(In case you missed PART 1, you can read that here:
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PART 2- He was about to punch a wall...
There was a girl at what was basically a fancy job fair, and she was
an actress on the verge of quitting so she could get "stability"...
She kept saying that word "Stability"
I had heard that earlier in the night from this guy I knew.
I didn't know he could get angry so easily.
You see, he was also at this fancy job fair, looking for what he hoped
would be his future.
You see- he has a wife.
And Kids.
And he's from a family that.... well.... he should be doing "better".
So he was there looking for "stability" too.
And I bet when you hear that word, you get a nice warm feeling in your chest now
because it's something that people are supposed to be looking for.
-especially when they have a wife and kids.
and when your family is expecting you to do "better".
But what if I told you that in the NEW ECONOMY, that idea of "stability" is
exactly the TRAP that keeps people stuck in a race they can't win?
When I started my conversation with him, I made the mistake of saying
"You'll be fine- think of all the skills you've gotten!"
I saw him purse his lips, as if he's heard it before.
I knew how he felt; I certainly have heard it before:
"Oh, you're smart- you'll figure out something!"
That was when I could hardly look my wife in the face because I had
just used the last paper towel to clean the kitchen, and I didn't
even have enough money to go get a new roll.
I couldn't afford a NEW ROLL OF PAPER TOWELS.
In fact, my friend had bought me a HAIRCUT a few days before,
A HAIRCUT.
So, I knew my saying "You'll figure out something"
wasn't all that reassuring to him in the moment.
"Yeah, I will, yeah..." he said, trailing off as he probably wanted
to punch the next guy who said that in the face.
You see, the girl could get choked up and teary-eyed with me
while she told me of her money worries,
But with men, it's a different thing,
Most of us channel our fear and sadness into anger- it's more
acceptable in our society, sometimes even celebrated.
The thing is, sometimes it's even resourceful.
Sometimes you can get mad enough that you say
"THAT'S IT! I WANT A CHANGE!! And you can say it angrily
enough that you scare yourself into action.
You can SCARE YOURSELF into action.
But this guy was beaten down. Questioning, wondering.
Looking for "Stability".
That girl who was about to quit acting said she was just going
to give up and get a "stable Job"
Y'know, trade the "acting thing" for the "desk thing".
Because she figured that was easy to do.
but if it was so easy, then why were all these other people
at this job fair?
Why were all these other people with degrees from an expensive school
there looking for a desk thing?
They were there with resumes, and suits, and shaking hands,
and giving out phone numbers and LinkedIn profiles for one of
these "Stable" Desk things.
Maybe they're not that stable after all.
The main speaker was a woman who ran an international company,
and she had graduated 30 years prior.
She was telling us that when she started working, you could go from
the mailroom to the boardroom, but that it was different now.
She told us that at her company, they got 25,000 applications
for 10 jobs.
25,000 applications for 10 jobs.
So what do you think her advice was?
This is someone who works at an extremely high-level company,
in an extremely high-level industry.
Her advice was....
"Be better that the competition"
That's what she said.
"Be better"
So when this guy was bottling up his anger, I could only guess
that he had "Be better" in his mind.
Along with that he should be "Doing better"
and that there were 24,999 other people who were trying to "be better"
so they could be one of the 10.
I changed my course of conversation with him.
I knew that he had been let go from a well-paying job where
he was given a lot of responsibilities.
He had managed several high-end restaurants.
He lived in a nice section of Manhattan.
With his wife.
And their kids.
But here he was, looking, but trying very hard not to look like it.
And here I was, all smiles and "motivational-ly"
Exactly the wrong thing.
I could see he wanted an ANSWER, and he wanted it
before his temper blew. Either here...
Or at home.
So, since I was all smiles, and since I was being all
"motivational-ly", and acting like I had all the answers...
I gave him one.
I gave him the same answer I give everyone.
The same answer I had heard before.
GET OUT OF THE RACE.
"Why are you looking for a job, when you have all these skills?"
Huh?
"You don't need someone to hire you"
Was I being a wise-ass? Was I about to get punched?
You see, I don't compete with 25,000 other people.
The last time I put a resume together was for a gig that I invented.
There WAS no other resume but mine.
That was my stability. It was that there WAS no one but me to rely on.
No suits, no hand-shaking, no LinkedIn profiles.
My stability comes from my own skills, and my own learning.
I told him my favorite way to make money, and my favorite way
to make jobs and money come to ME. I told him how he already
had the bulk of it, he just needed to PACKAGE it.
He looked at me like I had punched HIM in the face.
Of course! It's so obvious!
GET OUT OF THE RACE.
Let the other 25,000 run their hearts out, and claw at each other's
faces.
You WALK your race.
With your wife.
With your kids.
I told him to do the one thing that HUGE businesses do,
that you can do for yourself right now.
In fact, you're LOOKING AT IT RIGHT NOW.
He relaxed, he said that I was brilliant.
And that he would think about how to do it.
I gave him my card, and told him to call me when he was
ready to take action now, and not just talk about it.
We'll see what he does.
What are YOU going to do?
If you're ready to take action, then click here:
