might even have to change your personality.
“But why can’t I find someone who just likes me for me?” you ask. The answer is because humans need things. The victim is bleeding, and all you can do is look down and complain that there aren’t more gunshot wounds that just fix themselves?
Alec Baldwin brilliantly explains all of this in this little clip – warning: lots of vulgar language so definitely NSFW.
“Nice guy? Who gives a shit? If you want to work here, close.”
Couldn’t have said it any better.
So, can you name 5 impressive things about yourself – things that you can DO?
Music Mondays – sick remix.
pz out for now.
victor's blog. 