Getting Out of the Beaten Path

The image on the left describes most of you. Yes, MOST. See all those little red dots cramped up on the left side? That’s YOU. And the problem is that most people are too brainwashed by conventional wisdom to realize where they really are. The beaten path, exemplified as the corporate ladder, is just a horrible existence. Say you start off at the bottom. In order to elevate yourself, you have to somehow manage to get around others, which means curving left and right, attempting to find some wiggle room to elevate yourself. And at the same time, you’re competing with people on your same level while the people just above your level are trying to supress your kind and the people above them are trying to supress the people trying to supress you. This is why despite a person’s talents, he or she may not be able to climb the ladder.

However, the outside-the-box thinker, exemplified as a entrepreneur, has no one (or very few) above him, so during the climb, there are no obstructions. If you imagine using a piece of yarn and starting at the bottom of one of the 4 red dots on the right, and moving upward, a straight line is all that is needed. However, if you do the same with a dot within the corporate ladder, it’s just one sinuous mess. And when you stretch out that piece of yarn after you made it to the top, it can be 2-3 times as long as the other piece of yarn, which is more or less analogous to the length of time it will take the two people to get to their respective destinations.

So with the Point A to Point B approach, there are different ways of getting there. Sure, the beaten path ways may seem the most secure and tested, and maybe you’re satisfied with where you are, but eventually you’ll realize that you’ve fallen into a comfort zone that you can’t get out of, or you’re just coasting through a mediocre position that is a complete waste of your skills and talents. Try to envision a different path of getting to the goal point. A path that most people are too risk-adverse to go on or that most people never thought of in the first place. And although it might be scary to realize that you may be alone in attempting a different path, you will feel a sense of freedom and urgency that you will never feel within the confines of a box, and within the vicinity of millions of other peers.

Gary Oldman on Conan O’Brien 7/14/08 (video)

Download the video HERE (direct download, save as, 44.8MB).

Gary Oldman stopped by Conan O’Brien to promote The Dark Knight. There’s two really funny parts: 1) One with him doing something with his hands that looks like jacking off, and 2) when he impersonates James Brown. Fucking awesome, and Conan loves film too. Everyone fucking does! From wikipedia: Gary Leonard Oldman (born March 21, 1958) is an English actor, writer, director, producer, voice-over artist and occasional musician who has garnered critical acclaim for his chameleonic performances and mastery of accents.^[2][3] He is noted for his avoidance of the Hollywood celebrity scene,^[2][4] often being referred to as an “actor’s actor”.^[5][6][7]

Will Ferrell on Jay Leno 7/14/08 (video)

See the video here (Part 1 (24.4MB) (Part 2 (27.2MB). They are direct downloads, save as. Will stopped by to promote Step Brothers. Really great clip at the end of the interview. From wikipedia: John William “Will” Ferrell (born July 16, 1967)^[1] is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American comedian, actor, voice actor, and writer who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, and has since gone on to a successful film career, starring in the comedies A Night at the Roxbury (1998), Old School, Elf (both 2003), Anchorman (2004), Kicking & Screaming (2005), Talladega Nights, Stranger than Fiction (both 2006), Blades of Glory (2007) and Semi-Pro (2008). He is considered a member of the frat pack, a generation of leading Hollywood comic actors of the late 1990s and 2000s including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Vince Vaughn, and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson.