Society is very unintelligent. Beware!
Society -- both the social space we work and interact in, as well as mass institutions such as corporate employers, advertising and government agencies -- is either very unintelligent or very uninterested.
UNINTELLIGENT
Society (the social space) is very unintelligent because it doesn't contain knowledge. Most of what we see and hear, in the course of a normal day, consists of images, impressions, ads, TV commercials, etc. These messages are not only very unintelligent, but they contain misleading information as well.
UNINTERESTED
The other aspect of society (mass institutions such as corporate employers, government, mass advertisers, schools, etc.) might be intelligent as social systems, but they are largely uninterested in your personal goals or aspirations. In fact, you are treated not as a person but as a number or entity to be processed as efficiently as possible.
What about friends and family? Most of us would agree that they are interested in our success. I'm assuming here that your friends and family KNOW what your career goal is, or what your personal goals in life are. This assumption might not be true. You have to check it for yourself. Just ask friends or relatives if they know what your goals are.
Assuming that they DO know what you are trying to achieve, your friends and family might not be technically intelligent enough to help you attain your goals. By "technically intelligent," I mean they might not have the expertise or professional experience you need to realize your goals.
Maybe this is why there is growing popularity with coaches. CBS yesterday reported on this trend: people hire coaches for helping them to realize their goals. There are coaches in personal appearance and fashion; career coaches; business coaches; life coaches.
The thing about good coaches is that they are both interested in your success, and technically intelligent enough to help you.
My point is that whether it's through coaches, consultants, trainers, books, workshops, courses, etc. a person should proactively seek out as many sources of intelligence and knowledge as possible. Furthermore, he/she should realize, as explained above, that society is filled with non-intelligence, deception and outright lies.
As someone trained in marketing as well as journalism, I'm very acquainted with the techniques and tools that the elite uses to craft compelling stories or irresistible offers so as to hook people's attention or get them to spend.
Anyone who is serious about success and financial independence has to be very, very wary of all the messages coming from the cultural and news media. In fact, it is best to ignore them altogether.
Here's a quick test to see where you are on the success spectrum:
On the left end, we have a person who's consuming mass media (magazines, TV shows, newscasts, etc.); in the middle, we have a person who only reads non-fiction books; on the right end, we have a person who writes blogs (including podcasts) or books or articles.
The key to financial independence is to move slowly from left to right -- that is, from passive consumer to active producer.
Wealth only comes to those who create and produce. To be able to do this, you almost have to violently extract yourself from popular culture and from -- watch out, this might hurt -- friends or groups of people who have low standards or who don't believe in having goals in life.
If wealth comes to those who create and produce value, then what comes to people who consume? Debt.
A never-ending spiral of debt that forces those people to keep a job they hate, so they can pay for things they own but don't actually need.
UNINTELLIGENT
Society (the social space) is very unintelligent because it doesn't contain knowledge. Most of what we see and hear, in the course of a normal day, consists of images, impressions, ads, TV commercials, etc. These messages are not only very unintelligent, but they contain misleading information as well.
UNINTERESTED
The other aspect of society (mass institutions such as corporate employers, government, mass advertisers, schools, etc.) might be intelligent as social systems, but they are largely uninterested in your personal goals or aspirations. In fact, you are treated not as a person but as a number or entity to be processed as efficiently as possible.
What about friends and family? Most of us would agree that they are interested in our success. I'm assuming here that your friends and family KNOW what your career goal is, or what your personal goals in life are. This assumption might not be true. You have to check it for yourself. Just ask friends or relatives if they know what your goals are.
Assuming that they DO know what you are trying to achieve, your friends and family might not be technically intelligent enough to help you attain your goals. By "technically intelligent," I mean they might not have the expertise or professional experience you need to realize your goals.
Maybe this is why there is growing popularity with coaches. CBS yesterday reported on this trend: people hire coaches for helping them to realize their goals. There are coaches in personal appearance and fashion; career coaches; business coaches; life coaches.
The thing about good coaches is that they are both interested in your success, and technically intelligent enough to help you.
My point is that whether it's through coaches, consultants, trainers, books, workshops, courses, etc. a person should proactively seek out as many sources of intelligence and knowledge as possible. Furthermore, he/she should realize, as explained above, that society is filled with non-intelligence, deception and outright lies.
As someone trained in marketing as well as journalism, I'm very acquainted with the techniques and tools that the elite uses to craft compelling stories or irresistible offers so as to hook people's attention or get them to spend.
Anyone who is serious about success and financial independence has to be very, very wary of all the messages coming from the cultural and news media. In fact, it is best to ignore them altogether.
Here's a quick test to see where you are on the success spectrum:
On the left end, we have a person who's consuming mass media (magazines, TV shows, newscasts, etc.); in the middle, we have a person who only reads non-fiction books; on the right end, we have a person who writes blogs (including podcasts) or books or articles.
The key to financial independence is to move slowly from left to right -- that is, from passive consumer to active producer.
Wealth only comes to those who create and produce. To be able to do this, you almost have to violently extract yourself from popular culture and from -- watch out, this might hurt -- friends or groups of people who have low standards or who don't believe in having goals in life.
If wealth comes to those who create and produce value, then what comes to people who consume? Debt.
A never-ending spiral of debt that forces those people to keep a job they hate, so they can pay for things they own but don't actually need.
posted by Super Peter at 7:25 PM
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