This is part 2, it is a continuation of part 1.
You know, many of us work for a living. As such, if you have a university degree, the chances are that you migrated to a corporate job in a corporate environment. You probably received a decent salary, a nice (if bland and sterile) working environment, and considered yourself well on the way towards corporate greatness in a solid career.
It’s a nice fantasy. It’s all a big lie.
Most Americans waste their lives working in this environment. They get up and go to work. They deal with traffic, an uncaring boss, and suffer through the various rules that HR implements. They endure mindless and mind-numbing meetings, answer a pile of round-and-round email trains, and fill out form after form.
That’s not a life worth living.
A life worth living is one with purpose, direction, participation and fulfillment. Within the now-popular “corporate model” we have the worst elements of 1920’s-style progressive social-engineering intermixed with 1980’s-austerity. It is a most horrible mixture. Couple that with modern surveillance technology, unified HR standards, and the sterile ideal, you have a nightmare.
Here are some thoughts on corporate life, particularly American corporate life, now that I moved on elsewhere. These thoughts are just general ramblings, and the reader should not get too offended by them. We are all different.
Those of you who own your own companies and who set them up can ignore this post. This is not written for you. This is written precisely for the people who have to work in the “corporate” environment. One that often springs up out of the model you created.
This is a Two-Part Post
This is the second of a two part post. To see the first part, please kindly go HERE.
The 360 Review
Sometime a decade or so ago, the reincarnation of Beelzebub came up with the idea of a HR technique known as a “360 Review“. This is a review of a employee where the employee is presented with all their good and bad together in a yearly review. It is based on the false premise that saying negative things about a person, to their face, will result in positive outcomes.
Eventually this policy will fade away into obscurity. Companies that implement this policy tend to have short turnover cycles.
Trust me, no one wants to sit by while people tell them bad things about their life, their work, their dress, their behaviors, and aspects of their personality. In fact, a real MAN should get up, say that they will not tolerate such disrespect and leave.
Imagine sitting down and telling Clint Eastwood all of his bad faults and things that you don’t like about him…
Thoughts affect our reality.
Now, the old saying “Sticks and stones might break my bones, but words will never hurt me“, is quite outdated. It is based on a Newtonian understanding of how the universe works. In the Newtonian reality, all that exists is what you observe. Things and objects follow predictable relationships with other physical things. There is nothing outside of the physical world. Well, surprise! The universe does not obey a Newtonian reality. It obeys a quantum reality.
That’s a wake up call for all you statists out there in internet-land.
In the quantum world, we now have a revised saying; “Sticks and stones will break my bones, and words will hurt me even more.”
In the corporate world you have a false reality that you have to exist within. You obey it, and you take the uncomfortable all for a paycheck. It doesn’t have nor need to be that way. So don’t accept it.
Don’t accept it. Just do not.
If need be, imagine your favorite television character and put on that “face” and role. Because, for what ever it is worth, this kind of behavior done in China is considered the height of “face loss”. It just isn’t done here. So imagine your favorite character, and take on their persona when dealing with this kind of nonsense.
[21] The corporate world is a fantasy. It is a fake reality that is designed to subjugate the worker into behavioral norms that benefit the corporation. There is often no concern to the needs of the worker.
Responsibility with no Authority
Very often, in the corporate world, you will be held accountable for tasks that weren’t even your responsibility in the first place.
In large corporations, you will be given tasks and responsibilities, and maybe a nice title. However, there will often be no authority with the new tasks. The end result will be a middle manager, or two, or three, that will hold up the entire process. One will be busy or on travel, or on vacation. You won’t be able to move forward on your tasks because this lone manager is “sitting on” the approval.
Yet, finally, once the approval is granted, you will be held responsible for the delay in the project and the task. Your supervision and your manager will not accept your excuses, even though they will be true and accurate.
[22] Any company that does not provide responsibility with individual authority is being managed poorly. The inability to control a task you are assigned is a very stressful event. Stress is generated by things that are beyond our control.
Possessions own you
One of the biggest and most significant lessons of working in a big corporation is that you exchange your time for money. You sacrifice your life; your time (your most valuable commodity), and yourself for a handful of paper. That paper is exchanged for baubles to enhance your lifestyle.
Over time, after working in this environment for a few years, we forget things. We start to assume that the purpose of the work that we endure is for the pleasures of collecting baubles.
- That urgent need to get the latest iPhone when it first came out.
- Upgrade your car with some niceties.
- Purchase of that whimsy for your front yard.
- Getting a better set of wrenches for the garage.
- Buying that software game in the store, because it was on sale.
As nice as these things are, are they really important? I argue that they are not as significant as we tend to believe. America is a consumer-focused nation, and a sizable portion of our money goes into taxes, followed with things we rent (our house, our car – Yes “Rent”, you don’t own anything you are making payments on.), then what is left over is often gobbled up with the purchase of baubles.
It is important, for us to get off that treadmill.
Stop the accumulation of possessions. Only buy what you need. Downsize, and save what money you can. By doing this, we attain control over our options. Work and the salary that we derive from it is no longer so important. We have the ability to be flexible and start being in charge of our life, as opposed to a “slave to the company”.
Keep in mind that the more things that you possess fixes you into one physical location. It ties you down. Many of the things that you own loses their value quickly, and we tend to either put them in closets, garages or expensive storage units. They are things that no longer have any use to use. Quite the contrary, they force us with the need to earn more to replace them.
[23] The less you own, the more freedom you have. Do not fall into the trap of buying baubles to satiate a need that manifests from the corporate environment.
Do not confuse arrogance with confidence
One of the things that I have noticed in large corporations is that middle and upper management tended to have some very arrogant leaders.
This is not always true, and indeed, many of the upper management in the smaller companies tended to be well-rounded, stable people with great ability.
However, the point remains that the long-duration corporate environment tends to create monsters. That’s the best way that I can say it. Over time, they rise up through the ranks, they play the political games, and become very astute at it. Over time, maybe they rise up higher and obtain some real genuine perks. I saw this at GM, and there were some amazingly arrogant assholes in leadership positions.
Confidence is what you obtain through successfully navigating through the stresses of life.
Arrogance is what happens when the ego confuses confidence with ability.
The problem arises in the manifestation of arrogance. The coworkers and subordinates all suffer. This can vary in how it manifests. For instance…
- I worked at a glass company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where the managers would throw chairs, and pots of coffee at you if they were unhappy.
- I worked in Shreveport, Louisiana where the management fired the housecleaning staff and brazenly told the white-collar engineering staff that from then on, our Saturdays belonged to the company. Our new job was to clean the offices on Saturday for eight hours for free.
- I worked in San Louis Obispo, California where I was told that I shouldn’t go straight home after work. Instead that I was to “stick around” for an hour after I clocked-out to show “support” for the company.
- I worked in Hattiesburg, Mississippi where My salary was cut in half, and replaced with a few cartons of old products that they couldn’t sell.
- I worked outside of Chicago and I was ordered to change my phone number to something easier for them to remember.
- I worked in Kokomo, Indiana and I was told that during the Christmas holiday that I was forbidden to drink any alcoholic beverages at home. If they found out, I would be fired.
- I worked in Erie, Pennsylvania where I was ordered to change my personal signature to something that my boss found more to his liking.
- I worked in Northern Indiana, at GM, and I was told that my car (a Mazda) was not welcome in the parking lot. So I was told that I should either buy a new car, or park away from the factory and walk to work.
The world might have people who are absolute assholes. There might be people who have poor social skills, and who want to rule the world… (Facebook, Google, or Twitter… anyone) and there are those who are just flush with their success. Remember that is not YOUR problem.
Eventually, arrogance is always part of a boomerang effect. The universe has a way of evening things out.
[24] Be humble no matter what your success is. Avoid having your ego take over, least you become an arrogant SOB.
Don’t confuse comfort with success
Another thing we tend to confuse is comfort and success.
After fighting hard to land a “decent” job, we are often relieved and happy that the stress is over. We will be able to make our bills, and put some food on the table. Our spouse will stop hounding us to “get a job”, and we can relax somewhat.
The stress of being unemployed is much greater than any stress at a job (with some notable exceptions, that I had the misfortune to be associated with).
Corporate life can be comfortable. It’s only when you start your own business that you realize quite how comfortable you were in that world. Sure, there was a level of stress, there were angry bosses, there were early starts and late finishes; but there was always a pay check.
After a long, often too long, time looking for a job while unemployed, it is a major relief to be employed. Especially if you are working at a “good” company.
We have a tendency to relax somewhat.
As such, we go to work, day in and day out, and as we stay at the job we begin to associate our comfort at the job as a sign of our success. This is especially true if we have a raise or two in salary, and if we get along with the management. We think that we are comfortable and that comfort is a sure-fire sign of our success.
That is not true.
Not really. Indeed, that is ONLY true is your idea of success is working for someone else in comfort. Most people do not associate success with comfort. (Well, maybe those on Public Welfare might.) Different people define success differently. I, myself, will argue that success is the complete fulfillment of your purpose in this life.
Success if the fulfillment of your God-given purpose.
This can be difficult to ascertain. We weren’t born with an instruction manual. No one told us what our purpose in life was. Indeed, aside from the major religions who associate purpose with some kind of spiritual ideal or goal, most governments define success as total conformity with the laws of the nation where you reside.
What a messed up situation.
Now, the truth be told, you can find out what your spiritual purpose is. All you need to do is look deep inside of you and figure it out through contemplation, and prayer. You figure it out on your own. You might want to employ a hypnotist, or do some “past life regression” to help you in your quest. However, and whatever you believe, please understand that there is only one person who knows what your life purpose it.
That is you.
Is is not your boss at work. It is not your guidance counselor. It is not your psychologist or therapist. Is is not a major public personality on television. It is not someone on government and it is most certainly not your wife. There is only one person who knows what it is, and that is you.
Odds are that it has nothing to do with your work, or your job.
[25] Your success is defined by you, and you alone. It is not something that is associated with work, career, occupation, profession, salary or money in any way. The sooner that we realize this, the sooner we are able to realign the things that matter to us personally within our life.
You MUST have Passion for what you do
It doesn’t matter what industry that you are in. You could be making hooks for the fishing industry, or working at a golf course. What ever you do, you must have a passion for it.
For instance, consider those people who have started their own beer breweries, All of them, every one, have one big piece of advice they are constantly dishing out to would-be beer entrepreneurs. Don’t even think of doing it for the money. Only do it if you really, really want to brew beer for a living.
"All these folks have tales of spending their life savings on makeshift brewing equipment, traveling to a beer sampling event to find it had been canceled, having wayward distributors do nothing to sell their beer then asking for a rebate to pour it down the drain, sleeping on the floor of the brewery to brew overnight and many other confidence-bashing incidents."
It doesn’t matter if you are trying to run your own company, or if you are working in a corporate environment. You must have a passion for what you do. You absolutely must.
I know, I know, it’s hard getting excited pouring over test spreadsheets and checking the numbers for quality control. But, the truth remains. If you do not have a passion for what you are doing, then eventually you will fail.
I used to have a dog that liked to dig. Man, this dog was a digging machine. He would dig anything up anywhere. I once left him in my mother’s back yard for a weekend. I came back and found the entire yard littered with military-style “fox holes”. It was in his nature.
I tried to break him out of the habit. I kept him indoors, and took him out on the leash. I would let him sleep in the garage. I did everything that I could do, but the first opportunity that he could dig a hole, man he would go to town. He would dig and dig and dig.
My dog has a passion for digging holes.
Yet, here I was trying to stop him. I not only did not share his passion, but I actively tried to suppress it.
Has that ever happened to you? Was there something that you really had a passion for, and others didn’t care, or tried to suppress it? It sucked didn’t it? You bet. That’s life.
[26] Stay away from people, work, industry or anyone or anything that will suppress your passions. For a man without passion is a hollow, empty shadow of a man, indeed.
Time is more important than money
You can always make more money, but you can never make more time.
We waste time constantly. I am not talking about doing things that are unproductive. Because “productivity” is a relative thing. I am specifically talking about using time doing things that are useful and significant to you personally. Time wasters such as long and boring meetings waste your work time AND your personal time.
One of the most common mistakes people make is to look at the money that they make at a company and consider that the MOST important criteria in accepting a job there. They fail to take into account the time lost in commuting to and from the company. They forget to take into account the restrictions on vacation, and holiday time. They fail to take into account the requirements that place impositions on your private and personal time.
This is dangerous.
The most important thing that you have is your time. It is not the money you make. This is never clearer until when you get older. It is by far your most precious resource. And you start to realize how spending your time doing things for other people can actually be a waste.
- One company in Pensacola, Florida required that you work every holiday. The pay would be at the normal rate, with no holiday pay.
- One company in Waltham, Massachusetts insisted that everyone work on Christmas. The owners were not Christian, and thus felt that any workers can only take the holidays that they recognize in their religion. The result was that you had to work during the holidays at normal pay.
- My commute, when I first moved to Fort Wayne Indiana, was three hours to and three hours from work. This was because a new GM factory had moved to the area and no housing was available for miles.
[27] The most valuable thing that you have is time. It is not explicitly money. Never exchange your time for something that does not have value. Value can mean relationships, people, hobbies or anything that matters to you.
All that little stuff is unimportant
We often have a tendency to get so caught up in the trivial. What someone said to us. A parking space that someone else took. A cup of coffee that was cold. A harsh email, or response to a post on the blog. It’s all just unimportant stuff. It’s all meaningless.
We need to take a good look at the world around us. Find meaning in what we do, find meaning in our friends and relationships. We need to connect with nature and see the world as it actually is, and not view it from the prism of a computer monitor.
One of the things wrong with many people in a corporate environment is the concept of “urgent” and “emergency”. A supervisor or manager sits on a report for three months and the project starts getting late. To correct his incompetence, he declares the situation an “emergency” and an “urgent” task that needs to be resolved.
Nonsense.
The only emergency that matters is if your child had a broken leg, or if you were suddenly being called to the IRS for a audit on your finances. Emergencies in a corporate environment are often artificial in origin. It is what is caused by piss-poor management. It is not caused by the workers who are jut trying to push their projects to completion.
[28] We need to categorize things in such a way that we only CARE and are influenced by things that actually matter. True and real emergencies are exceedingly rare in a corporate environment. Do not be fooled. One person’s emergency is their and only their problem. Often it’s just a name that is laid over the incompetence of others.
There is no guidebook on how to run your life
I know, I know. There are those that say to follow the Bible and everything will be clear. Others say, follow the United States Constitution and your life would be simple with liberty and freedom. Militant Muslims insist that the Koran has all the answers, while others have other ideas.
When we go into a company they will provide us a handbook on how to act and behave and what rules the company has.
Combined, a man such as myself, will end up with numerous guides that he will try to follow. For me, in fact, I followed the United States Constitution, the Constitution and laws of the state where I lived, the Bible (most especially the New Testament), and the guidebook provided by the company where I worked.
However, I noticed that even though I followed and obeyed these most brilliant of documents, that my life somehow did not match the ideal as portrayed on the main-stream media.
I saw people like Bill Clinton becoming very rich and powerful, openly flaunting both the Bible and the Constitution, without consequence. I saw people getting promoted over me who were (seriously) not nearly as smart or brilliant, but who were promoted based on their relationships with others in the company. I saw absolutely mundane people “gaming the system” and getting away with it.
The point of this is that what happens to other people are NOT your concern. We need to stop comparing ourselves with others. We need to develop our interests in ourselves and our lives selfishly.
As such, there is no “manual” that will “be the ticket” to success. Since success is an individual phenomenon, there can be no manual. There can be no guidelines. There is nothing for us to follow. We have to carve our life out on our own.
[29] Our individual success is predicated on our ability to understand our personal needs and translate that into a recipe for living among other people. As such, there will be a long period of trial and error, with the risk of many a dead end. We cannot give up on this effort. Because it is precisely this journey that defines our purpose in this life. (Remember, our reality is created by our thoughts and our purpose is colored by the life lessons we learn.)
TV is a waste of time
If you recall, time is the most important possession that you have. It is not money or any other attributes. So here, consider the various ways that we trivialize this most important of attributes. Let’s talk about the great time wasters of televisions, the internet, and games.
Granted it is a rare company that permits the employees to watch television during work hours. However, just about everyone in America turns on the television set once they get home from walk. Or at least they did. Now, that might be displaced by the internet or some other type of social media device.
Since what you do immediately after work is tied to your labor, let’s talk about it here and now. Television is a mindless device that is used to replace life.
The truth be told, as a child of the 1960’s and 1970’s, I wasted so much of my life spending 6 hours each day watching TV. Following shows that I just “had” to see, in order to “relax”. Today, I regret almost every second of it. The whole world outside was passing me by.
In what way did the show “Laugh In” improve my life? How did the “Flintstones”, “Mayberry RFD”, “Dragnet”, “My Three Sons”, “Star Trek” and “General Hospital” improve my life?
Ugh!
I know, I know, TV was an important part of the 20st century. It was important in bringing communication and news to the masses. It was important. It really was. However, you know, now today it’s terribly wasteful.
Let’s all be truthful with each other. People get biased news through it. They do so from habit, even though much better alternatives are available.
People watch terrible TV shows, and I do mean horribly terrible, they watch nonsense to substitute for living life in a reality that does not favor them. While it, teaches them nothing, it sucks so many hours of their lives away that they are oblivious to the damage. Overall, the people who live their lives vicariously through these artificial media delude themselves into thinking that they don’t have time to pursue real passions in life.
Let’s be honest, media such as the internet, computerized games and television encourage people to be antisocial. They cause people to hide away and cuddle with their media device. Whether it is a smart-phone, a television set, a radio or a computer, people now cuddle with the devices instead of with another person.
so…
[30] Live life in the physical. Do not substitute the electronic for reality. What ever you see or experience in any kind of electronic media is designed to manipulate you. Do not fall for this manipulation.
Limit the use of the internet
Speaking of the television being the great time waster, let’s go next generation and talk about the ruinous internet.
Unlike TVs, the Internet is interactive and allows you to take part and become virtually social. It connects communities all over the world. It connects people together in a kind of fake reality. Here, people can pretend to be others, and carry on as if they are experts in things that they nothing about.
Having said all this, we need to keep in mind that the internet is even a worse time waster than the television is.
Use the internet for function and purpose. If you decide to use it for pleasure, then do so judiciously. There are many things that are better to do in person than viewing them through the internet. May I suggest…
- Play with your cat instead of watching cat-videos.
- Go out with your friends and have a pizza together instead of sending pictures of pizza that you ate alone on Facebook.
- Pay for a short-time girl and enjoy the moment in person, instead of looking at porn on the internet.
Things are always better in person. Always.
[31] The internet is more dangerous than television because it is interactive. Limit your use of it. When given a choice, opt for doing things in person instead of virtually. It is easy to become addicted to the internet as you can pretend to participate in life instead of actually doing so.
Americans view foreign cultures in a stereotypical manner
Most Americans do not deal with foreigners. Yet, increasingly, the world is a global marketplace. Sooner rather than later, many Americans will find that they are forced to deal with foreign entities, workers and staff as part of their business. I, myself was first exposed to working with Brazilians and Russians back in the late 1980’s, and all through the 1990’s I worked throughout Asia.
The world outside of America has really grown in the last four decades. There was a rising middle class, and then a rising upper-middle class. Now, many of the nations in Asia all have a kind of familiarity to each other. They look futuristic and high-tech. Yet Americans are oblivious to this. We tend to think that just because our cities hardly changed that the rest of the world hardly changed either. That is not the case at all.
Shenzhen, China as viewed from the suburb of Futian. I particularly like the synchronized building lighting that is very popular in China.
Yup, this light show is normal. It is an every-night event.
One of the things that I discovered was that Americans, and myself included, had a very two-dimensional view of non-Americans.
Perhaps it was the non-stop barrage of “Save the Children” commercials, or maybe it was the images of Brazilian children foraging for food in these enormous garbage dumps. Maybe it was the onslaught of the images of (so called) child prostitutes that seemed to be everywhere in the UK news, or maybe it was the dated library books that showed 1960’s era images of foreign nations.
In any event, the result has been that Americans have a terribly distorted idea of what the rest of the world looks like. Maybe we think it looks kind of like El Paso, or a poverty stricken section of Jamaica. In any event, it really isn’t that way at all.
Rural China. China has spent billions of dollars upgrading infrastructure and the environment. In America, the moneys that are “earmarked” towards infrastructure and repair are often wholly absorbed in crime and corruption in the forms of brides, siphoning of resources, and fraud. Not to mention, the enormous red tape and regulations that slow everything to a glacial pace. Not so in China. The money goes directly to the projects, with armed Corruption Police making sure that nothing gets siphoned away into some rich cat’s pockets.
Things are quite cheap in rural China. The government has made every effort to preserve history and heritage. Unlike the United States where Civil War statues are being bulldozed for political correctness, the Chinese preserve their history.
Every country in the world is modernizing but this does not mean that they are westernizing or Americanizing. What makes them unique does not have to satisfy your “quaint” tourist-brochure view of them. Leave ignorant stereotypes aside and have an open mind about how modern life is like in that culture.
We need to realize that the world is filled with many people who are just like us. They might speak a different language, and have slightly different cultures, but fundamentally they want to work hard, raise a family and support it. They are really not very interested in the kind of world that is portrayed in the American mainstream news.
The Western city of Shanghai, China…
Next time you read some news from CNN talking about some issue… question it.
Here’s an example;
"Leave Immediately" - CNN Records Chinese Warnings Aboard Naval Flight Near Artificial Islands Found HERE. If this news is to be believed, then CNN was [1] provided with a seat on a top secret monitoring aircraft. [2] That they booted an NFO or two, [3] somehow managed to get clearance not only to board the plane, [4] fly in the area in question, [5] listen in on the communication, [6] tape record the conversation, but also permitted to [7] publish the communication. We are forced to believe that the Chinese Air Controllers spoke [8] American-style English [9] instead of Chinese, and did so in a [10] harsh tone.
All of this stretches the boundaries of credibility. Indeed, the comments on Zero Hedge just shows the disdain that people have for fake war-provocation nonsense from the main-steam American media…
The question has to be asked, why was CNN allowed on a US military aircraft in the first place?
-
Guangzhou, China. The heart of the Southern industrial region…
[32] The world outside the United States is nothing like we have been led to believe. It benefits those in power to keep Americans dumb, manipulated and complaisant through fear. For us to be successful in our personal life, we need to see things personally, and experience them directly. We should treat all news, and anything that we do not personally experience with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Finally, next time some crappy-assed American news-media is trying to promote conflict or another war, tell them to fuck off. It doesn’t matter if it is Syria, Russia, China, or Iran. The world is not like it is portrayed by the American media. Not in the remotest.
Modern Hong Kong, China…
Take your time
In the United States, I would often be berated to work at break-neck speed to meet these near-impossible (in many cases actually impossible) deadlines. Heck, a boss would promise that we could make a (mold) tool out of P3 hardened steel in three weeks. Three weeks!. That’s a 36 week project if done properly, not including billing costs, delays in getting the material and structuring the work-force.
Many times, I felt like an overheated engine that just finished a marathon race with the engine pinging while it was cooling down. To survive I was prescribed anti-stress medication. The thing is, the human body is not designed to have Adrenalin coursing through your body for months at a time. The “fight or flight” mechanism is a short time event measured in minutes or a few hours. It is not designed for sustained use.
America is a land where you NEED medication just to exist.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living in countries that are more “easy going” it’s that they are much better in their pace of life. Brazil, Thailand and Cambodia come to my mind readily. On the other side of the coin are nations like the United States. People and countries that do everything quicker also do it worse. Take it easy and go slowly.
Enjoy every bite of food. Savor it.
Be mindful. Spend time outside. When the sky is electric blue, and the trees are lush green, take it all in.
When you walk, do it at a purposely slow pace and take in your surroundings. Take your time. relax. Spend time with your loved ones, your friends, and the environment that surrounds you. When they speak to you, listen.
When you work, do it at YOUR pace. Not at a pace defined by someone else. If you generate a timeline, and they tear it up and cut it in half, make sure that they (and not you) are responsible for any delays. If you know that they will not take on this responsibility, then start looking for another job. For you might be good, but you are not God.
[33] Take your time in doing any task. Go at the speed and the pace that works best for you. If you find that your pace is not suitable by your management, go elsewhere. Life is too short to change your way of doing something to fit the desires of others.
You can’t please everyone
As you get older, you start to realize that there is no way that you can please everyone. In fact, the chances are that there will be very few people that you will be able to please. Everyone will have an opinion. Everyone will have an idea of what you can do to better yourself.
If you make a mistake, they will loudly state that you were a fool and that they would have never be put in the situation that you were in. Yeah. Right. That is one of the most common things that is heard in prisons, that the inmates never thought that they would ever go to prison. They felt that they were smarter, better or wiser than others.
Nonsense.
You are you. You have your own experiences, and your own way of doing things. Do things your way and let the rest howl in frustration.
[34] Do what you do for your own purposes. Never try to please anyone else. Do not change your opinion for anyone else either. Be yourself or be a pale shadow of someone else’s image.
Trying to be cool is useless
Trying to be cool is something that we should outgrow in school. It is a mechanism that we use to enter various social communities. In the 1940’s, a “cool” person would eat goldfish. In the 1960’s a “cool” person would drop acid. In the 1970’s a “cool” person would wear a “choke collar”. Today, being cool” means being a metro-sexual, promoting LGBT diversity and eating guacamole on your whole-wheat bagels.
Nonsense.
In the corporate environment, being “cool” means that you have decided to be a sheep and not a leader. You decided that you would rather join some clique or club group rather than go your own way. It means that your ego is so fragile that you would rather give up something that is fundamentally part of you to belong to a society of like-minded individuals.
You follow the rules and obey the written and unwritten laws. You are an accepted part of the work community and that is in itself… “cool”.
When you get older, you start to see the folly in all this.
Now, there is a very interesting thing that happens when you are in a corporate environment. With your ego supplanted by the corporate ideal, you need to start to do little things that scream “I am a man, I am not a number!”.
You put special pictures on your desk in specially selected frames. You might start using a colored pen, or pencils. You might purchase a desk mat that identifies your working cubicle as “yours”. You might put a pillow on your chair, or do some other kind of small rebellious action that is small but personally significant.
Whether at work, or at home, be yourself. Do so whether it is “cool” or not. many companies have an unwritten dress code that you are supposed to conform to. A cool person would obey the dress code, but have some kind of rebellious streak that might set them apart. It would be their statement of individuality.
This might mean swapping out the white buttons on a long-sleeved white shirt for colored ones. It might mean wearing sneakers instead of oxfords at work. It might mean wearing a black tie, when everyone in your department is wearing a red one.
If you feel the need to stand out, to act cool, then you should be made aware that something is wrong. Your ego is shouting at you that you no longer belong in the society that you are now a part of. You need to bail. You need to exit it quickly before events proceed beyond your ability to manage them.
[35] Being “cool” is something that adults grow out of. If you ever feel the need to rebel, then that need is a warning sign that you are in a situation where you do not belong. Listen to the alert. Take action.
Make mistakes – and make LOTS of them!
Mistakes are how we learn.
It is well understood that a person who has made no mistakes never made anything. For all the brilliant books and stories that Ray Bradberry wrote, he wrote many, many more that did not become so popular. For all the brilliant paintings that Daniel F. Gerhartz painted, he had painted many, many more lesser works (see the work above).
[36] Make mistakes. Keep on moving forward, never back. Do not try to live a mistake-free life. Mistakes happen to those who live life.
Stop thinking so much
You know, we all really have got to stop over-thinking so much. We really do. We all know the story about the person trying to shoot an arrow. It’s [1] Ready, [2] Aim, and [3] Fire. Yet many people don’t follow this advice. They either go…
- Ready…. Ready…. Ready…. Ready….
- Fire!
- Ready… Aim…. Ready…. Aim….
I think the biggest problem that we need to overcome is the problem that we tend to over-think everything. We think this, and we think that. We wonder what others are thinking about us. We try to conduct an analysis of our particular situation. We think, and we think, and we think some more.
It tends to drive us crazy.
Stop. Just stop this nonsense. Do not over-think anything.
I personally believe that one of the causes of over-thinking things is when we spend time outside of nature. We are not getting enough fresh air. We are not walking about outside enough. We are not being near the beach, or hiking in the mountains enough. We need to reset ourselves.
We need to get out of the boxes that cause us to generate self-neuroses.
Because that is one of the aspects of over-thinking; neuroses.
[37] Stop thinking too much. To a task, and then forget it. Stop caring what other people think and what they do. Take care of yourself and spend more time outside in nature. It will help you get a handle and put some control over your thought process.
Dance and sing whenever possible
In the United States, it is culturally frowned upon to express yourself with the corporate environment. Everyone has a role within the extents of their job responsibilities. Once they leave the work environment, many can spend their free time involved in the things that matter to them. Often this is a mixture of television, the internet and household chores. Really, not too many Americans spend the time at the pub, brasserie, or KTV to dance and sing.
That is not true in other countries. In fact, it seems like everyone in Asia loves to dance and sing. Some of them are really, really good…
That is really sad.
Which is one thing that I really like about China. When I am out with the other bosses, we go out to the KTV and sing our hearts out, as well as dance the night away. Let me tell you, life is too short not to enjoy life. Stop doing what that old biddy down the street wants you to do.
Come on. Go out, get that cigar that you have been wanting to smoke. Go ahead, ask that girl out. Don’t be afraid and eat that deep-fried Monti Crisco sandwich. If you start to worry about everything, you are living a life in fear. Sing. dance. Drink the wine with both hands and then wipe your mouth with your sleeve.
Come on, if this fella can “beat it”, so can you…
Don’t be afraid what other people think. You can dance. Heck if 95 year old men can dance to Michael Jackson, then so can you. Or maybe you disagree with me. Maybe you think that it is classy to obey those whom you work for, be afraid to show emotion, style or class.
You know, you don’t need to know how to dance to dance. In fact, you can just do jumping jacks, or hop around to the beat. Do sort of a electronic version of “The Grateful Dead” when you dance in public….
Life is too short not to enjoy it.
I took professional dancing lessons, and for a period of time in my life, dancing was a very important part of my life. Still, whenever I get a chance I get up and start to dance. You know, you do not need to be able to dance well to be able to dance. You just follow the music.
Of course, one of the secrets about dance is precision. Really good dancers just have a very good control of some very simple and basic dance moves. They just move these basic moves in a very precise manner….
Now, I cannot sing worth shit, but when there is a chance to sing some country and western music, get out of my way. I am going to sing my heart out. Seriously you all need to stop being so serious. Get a little crazy. have fun.
If you cannot sing, then fake it. Lip sync.
[38] Who cares about what you do for a living, if you are not enjoying yourself? You must be living your life to it’s fullest. Otherwise you are not living. You are existing. Don’t do that.
Do not take anything for granted.
One of the things that you learn as you get older, is that you just cannot count on anything. You just don’t know when the rug will be pulled out from under you, and you will be stranded with your dick in your hand.
Please don’t take anything for granted.
Treasure every single moment you have. If you are in a corporate environment, then know that one day you will be replaced. maybe you are too expensive, maybe your customer decided to leave, maybe someone is bad mouthing you, maybe the company owner has a son-in-law that wants your job. You don’t know. Anything can happen. All that you can control is your thoughts and how you carry yourself.
Do you best. Know that things change. Do everything you can to enjoy the life that you have at that very minute, because life can change in a New York Minute. Don’t be caught off guard. It is a fact of life.
One day you will lose those that are closest to you. One day you might lose all your possessions, your bank account might end up empty. You might lose your health, become terribly scarred or paralyzed, or even worse. Don’t think it cannot happen to you. Anything is possible in this world. yes, and the bad things can happen just as readily as well as the good things.
[39] Don’t think that the situation that you are in will last forever. Things change. So do not take life for granted. Treasure every moment. Tell those you love how you feel about them. Say nothing bad or harsh, and appreciate the world around you.
Friends and Relationships are important
If there is one thing that I have learned over the years is the importance of a network of friends. If you lived the kind of life that I have, it’s hard to make friends when you have to move to another state every year or so. Eventually you give up and you all just keep to yourselves.
Yet the truth is that you need friends and family. You help them when they need it, and they help you out when you need it. So one of the first priorities that you need to do is establish a network of friends where ever you live. Cultivate them. This network can be associated with church, a hobby, or just random strangers. However, what ever you do, cultivate them. Do not take them for granted. Appreciate them.
[41] You NEED friends. Make friends, cultivate them. Cultivate and stay in contact with your family. No matter what happens at your corporate job, your friends will still be there for you.
Remember what friends are for…
Conclusions
As someone who spent most of his working life trapped with a corporate crucible, I wish to share my biases and thoughts in regards to the culture that has developed in corporate America. In short, it is important to be true to yourself and your purpose in life. If you are not careful, you will exchange your very being for some shiny baubles. So I would advise everyone to be careful.
Take Aways
- The more hoops your jump through the get the job, the worse you will be treated.
- Value does not equate with money.
- You are only as valuable for what you can provide.
- Companies operate above the law.
- Meetings are a waste of time.
- Everyone basically wants the same thing.
- Don’t defer your happiness for the future.
- You need game.
- Efficiency is a lie.
- Nobody cares.
- Be practical.
- There is no such thing as ‘Destiny”.
- Desk Jobs will kill your creativity.
- Avoid “Echo Chambers”.
- Living a good life is the best way to convince people.
- Nobody has the answer.
- It’s fine to say “I’ve made a mistake”.
- You are going to have to work hard.
- More money will not solve all your problems.
- Respect is earned.
- The 360 Review is dangerous.
- Responsibility should come with authority.
- Possessions own you.
- Do not confuse arrogance with confidence.
- Don’t confuse comfort with success.
- You must have passion.
- Time is more important than money.
- All that little stuff is unimportant.
- There is no guidebook.
- Television is a waste of time.
- Limit the use of the internet.
- Foreign nations are viewed stereotypically.
- Take your time.
- You cannot please everyone.
- Trying to be cool is pointless.
- Make mistakes.
- Stop thinking so much.
- Dance and sing when possible.
- Do not take anything for granted.
- Friends and family are important.
FAQ (For Parts 1&2)
Q: Do you think that all corporations are the same?
A: No. Not in the least. I think that there are many, many different types of companies, corporations and organizations. However, they all eventually develop their own types of individual social controls. When you work in the environments that surround these social controls you need to adapt. I suggest that the adaptation that we go though can be dangerous and limiting to our overriding purpose in life. Herein are my suggestions to assist in the survival of one’s purpose within the corporate structure.
Q: Why did you write this post in two parts?
A: I find that the trend on the internet has been to migrate posts and articles into two paragraph bite-sized chunks. People today have a short attention span. Yet my posts, by modern internet standards are enormous. Actually, this post could have been easily broken up into 40 blog posts were I to follow the culturally acceptable posting guidelines (and Googles SEO guidelines), but heck, I think higher of my readership than that. I broke it into two posts due to the size limitations on word-press (10,000 words max ). Other than that, the system crawls to a very slow pace.
Q: Were there other things that you could have added to this list?
A: Oh yes. Find love, for instance. Come in early for work, even if no one notices. Oh, and that oldie, but goodie, “Don’t piss off your boss“.
Q: Why are all your embedded videos from China?
A: I live in China, and that is what I have available to me.
You-Tube is an excellent resource, but since it is directly connected to the NSA servers (as is Google and Facebook, Pinterest, and Tumblr) it is banned, (The Chinese government does not want the American government to have complete files on it’s citizens.) and I would need to use a VPN to access. That’s not a big problem, getting a VPN in China is an easy enough thing to do.
But, you know, there is a bigger selection of choices in China than in the United States. It’s not because China is better, it’s simply because China is much, much, much larger than the United States in population.
In the United States you go into the grocery store, and go into the potato chip aisle. There might be a thousand different bags, of which there are five basic types, another five odd-ball types, and three brands. In China you would have three thousand bags, 300 different types, and 500 brands. The selection in China is much larger given the size of the nation.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society within communist China. As there are some really stark differences between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little different, in subtle ways.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come and enjoy a read or two as well.
Articles & Links
- You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
- You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
- You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
- You can find out more about the author HERE.
- If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
- If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.
Notes
- Began writing and composition 9AUG18.
- Content completed 12AUG18.
- SEO review 13 AUG18.
- Publish 13AUG18.