Never follow the crowd. Go where it’s empty.
This is long, so feel free to skip.
The news organizations present a misleading slant on current events. More specifically, the media has the subtle bias of being more interested in bad news. But don’t take my word for it. In his book Future Perfect Steven Johnson says,
“If it bleeds, it leads” might be a good strategy for selling papers, but it necessarily skews our collective sense of how well we are doing as a society. We hear about every threat or catastrophe, but stories of genuine progress get relegated to the back packed, if they run at all.
Why am I telling you the above? I recently read the autobiography of Arnold Schwarzenegger. In short, Arnold’s biography is in many ways a remarkable story of genuine progress. Many of his accomplishments are extraordinary. But I’m afraid that a lot of people will ignore this book because the media has been focusing its attention on Arnold’s shortcomings vis-a-vis his marriage.
I enjoyed reading Arnold’s book and I highly recommend it. While the takeaways from this book are countless (the book is almost 650 pages long), I decided to share with you the following:
“I said to myself, ‘what if I go all out? Really work on the acting, really work on the stunts, really work on whatever else I need to be onscreen. Also market myself really well, market the movies well, promote them well, publicize them well. What if I shot to become one of Hollywood’s top five leading men?’
People were always talking about how few performers there are at the top of the ladder, but I was always convinced there was room for one more. I felt that, because there was so little room, people got intimidated and felt more comfortable staying on the bottom of the ladder. But, in fact, the more people that think that, the more crowded the bottom of the ladder becomes! Don’t go where it’s crowded. Go where it’s empty. Even though it’s harder to get there, that’s where you belong and where there’s less competition.”
People can be great poets, great writers, geniuses in the lab. But you can do the finest work and if people don’t know, you have nothing! …The most important thing is to make people aware.
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My 2¢: Taste Younique. In business, as Arnold said, “Never follow the crowd. Go where it’s empty.”
Oct 27, 2012