Antiquated Formula
The dictionary defines a formula as "A method of doing or treating something that relies on an established, uncontroversial model or approach."
Nowhere in the definition does it imply that formulae can't be changed, or "re-established".
Here's how the formula of today's discussion has evolved:
Go to school. Get a job. Work hard. Retire/die (whichever comes first).
100 years ago it was a matter of finishing as much school as you could until you were ready to work at your father's business.
50 years ago it was you MUST finish High School in order to amount to anything in this world, THEN you have the option of working in your fathers business, but only the very smart and lucky go to college.
25 years ago it was that you MUST go to college in order to be able to compete for the jobs that are out there, otherwise you'll be stuck working for your father.
10 years ago, somehow a B.S. (we'll get to the puns later) or a B.A. was not enough, and a masters degree is becoming more and more "necessary" in order to find work.
What's next? We're all going to be doctors? Do you have any idea what that would do to the value of an education? To the value of the word "doctor"? To the quality of work that would go into being a doctor? (see previous post) And of course I'm not just referring to medical doctors, I'm making a statement about the exaggeration of the importance of a "proper education".
This formula is getting old. It worked well for the industrial age, but it has very little bearing on the information age. We can take from it SOME of its constructs that still hold their value, just as we can take constructs from the previous model of apprenticeship (pre-industrial revolution).
Interesting side note to demonstrate my point--do you know what state has the highest SAT scores?... Take your time... really THINK about this one.... You might be thinking its some white suburbanite middle-class state like Oregon or Maine. Or maybe the ones with all the colleges like Massachussets or New York. Well its Mississippi. "WWHAA??" You see, in Mississippi, they're a little "behind the times" and working for your Pa after (or before) you finish high school is a viable career option for many. This is why they only encourage those students who have the potential to even GO to college, to take the SAT's in the first place. Here in New Jersey, high school principals pride themselves on saying "97% of our student body is moving on to some form of higher education". So they tell EVERYONE to take the SAT's. And we all know someone who has no earthly business going to any form of college who took the SAT's and scored miserably. They may be the greatest mechanic in 4 counties and can make a 6-figure income doing so at their uncle's garage...what the H*%L do they need a college education for? They had a terriffic apprenticeship growing up and the result is a skill that fewer and fewer "college types" will ever posess. (hmmm... 6-figure income doing something they're extremely good at.... and we call that "behind the times?")
Furthermore, and more to the point, the things that colleges are teaching us are narrowing. When we finally get out into the workplace, we findout that we have to have people skills just to get the interview right. Then we have to have more people skills to work in an office or on the phone. Then we find we need leadership skills to get a promotion before the guy next to us, and time management skills to upkeep the lifestyle we want--which should include spending time with your family, excercising, eating right, having hobbies, maintaining a spiritual life, contributing to your community, and getting enough sleep on top of it all. Raise your hand if you took a course in college called "Time Management", "Leadership", "People Skills", or least likely of all "Self-Improvement".
You see, no office would want you to have these qualities, because if you were better at them than your supervisor, you'd have his job. He wants you to be tired, barely adequate, and content to be so. Your co-worker in the next cube doesn't want you to be a leader, because you'll get the promotion before she does.
Imagine a work environment where your co-workers all patted you on the back for your successes and meant it! Who shared in your victories and helped you along the way. Imagine a boss who instructed you to get balance back in your life... maybe take some time off to go to a self-improvement seminar, or invited you to church with him.
This is the kind of education we should all have to compliment our "traditional" education to acheive the lifestyle we all know we are due.
Whether you just want to be better at what you currently do, try something completely different, become that entrepreneur that you know is hiding inside you, or simply improve one or many other aspects of your life, the key ingredient is YOU. YOU have to want it, and know why. Once you know WHY, "how" becomes inconsequential. You have to keep learning, keep moving forward, trying NEW and DIFFERENT things.
Einstein once defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result." So you wake up early to beat the traffic, go to work and complain with your co-workers, come home too tired to exercise, argue with your wife, snap at your kids, go take a drive to "cool off" and scarf down a Big Mac, come home and go to sleep because you have to get up early to beat the traffic... did you expect that when you woke up tomorrow things would somehow be different?
"OK, Kev, I know why, but I still don't know 'how'..."
Try something different. Something in the back of your mind that you always wanted to do, but were afraid... or for reasons unknown to even you, you put off.
Here are some suggestions if you're still having trouble.
1. Try something new!
2. TAKE CLASSES ONLINE (the right kind)
^^^^This one is my favorite idea. ;)
3. Start taking healthy suppliments
4. Read a different kind of book Or just a book at all :p
5. Call ME! I'll be happy just to talk to you, or listen to you about your thoughts on these subjects... (908) 963 3305
6. Read THE BOOK
7. Start a home-business in your spare time to make extra money (or even turn it into a full time income (if you have the stones).
----------->A) Success University Recruiter
------------->B) Nutritinal Suppliment Distributor
--------------->C)Affiliate Programs in online shopping and casinos!
"Oh, Kevin... you've been brainwashed! I'm so disappointed"
Don't be disappointed, be happy for me! Brain=mind, washed=cleansed of dirt and bacteria.
You've been brain-dirtied with ideas that are average, mundane, antiquated... "go to school, get a B.S. (bulls*** piece of paper), get a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke), 40 hours/week, 40 thousand/year, for 40 years and they reward you with a $40 Timex watch.
Don't get me wrong... if you're happy with your job, you are a rare instance. Be grateful. If you truly love what you do and beleive it is what God put you here to do, then don't worry... I'm not talking to you :) . But if you're like a lot of people who want something different and just can't figure out why things aren't working out for you like you had always hoped, maybe your brain needs washing.
Good Luck!
Nowhere in the definition does it imply that formulae can't be changed, or "re-established".
Here's how the formula of today's discussion has evolved:
Go to school. Get a job. Work hard. Retire/die (whichever comes first).
100 years ago it was a matter of finishing as much school as you could until you were ready to work at your father's business.
50 years ago it was you MUST finish High School in order to amount to anything in this world, THEN you have the option of working in your fathers business, but only the very smart and lucky go to college.
25 years ago it was that you MUST go to college in order to be able to compete for the jobs that are out there, otherwise you'll be stuck working for your father.
10 years ago, somehow a B.S. (we'll get to the puns later) or a B.A. was not enough, and a masters degree is becoming more and more "necessary" in order to find work.
What's next? We're all going to be doctors? Do you have any idea what that would do to the value of an education? To the value of the word "doctor"? To the quality of work that would go into being a doctor? (see previous post) And of course I'm not just referring to medical doctors, I'm making a statement about the exaggeration of the importance of a "proper education".
This formula is getting old. It worked well for the industrial age, but it has very little bearing on the information age. We can take from it SOME of its constructs that still hold their value, just as we can take constructs from the previous model of apprenticeship (pre-industrial revolution).
Interesting side note to demonstrate my point--do you know what state has the highest SAT scores?... Take your time... really THINK about this one.... You might be thinking its some white suburbanite middle-class state like Oregon or Maine. Or maybe the ones with all the colleges like Massachussets or New York. Well its Mississippi. "WWHAA??" You see, in Mississippi, they're a little "behind the times" and working for your Pa after (or before) you finish high school is a viable career option for many. This is why they only encourage those students who have the potential to even GO to college, to take the SAT's in the first place. Here in New Jersey, high school principals pride themselves on saying "97% of our student body is moving on to some form of higher education". So they tell EVERYONE to take the SAT's. And we all know someone who has no earthly business going to any form of college who took the SAT's and scored miserably. They may be the greatest mechanic in 4 counties and can make a 6-figure income doing so at their uncle's garage...what the H*%L do they need a college education for? They had a terriffic apprenticeship growing up and the result is a skill that fewer and fewer "college types" will ever posess. (hmmm... 6-figure income doing something they're extremely good at.... and we call that "behind the times?")
Furthermore, and more to the point, the things that colleges are teaching us are narrowing. When we finally get out into the workplace, we findout that we have to have people skills just to get the interview right. Then we have to have more people skills to work in an office or on the phone. Then we find we need leadership skills to get a promotion before the guy next to us, and time management skills to upkeep the lifestyle we want--which should include spending time with your family, excercising, eating right, having hobbies, maintaining a spiritual life, contributing to your community, and getting enough sleep on top of it all. Raise your hand if you took a course in college called "Time Management", "Leadership", "People Skills", or least likely of all "Self-Improvement".
You see, no office would want you to have these qualities, because if you were better at them than your supervisor, you'd have his job. He wants you to be tired, barely adequate, and content to be so. Your co-worker in the next cube doesn't want you to be a leader, because you'll get the promotion before she does.
Imagine a work environment where your co-workers all patted you on the back for your successes and meant it! Who shared in your victories and helped you along the way. Imagine a boss who instructed you to get balance back in your life... maybe take some time off to go to a self-improvement seminar, or invited you to church with him.
This is the kind of education we should all have to compliment our "traditional" education to acheive the lifestyle we all know we are due.
Whether you just want to be better at what you currently do, try something completely different, become that entrepreneur that you know is hiding inside you, or simply improve one or many other aspects of your life, the key ingredient is YOU. YOU have to want it, and know why. Once you know WHY, "how" becomes inconsequential. You have to keep learning, keep moving forward, trying NEW and DIFFERENT things.
Einstein once defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result." So you wake up early to beat the traffic, go to work and complain with your co-workers, come home too tired to exercise, argue with your wife, snap at your kids, go take a drive to "cool off" and scarf down a Big Mac, come home and go to sleep because you have to get up early to beat the traffic... did you expect that when you woke up tomorrow things would somehow be different?
"OK, Kev, I know why, but I still don't know 'how'..."
Try something different. Something in the back of your mind that you always wanted to do, but were afraid... or for reasons unknown to even you, you put off.
Here are some suggestions if you're still having trouble.
1. Try something new!
2. TAKE CLASSES ONLINE (the right kind)
^^^^This one is my favorite idea. ;)
3. Start taking healthy suppliments
4. Read a different kind of book Or just a book at all :p
5. Call ME! I'll be happy just to talk to you, or listen to you about your thoughts on these subjects... (908) 963 3305
6. Read THE BOOK
7. Start a home-business in your spare time to make extra money (or even turn it into a full time income (if you have the stones).
----------->A) Success University Recruiter
------------->B) Nutritinal Suppliment Distributor
--------------->C)Affiliate Programs in online shopping and casinos!
"Oh, Kevin... you've been brainwashed! I'm so disappointed"
Don't be disappointed, be happy for me! Brain=mind, washed=cleansed of dirt and bacteria.
You've been brain-dirtied with ideas that are average, mundane, antiquated... "go to school, get a B.S. (bulls*** piece of paper), get a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke), 40 hours/week, 40 thousand/year, for 40 years and they reward you with a $40 Timex watch.
Don't get me wrong... if you're happy with your job, you are a rare instance. Be grateful. If you truly love what you do and beleive it is what God put you here to do, then don't worry... I'm not talking to you :) . But if you're like a lot of people who want something different and just can't figure out why things aren't working out for you like you had always hoped, maybe your brain needs washing.
Good Luck!
posted by Your Massage Therapist at 4:38 PM
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