March 2009

Non-Conformity, My Ass; or Why We’re All a Bunch of Posers

58 by Paid to Exist in Personal Freedom

Beware of any enterprise that requires a new set of clothes.” –– Henry David Thoreau

DisobeyRat Race. Trend. Fad. Blind leading the blind. Mainstream.

A lot of names, one thing: conformity. And I do my best to question what’s popular as much as possible.

But the question is this: If you’re going to question everything, shouldn’t you also question your questioning? Shouldn’t you challenge the desire itself to question?

I agree with this sentiment. I often feel that questioning everything simply leads to blindness of a different flavor.

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The Lie of The Four Hour Work Week

257 by Paid to Exist in Entrepreneurship, Passion, Productivity
The Lie of The Four Hour Work Week

The promise of a four hour workweek magically righting all wrongs in your life, is a lie. Not only is it highly implausible, but if you ever do achieve a four hour work week, you’ll probably want to get rid of it.

Why is the Four Hour Workweek (4HWW for short) a lie? Well, there’s two reasons. Number one, it’s come to the attention of quite a few people that Tim Ferriss really defines “work” as something you don’t want to do.

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If It’s a Good Idea… Don’t Do It

78 by Paid to Exist in Off Beat, Passion

Not a Good Idea

For a long time, I’ve held the belief that if something is a good idea, it’s worth doing.

Now, I completely reject that notion.

I just can’t operate that way anymore. I know better and my brain can’t be fooled.

In 2007 Tim Ferriss coined the term “work for work’s sake.” Since then, something worse has emerged: “improving for improvement’s sake.” (Honestly, this conundrum has probably been around for centuries. I just came up with it now because I desperately want to coin a phrase of my own, so I can be cool, too.) In other words: “improving for improvement’s sake” is doing something just because it’s a “good idea.”

Yeah, I’ve been there, and what is neatly packaged as a “good idea” is often OCD and egotism in disguise.

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