“I learned early in life that you get places by having the right enemies.” – John Shelby Spong, Born Jun. 16, 1931. Who or what do you hate? What will you absolutely not stand for? What are you sick of? What grinds your gears? What gets your goat? What gags your giraffe?… Not in general, […]
Show Prospects What You Stand Against, and They Presume You Stand For Them Read More »
“I jokingly call this convergence of games into reality the ‘Gamepocalypse:’ the moment when every moment of life is actually a game.” – Jesse Schell, Born Jun. 13, 1970. Did you know that you can already do this now? Basically you can gamify your own life. It makes a lot of the dull bits of
The Gamepocalypse Already Happened and It’s All a Game Now Read More »
“If you want people to listen, you have to have a platform to speak from, and that is excellence in what you do.” – William Pollard, Born Jun. 10, 1828. This is going to be a good one for the would-be mass influencers among you. You know what an endorsement is, right? It’s when you
Hack Your Way to Simple Celebrity (And Cash In) Read More »
“If language did not affect behavior, it could have no meaning.” – Kenneth L. Pike, Born Jun. 9, 1912. There are a buncha idiots out there who frown upon the use of language for deliberate persuasive aim. You know them. They hate commercials. They think marketing is evil. They probably brag about not owning a
Any Message That Isn’t Deliberately Persuasive Is Wasted Read More »
“I don’t ever try to make a song better than my last song. I just try to make it different from my last one.” – Fetty Wap, Born Jun. 7, 1990. This one hit me like a ton of bricks, y’all. Or like a ton of feathers. Heavy either way. You’re probably pretty talented. You’re
Being “Different” is Better (And Easier) Than Struggling to Be “Original” Read More »
“An object imbued with intent – it has power, it’s treasure, we’re drawn to it. An object devoid of intent – it’s random, it’s imitative, it repels us. It’s like a piece of junk mail to be thrown away.” -John Hockenberry, Born Jun. 4, 1956. People seldom desire an object for the physical properties of
Stories Infect Anything They Touch With Value (If You Tell Them Right) Read More »
“If I wait for the genius to come, it just doesn’t arrive.” – Ian Fleming, Born May 28, 1908. I am going to tell you something right now. When I tell you, you’re going to know it to be true. And you can research it and prove that it’s universally true as well. First,
Inspiration Spies On You And Only Visits When You’re Busy Read More »
Serve the dinner backward, do anything – but for goodness sake, do something weird.” – Elsa Maxwell, Born May 24, 1883. There are two important parts in this lesson, but let’s talk about the obvious one first. I think a lot of people struggle unnecessarily because they try and do something completely creative, or completely
Be Weird, Work Weird, Succeed Weird – But Only a Little Bit Weird… Read More »
“If you do it right 51 percent of the time you will end up a hero.” – Alfred P. Sloan, Born May 23, 1875. I want you to know how low the bar is set. It’s set so low that primarily what it takes to succeed is basically just persistence. Whether by discipline, or by
How Much Can You Totally Screw Up and Still Be Successful? Read More »
“My real life helped me sell a lot of records.” – Christopher Wallace, Born May 21, 1972. In this age where “authenticity” is a buzzword, lots of brand wonks will tell you that what you need to do is just be yourself. Wrong, friendo. That skips a step. Step 1: Be awesome. Step 2: Be
How To Become Awesome Enough To Succeed Read More »
