What do you do when the steady diet of self-made optimism is not working? All this self-talk we do -- "you can do it," "things will get better soon," is kind of getting old. It's also really boring and un-original. Who came up with this simplistic line of thinking? Maybe it's time for something radically different.
Here are some options.
Here are some options.
- Instead of Spock's old phrase from the original Star Trek -- "live long and prosper," we say "flounder continually until something average comes along."
- Instead of nodding one's head in agreement like everyone else (at a really un-original idea proposed at a meeting) you say "Boring. The product of intellectual laziness and the fear that runs through all of you to be different or stand out in any kind of meaningful way. Do you all want to die someday, knowing that you perpetuated average ideas and thinking for your entire adult life?"
- Have a party where you play music that alternates between Rammstein and 50s era lounge jazz. See what happens.
- Say nothing during an entire meeting. Then, at the end, say "Did you know that Jeff Bezos is building a 42 million dollar clock? By the way, does anyone have a quarter I can borrow for the soda machine?"
That's all I have for now. No concluding paragraph. No emoji. No link to a book that I'm selling.
