If you have been following my blogs on either Twitter, Facebook or my website, LarryMJacobson.com then you already know that my message for success always begins with awareness.
As a contributing author in the new #1 international best-selling book, Ready, Aim, Captivate! Put Magic in Your Message, and a Fortune in Your Future, awareness is the foundation on which the rest of your positive changes are built.
In my recent blog, T.I.M.E. for Success, I refer to awareness as Timing (e.g. identifying opportunities). To truly become successful, you always need to enhance your awareness of potential opportunities that may directly or indirectly align with your path. Being aware and recognizing your passions, desires and goals from a young age is one way of enhancing your outcomes for success. The other is your ability to be aware of your surroundings and act accordingly.
Recently, I took a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco and I was stuck in the middle seat. During the boarding process, a young male adult had the window seat next to me in my row. Instead of waiting for me to stand up, he just barreled over me right into his seat, despite my two requests to have him wait. I was in complete disbelief! Was this just a lack of common sense, listening or awareness? He completely ignored me in the process of getting to his seat and ultimate destination.
In the spirit of the New Year, I would like to share the following list of rules associated with Charles J. Sykes’ 1996 book, “Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good about Themselves, but Can’t Read, Write, or Add“:
The following 11 rules should serve as awareness tools for young adults and adults of all ages:
Rule 1: Life is not fair – get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait ‘til you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you messed up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rainforest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
I want to wish everyone a very happy and successful New Year!