It seems these days that people decorate their homes, choose their friends, food and clothes, determine their career path and employer, and organize their lives all in terms of what looks good on Instagram.

Doesn’t matter if the meal tastes good, as long as it photographs well. The same for everything else.

As long as a story can be spun and curated to impress people who aren’t known, and probably never will be, people will do/buy it.

And if an experience isn’t documented with pictures and posted online it might as well not have happened.

No kidding.

I actually overheard a guy say as much. Apparently his phone’s camera stopped working and he was grousing that the money spent on the trip was wasted.

What a strange world these people live in.

Is it your world?

I’m so glad it’s not mine.

Image credit: Aleks Grynis

Yesterday focused on the constant opportunities that surround us as we move through our lives.

But in order to take advantage of them you need to be willing to move outside your comfort zone.

It’s always easier to coast than it is to climb.

In the same way, it’s easier to play it safe with what you already know than to put yourself in the position of being uncomfortable and having to learn new stuff — and possibly look foolish or fail

So what if you do?

The world won’t stop turning, nor will a lightening bolt materialize and strike you. Oh. And the sky won’t fall.

I promise.

What will happen is you’ll learn, grow, get braver, and your interests will expand.

And practically a guarantee that you’ll go further in life than you would have otherwise.

Opportunities.

Grab ‘em while they’re hot.

Image credit: Jennifer C.

Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

Long after I wrote this I read something that says much the same thing, only far more memorably.

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” — Hunter Thompson

Read other Golden Oldies here.

I’ve always thought of life as a corridor with dozens of doors opening, each one representing an opportunity.

You may open one or pass them by—it’s your choice.

Each time you do open one and enter that door closes forever and you move down a new corridor full of doors.

The door you entered is sealed because whatever lay behind it changed you, so you can’t go backwards, only forward.

Some people to through life opening as few doors as possible, changing as little as possible and staying as safe as possible.

Others launch themselves through the most interesting doors with gusto, taking advantage of whatever opportunities are concealed and then on to the next door.

In honor of all those who are, or lean to, the latter description I dedicate these two Rules. They are especially apropos today.

Watch for big problems—they disguise big opportunities.

Welcome the unexpected! Opportunities rarely come in neat, predictable packages.

You can’t open every door and you don’t have to stay long if you don’t like what you find, but if you pass straight through never opening any doors you’ll stay in pristine condition and you don’t really want to arrive at the end as untouched as you were when you started — do you?

Image credit: (no longer working)

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here.

Last Friday we looked at how culture is based on values and how often the values claimed aren’t, in fact, authentic.

Values are one thing, but the whole authentic idea is overblown.

How many times have you heard “bring your authentic self to work (or wherever).

If you’re like most people you have multiple authentic selves.

Think about it, the self you show your spouse is different than the self you show your boss and both are different from the self your friends know.

Yet they are all authentic.

Meaning each self adheres to the same values.

For example, if one self is married and another self has a lover both selves are authentic, since their basic value system accepts cheating.

Look around, not just at the people you’re close to or see frequently, but at the names you see in the news.

Compare what they say/do in various situations and you’ll find you can figure out very quickly what their real authentic values are.

Image credit: HikingArtist

“Change is the only constant” is an oft-quoted idea first uttered around 500 BC by Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher (those Greeks really knew what they were talking about).

The only difference between then and now is that change happens a whole lot faster.

In these days of fast change I try to keep two rules firmly in my conscious mind.

The first is something I heard many years ago, although don’t remember where.

The only thing free is the cheese in the mouse trap.

For whatever reason it really sank in and proved to be protection, preventing me from falling for the lure of free as social media, Google and other services rose to overwhelming prominence.

It kept me from being parsed, productized, and sold.

The second isn’t new and has been said many ways over the decades. This is how I’ve thought about it for decades.

Personality reaps more acclaim than talent or accomplishments.

I find it especially true in these days of personal branding and self promotion.

I’m grateful I absorbed both ideas; they’ve made my life much simpler, safer and easier these days.

And I’m not missing a thing.

Image credit: Cambodia4kids.org Beth Kanter

There was a time that having influence meant something.

Maybe it still does in certain circles, but for much of the world it means you have millions, or at least hundreds of thousands, of followers on Instagram, YouTube and Twitter (Facebook seems to be passé).

They are called ‘influencers’ and their followers treat their words, actions, recommendations, and opinions as gospel.

In spite of the fact that many of them are paid to promote [whatever].

Of course, famous people have been paid to endorse products for decades.

The difference is that many influencers are famous only because they are expert manipulators of social media — or they pay experts to build their brand.

So. Not new and relatively harmless.

But not when they are built on a lie and involve your health or money.

[Yovana Mendoza] The 28-year-old influencer, also known as Rawvana, has amassed more than 3 million followers across YouTube and Instagram by extolling the life-changing properties of a raw vegan diet. (…)  a couple of weeks ago, Mendoza was recorded eating seafood (…) Realising she was being filmed, she tried to hide the fish, but the jig was up.

Mendoza admitted she had stopped eating vegan for health reasons.

But she kept preaching the lifestyle.

There are dozens of similar stories and hundreds of influencers whose only true skill is self-promotion.

They talk about health; about money; about “living your best life.”

They talk to the millions of fools who follow them.

Image credit: Marco Raaphorst

Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we humans could relegate all our foolishness and foibles, both word and deed, to this one day of the year. Instead we tend to spread them across the year and repeat them over and over and over…

All humans are fools at times; some more often than others. Those who claim otherwise are usually found in the ‘more often’ category.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

Can you believe? Q1 is over, done, gone and all we have to show for it is a day especially for fools. So on this day dedicated to fools and foolishness I offer you up some foolish words of wisdom.

Way back in 1894 Mark Twain wrote a book in which the main character, Pudd’nhead Wilson, says, “This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.” A home truth if there ever was one.

If you plan on pulling any pranks today you might want to keep Will Shakespeare’s words in mind, “Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.”

Ben Franklin must have been thinking of politicians when he said “Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it.”

As usual, it’s Will Rogers who nails April Fool’s Day perfectly—not to mention the upcoming elections, “The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected.”

Finally, we can all see the truth in this old Welsh Proverb, “If every fool wore a crown, we should all be kings;” all we have to do is look in the mirror.

I wish you a wonderful day full of pranks, silliness and friends.

Happy April Fools Day!

Flickr image credit: Jonny Hughes