PAY THEM NO HEED

When people learn I have a Great Dane, many remind me of their short life spans. When people learn I am trying to get another CMO job, many remind me of their short life spans.

And for those of us slogging in Hollywood, every knucklehead with wi-fi access these days seems eager to remind us there are strikes and recession and consolidation and layoffs.

So here, on the social platform devoted to the influence of Others, I’m suggesting that listening to Others may not be worth it. That the advice we DON’T take in Life is just as powerful and important.

Sure, Others may mean well. But their #career advice for you may have nothing to do with you. Co-workers may be projecting their fear of abandonment on you. Friends may be projecting their fear of failure on you. Family members may be projecting their fear of suffering on you.

Imagine how bad off we’d be if we stopped and worried about the odds at every turn. Ben Horowitz, in his excellent book The Hard Thing About Hard Things, offers, “It matters not whether your chances are nine in ten or one in a thousand; your task is the same. But I don't believe in statistics.?I believe in calculus. Some employees make products, some make sales; the CEO makes decisions.”

Of course we can’t, and shouldn’t, go through Life all alone. But pay attention to what you pay attention to. The players’ entrance to Wimbledon’s centre court bears an inscription from Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If-“: "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same…”

So good luck with your respective calculus. Perhaps take (or leave) the advice of this year’s premiere capitalist, “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. I’m just gonna shake it off.”