The example that comes to my mind right now is, “I’m not suited to do that work because it’s not my strength,” an invocation of the idea that what you are best at is where you should spend your energy and time to be maximally productive and fulfilled.

That advice has the same appealing ring to it as, for example, the Atkins diet (or almost any faddish diet) did for many people a first blush. Just eat bacon and burgers. Only the tastiest morsels is the best approach.

When it comes to making a living, it’s good advice for those with the self-knowledge and means to live it out.  But as for making a life, it gets applied too broadly, slipping, as I said above, into an excuse to avoid any work that is unpleasant or difficult, traits that are ubiquitous with personal growth, political progress, and moral imperatives.

The reality is that many of society’s most important roles require that someone embrace the undesirable and be willing to take on work that feels nothing like those pleasant and confidence inspiring pursuits. It’s unsurprising that these roles are often unfilled.

The advice is good where it belongs, suiting abilities and interests to the work that needs doing as efficiently as possible, but when abused to justify the avoidance of any and all difficult and uncomfortable work, then it falls to the few to bear those burden which they no more want to carry than you or I do, and while we can tell ourselves that “they must have a passion for that cause” or “a heart for the poor,” in many cases, they are just less lazy.

Occasionally I’m the one to step up and do the difficult stuff, but by and large, I’m a member of the excuse-making sect. This is as much a letter for myself as it is for anyone else, and I really am curious as to what it’s called when we let good ideas slip into bad justifications if any of you happen to know.

One experiment along these lines had a table rigged to create a bottomless bowl of soup. It continuously refilled from the bottom secretly, and some of the unknowing participants consumed far, far more than normal because they were controlled by how much was left rather than how much was enough.

With work, I have the exact opposite problem because, with work, the appropriate cues are the other way around. External cues provide a much better indicator that work is getting done; the stack of papers goes down, the laundry is now put away, the website is up and running. The internal cues, stress, a feeling of productivity, a sense of accomplishment, are often real-life red herrings, diversions from the task at hand, especially when you let them dictate when to start and stop working.

So where that leads to is a place where work can never just be a relaxed, normal event. It either has to be laborious or envigorating, stressful or rewarding in order for it to feel legitimate. If that sounds ridiculous to you, good. But for many of us, our wires are crossed in this way for whatever reason.

If this sounds like you, on the other hand, I invite you to join me in some reprogramming. Pick your external goals, identify the external cues you’re aiming for, and rather than succumbing to the false dichotomy where work is either highly rewarding or laboriously stressful, allow for the more relaxed middle ground.

Through the combination of having some fun and finding out that I had natural ability, I wound up signing up to take band classes. Here’s the part where my memeory becomes clear.

Walking out of that room, I thought, “Today, I don’t know anything about music, but by this time next year, I’ll understand this stuff and be able to play this instrument.” It seemed exciting and almost mystical, but there it was. Like doing arithmetic, I just put together my commitment to taking these classes and the inevitability of time’s passing, and that’s what came out.

Recently, this has started happening again and with greater frequency because I’ve bought a home. Installing a ceiling fan, patching drywall, hanging blinds, redoing electrical wiring, installing pot racks–for some people these are trivial tasks, but for me, having not done much of that kind of thing in my life, each time I get to the end of the project successfully is an accomplishment.

When you envision a the future state in which you’ve put in the time to learn how to do something well, it is powerfully motivating and energizing. Because from that vantage point, our ability to grow and learn really does seem like magic.

By the way, the image above is by puck90 and happens show the exact pot racks that were my first project.

But in another setting, one of perceived strength, the same simpleton grows bold and aggressive. It will press an attack because it craves to kill, to dominate and to consume. Looking for weakness, compulsively seeking a chance to fight and to win and become validated.

Unpopular opinions press the point. The weak minded person and the majority they belong to is either wrong or are about to become the conquering predator. Adrenaline and a thrill are guaranteed either way. The fear of being proven wrong is illusory anyway because there’s strength in numbers. The momentary sting of being made a fool, a likely possibility through a clever or forceful retort, can be quickly washed away through mob-frenzied volume and consensus of opinion.

Angry little minds are fragile combatants with a blood-thirst. Dialog means nothing. Arguments hold no weight. Their game is about numbers and validation and crushing those who would introduce dissonance, who would induce actual thinking. Thinking that would threaten to expose them as enemies of thought or, worse still in their minds, as wrong.

To the 21,000 people who have joined the angry throng on Facebook aimed at Mr. John Mackey, I ask–What is the goal?

The best hope I can see for justifying this attack seems to be a highly improbable scenario in which Mr. Mackey’s article was a malicious attempt at subverting that which he knows to be right and good. That seems to be the implication actually–that John Mackey is evil through some straw-man combination of wanting sick people to die and worshiping his own ability to hoard money.

More likely is that he’s made them angry because they disagree with him, and their actions are motivated more by anger than they are by any rational impulse. To be more specific, they are angry with him because his opinion is unpopular; those with well-reasoned disagreements rarely react with anger when faced with the same.

In this case, the goal is to get him to shut up and go away. Or maybe to hurt him and his business financially, teaching him a lesson about opening his stupid mouth to say something that might change minds (what a wicked thing to do). In short, to squelch him.

Once the shouting begins, he’ll be on the losing side, at least of the shouting match. For that 21,000, now comes the adrenaline rush, the fray, a series of increasingly bold salvos against Mr. Mackey, and they can be on the winning side, vicariously or directly asserting superiority by virtue of volume.

As creatures of limited knowledge, there is no path we can take to never be wrong. It is possible, however, to see our errors before making them, to learn something without having to plow waist-deep into the consequences of false beliefs. The dissenting opinion is the essence of that uniquely human faculty, and when offered sincerely and in good faith, it should be celebrated unconditionally.

Whether Mr. Mackey’s facts and conclusions are sound is entirely beside the point of this post, but it should be the sole concern of these 21,000. If they have been rattled by a dissenting opinion, they should be trying to specifically illuminate where he’s made mistakes or, just maybe, insights in his arguments. And they should probably take great pains to avoid sloshing their emotions around like mud–it makes it harder to see good points.

Instead, the majority of this group is rattling their sabers, irate not because he’s done something unethical but because he’s made an argument that leads to a conclusion they don’t like.

Whatever Mr. Mackey may have gotten wrong concerning healthcare, he is on the right side of a more fundamental and broader division of people. There are those like Mr. Mackey who attempt through discourse to arrive at a common understanding, and there are the angry little minds who shut their eyes, clench their fists, and collectively try to shout out, stomp out, and block out the opposition while muttering, “It doesn’t matter who is right, as long as it’s us.”

Tweet version: “Challenges don’t always need a head-on response. A work-around is often smarter. Should you fix the printer now or just go to the library?”

Stuff is going to get in the way. No matter what you’re doing, you will run into obstacles. Our first reaction is to attack the problem and move on, but it’s often better just to go around.

If the printer breaks while you’re in the zone, don’t let that derail you. Just go to the library or Kinko’s and fix it when things are slower.

Make sure you pick your problems. Don’t let it happen the other way around.

Tweet version: “Starting a business is about providing value and making money. It’s not about blog readers, Twitter followers, or impressing friends.”

These words from Shakespeare describe many who claim the title of ‘entrepreneur.’

“…A walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
-Macbeth

They can be spotted at networking events, at parties, and online making lot of commotion and doing some serious talking about themselves and their experiences and ideas. But there’s little to no real business happening. The actions and results are lacking. It’s like playing pretend at entrepreneurship.

Business is about earning a living and adding value to the world and the people in it. It’s not about cocktail chatter or friends and followers, as fun as that can be.

Here’s the real problem. Some have latched on to this stuff as a plan, as a full-time occupation. They blog, tweet, email, network, scheme, and dream so that the attention comes pouring in.

There’s a market for sound and fury. Plenty of people will gladly trade some of yours for some of theirs. If that’s the currency you’re after, be advised: It has a lousy exchange rate.

Image by theparadigmshifter.

Tweet version: “We need a ‘blog applause’ widget. It’d let people express their appreciation in a simple and authentic way and reduce comment noise.”

Do you ever read a post, enjoy it, and then move on without leaving a comment? I do it all the time.

I don’t like commenting unless I have something to say that adds some value. Sometimes I’ll find a way to make, “Great post!” sound interesting, and other times I’ll send an email. Really though, I just want to have a quick and simple way to let the person know that requires little time and no thought.

So we need a blog applause widget. It’d be a simple button, an icon of clapping hands or something. You click it and the author would get a little notice that said, “Nice work. You’ve got 20 people clapping for this one.”

I know there’s stuff out there that’s kind of like this. But what I want is this. Exactly this. No rating system. No sharing. No bookmarking. No submitting. No logging in.

I mash a button. The author knows someone appreciated the post. End of transaction.

**Humorous (to me) Addendum**

My friend Ashley just IMed me seconds after I posted this:

Question - how do I tell you I agree with your blog applause button without said blog applause button?

I responded:

haha
great point
i kind of just doomed my blog to never get encouraging comments, didn’t i?

So just so there’s no misunderstanding, I like getting those comments especially compared to the alternative of crickets chirping. It helps me know people like what I’m doing. When I get my applause widget, then you can stop leaving them. Deal?

Image by Multiple Fragments of Tissue.

Tweet version: “If you’re stuck or confused, back up to what you’re absolutely certain about. Use that as a foundation. Descartes was an extreme example.”

“I think therefore I am.” You know the quote. Do you know the context? It might help you the next time you get stuck.

The author, Descartes, was a philosopher and mathematician. He’s considered to be the first modern philosopher, the father of the discipline and an overall important guy.

Descartes Gets Himself Stuck

His most important philosophical work was to lock himself in a cabin and doubt everything. He reasoned that if he could find something that was absolutely trustworthy, he could build off of that. So he started meditating to see what was beyond all doubt.

The big problem was the possibility that all of his experiences might be a dream or illusion. If Descartes was crazy or somehow having his thoughts manipulated, then what could he really be sure of?  I imagine this was a stressful exercise for Descartes, bordering on mentally unsafe and unhealthy. He had found a way to be maximally unsure, perfectly stuck.

How He Got Out

I’m not sure how long he was stuck there, but he finally found a way out. Paraphrasing: “Even if all of my thoughts are completely crazy, I’m at least having thoughts. So I must exist. I know for certain and beyond any conceivable possibility for being wrong that I exist as a thinking thing.” To quote it: “Cogito Ergo Sum” or “I think, therefore I am.” He uses that to get through the rest of his confusion, one step at a time.

The Takeaway

No matter how stuck or confused you are, as long as you’re not worried that your entire life is an illusion, you’re better off than Descartes. You can use his same basic trick.

What’s giving you trouble? Back up and list everything about the situation that you are 100% about. Go from there.

Image by StarbuckGuy.

People understand that. There’s plenty of warning from friends, family, and gurus that you should brace yourself for it.

But what is less often discussed is that failure comes in two flavors:

1. Failure that is excusable. (Could happen to anyone.)
2. Failure that is inexcusable. (You really goofed.)

The first kind of failure is those that people will sympathize with and forgive you for. It’s something that’s totally out of your control or the kind of mistake that could have happened to anyone.

But the second kind of failure never has a good excuse. You simply didn’t do what you should have done, and there are consequences. There’s little sympathy to be found when you screw up absolutely.

Expect to encounter both on your way to ultimate success.

You won’t win them all. That’s part of life. But beyond that, if you’re trying to do something big, your habits, your personality, your work ethic, your temper–some part of who you are will cause trouble for you or for others.

When you’re fundamentally at fault, it can be painful to face up to it and change that part of who you are. But if you can tell the difference between the two flavors, you stand a better chance of avoiding burnout and solving problems, and you will grow as a person as well.

Image by B. K. Dewey.

Today, however, is moving day. From here on out, this blog will become a platform for my writing. You are, of course, welcome to stay subscribed to my feed.

The project has a new home. Head on over to Bloghiker.com to check it out!

I’ve wanted to move this project all along, so I’m glad to finally be able to do that. Thanks to all of you for the support and interest. I’ll see you on the other side of the move!

Image by macaroniandglue.