Life is your Career

Don’t tell me you’ve got the answer cause then another one will come along soon
        –The Answer by Bad Religion

We live in a society that is enamoured with the idea of shortcuts. If there is a quicker, easier way to do something then that’s what people want. Lose 10 pounds in a week! Make $10,000 a month from your home! Meet the spouse of your dreams in 5 easy steps! The headlines of our instant gratification society call out and pander to the desire for the easy solution. Even when something is not obviously a sales pitch, it often ends up making some out as being easier than it really is. Take blogging for example. I’ve read tons of articles on how easy it is to blog and make a living through it. Now I’m not interested in making a living from blogging, but I do enjoy refining my writing skill and from hearing my readers thoughts and learning from them. However there is no way that blogging is easy. Writing one article is no problem, but continually writing interesting posts as well as all the web site skills takes a lot of work. There is no simple quick fix to it. It’s not an easy solution.

This is how all things in life are. If you want something then you are going to have to work hard for it. A minimum of effort usually ends up leading to a minimum of results. And as for those easy solutions that people are always trying to sell us… if there was one that really worked don’t you think that everyone would already be doing it? The hair replacement ads are my favorite… if someone came up with an effective way to regrow hair then that person would be a multi-millionaire and everyone would want that product. But the easy solution is again just smoke, mirrors, and marketing.

So what does this mean if there is no easy solution? It means that we have to be prepared to give our all if we really want to accomplish a goal. If you want to excel at a sport then be prepared to practice for hours and hours. If you want to start you own business then be prepared for the hard work you’ll need to put in. If you want to meet new and exciting people you have to be ready to step outside of your comfort zone. It also means that in life it is difficult to be a jack of all trades. If you do everything reasonably well then you’ll be faced with a large amount of competition that can do it better than you. However if you avoid looking for easy solutions and pick one thing about which you are truly passionate, then you can put in the hard work needed to excel. It’s through excellence that we gain happiness and achieve our goals.

There is always going to be another quick way to better yourself that someone is pushing. But next time you see one of these, think back on other easy solutions you’ve tried. How did it go? How did you feel? I always felt frustrated when I didn’t get the results I was promised and that had seemed to simple. That’s the truth about what we get by taking the easy way out - frustration. So do some soul searching and pick a few things to be great at and start the hard work of doing what is necessary to be your best self.

I’m holding 3 bindles of bullshit
And you’re buying them cause you are addicted
To the pure and totally uncut
         –60% by NOFX

TV is addicting no way around it. In my previous article I talked a bit about some of the negative aspects of watching television. I’ve been thinking of more and more reasons over the past week or so, but instead of listing more reasons to stop watching (or at least cut back) let’s look at some ways that might help us give up TV.

Stop reading TV guides or magazines related to TV shows. If you don’t know when the show is on then you can’t watch it. And if you don’t know when the show is on then you can’t feel the lure of the TV. In addition the less you’re reading about the shows the less time you’re spending thinking about them in general. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but that’s only true in the short term. After awhile of not following a show closely you begin to lose interest. I was like that when I was in the process of giving up television - I’d absolutely love a show (heck I named my cat Jack after the main character in the show 24) but after missing it for a month or so… I no longer had a desire to get back into it. At least the desire to watch the show wasn’t as strong as the desire to keep up with the new activities I’d taken up in my new found free time.

Don’t talk about TV with your friends and co-workers. Like the above point the less you know about the false realities in TV shows the better. We’re all interesting people with great stories to tell - we don’t need to resort to discussing television with our friends. And if you’re watching less and less TV you’re going to be having much more interesting things to talk about. While the other co-workers discuss American Idol you can talk about the new mountain biking trail you found.

Out of sight, out of mind. If you can get that TV somewhere that you aren’t always around it then that’s a big step. I know a lot of people have families and that other members will like to watch TV, but even in that case you can make steps in this direction. Only have one TV and keep it in a place like the living room. There is no need to have a TV in the living room, a TV in the bedroom, and a TV in the kitchen. If you can’t escape it then of course you can’t give it up. If you can get the TV out of the house all the better, but if not at least get yourself in another part of your place when possible.

Don’t go right home after work. This is a big one. Going right back to your home after a day of work when you have nothing to do at home but watch TV is a baaaad idea. That’s like someone who is trying to give up drinking going straight to the bar to “just hang out”. Ya… good luck. Start doing other activities that replace the time you spent sitting in front of your television. A personal favorite is going to the bookstore and using it as a library. Go to the park. Take a class. But until you’re used to not watching TV don’t tempt yourself by being around them when you have nothing better to do.

Replace the time. The last point included this idea, but let me re-state it here because not only does it help you in giving up TV but it’s also the biggest benefit. You have so much time that will no longer be spent watching television, so think of all the things you’ve always said, “I don’t have time for that” and start trying them out. Nothing makes you forget TV faster than having something better to be doing.