Yes, you read that title right: Communication Lessons from MTV’s “Jersey Shore.”

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I am kinda addicted to the show (and yes, I have blogged about it before). It’s my chance to observe a unique subculture from the safety of my own home. I feel like Jane Goodall observing chimpanzees in their natural habitat, only with less fear of having feces thrown at me. Only slightly less.

While watching the show, I realized that there are some things we can all learn from the interactions of the characters. I know it sounds crazy to pull communication lessons from a show where people communicate worse than Darth Vader trying to give an employee constructive criticism. But think about it this way: did you ever take a Driver’s Ed or Health class where they showed movies of awful car crashes with mangled vehicles and bloody roads to convince you not to drink and drive? That’s what this is like. You can learn a lot from observing the wrong way of doing things.

For those of you not watching – and frankly, for the sake of your brain cells, social skills, and the future of humanity, I hope that’s most of you – let me summarize the situation:

Whoops, that’s not the situation, that’s “the Situation,” as in Mike, “the Situation” Sorrentino. Yes, he refers to himself as “the Situation.” He also refers to his abs as “the Situation.” He also refers to various situations as “the Situation.” He basically uses the word “Situation” wherever he can. It’s like the Smurfs, only instead of blue, industrious, and friendly, he’s orange, dumb, and horny.

Smurfy!

The Situation is projected to earn 5 Million Dollars this year, will appear on Dancing with the Stars, and received a 6 figure advance for his autobiography. I, on the other hand, am projected to earn $72.01, hope to appear for free for three minutes at a local open mic, and am working to self-publish my next book. If you ever needed an argument against Karma, this is it. But I digress…

Here’s our story so far:

On season 1, Ronnie and Sammi starting dating. In between season 1 and 2 they broke up. Reunited back in the house for season 2, they get back together. Sort of. You see, every night at the clubs when Sammi’s not there, Ronnie dances, grinds, hooks up with, and gets phone numbers from various women. Then he comes home and sleeps with Sam (the technical Jersey Shore term for that apparently is “smushing.” Which, if you think about it, is simultaneously accurate and disgusting…).

Everyone else in the house knows Ronnie is doing this but no one is telling Sam, even when she asks them straight out. Two of the girls in the house, J-Woww and Snooki (I don’t make these names up people, I just report on them), write Sammi an anonymous note and leave it in her bedroom. They wrote an anonymous note because they:

1. Were afraid to tell her directly
2. Didn’t want Ronnie to find out that they spilled the beans to Sammi

An anonymous note?!? There are only 8 people in the house. Only two of them, Snooki and J-Woww, are tight friends with Sammi. Do they honestly believe people in the house won’t know???

Last week’s episode left off with Sammi pissed at Ronnie and both Sammi and Ronnie trying to figure out who wrote the note. Wow, these remedial Encyclopedia Browns make Inspector Cluseau look like Hercule Poirot. (To be fair, Ronnie did read the note and assume it was J-Woww and not Snooki because the note contained the word “wisely.” To this Ronnie said, “Snooki don’t use words like that.” That’s both clever and hilarious).

Not the brightest bulbs... Tip: If you want to feel smarter about yourself, watch this video

Just based on the fact that you are reading a blog like this (or more correctly, based on the fact that you are reading anything at all), I am going to assume that you are smarter than the average Jersey Shore cast member. But like I said, sometimes you can learn a lot from watching the worst case scenario…

Here then are three communication lessons you can learn from MTV’s Jersey Shore:

Have the Hard Conversation

You gotta have those tough conversations

A lot of the drama on the show comes from the fact that nobody is willing to have the hard conversation and do what’s right. The girls don’t want to talk to Sammi because she’ll be upset, and they’re afraid Ronnie will find out and get pissed. Oh well, them’s the breaks. Sometimes you have to have the hard conversations.

I recently came across the following Colin Powell quote: “Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.” There’s a lot of truth to those words, and the Jersey Shore people could have really used that lesson. Not that I believe the Jersey Shore housemates are familiar with the sayings of Colin Powell. I would bet at least 25% of them have no idea who Colin Powell is. At least one of them would assume “Colin Powell” is a procedure to fix a gastrointestinal problem.

If you are content to slink in the background, add stress to your life, allow your friends to get taken advantage of, and basically let life push you around, then sure, avoid those hard conversations.

For the rest of us, who would like to live good lives filled with happiness and good relationships, we need to have those hard talks from time to time.

Don’t get me wrong; they suck! But in the long run they are well worth the effort.

Be Mad About the Right Thing

There is more stupid anger on this show than just about anywhere else

What strikes me as ridiculous, whether on the Jersey Shore show or anywhere in life, is how people who are doing something wrong will get crazy upset at others for not helping them get away with it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

If you cheat on your girlfriend in front of everyone, including your girlfriend’s friends, then you are an idiot and you deserve to get caught. Sure, you can rely on the fear your ‘roided up muscles instill in the witnesses, but at some point it’s going to come out. Stop being so pissed at people for reporting your infidelity and start living like a better human being.

If you want to lie, cheat, and steal, go for it, but realize that at some point someone with a little moral integrity is going to come along and not get sucked into your web of deceit.

The lesson here goes beyond covering up infidelity though; it’s about taking responsibility for your own success and failure.

Have you ever lost a sale and then been really angry at the prospect because, “they just didn’t get it”? Or gotten mad at an audience for not responding well to your presentation? Or been pissed at a client for not loving your work? Don’t be mad; take responsibility, fix the situation (not “the Situation”) and work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

This is not to say that sometimes clients and others are never wrong (they often are), nor is it to say that you should beat yourself up when things don’t go well. Just stop directing anger at other people and start taking responsibility by controlling the one thing you can control: your own actions.

Think Big Picture

Someday these people will have children. And those children will want answers...

Here’s what’s astonishing about all these people trying to keep secrets from each other: They’re being filmed!! At some point, Sammi is going to see the show and know Ronnie was hooking up with other women. At some point, Ronnie is going to watch and know J-Woww and Snooki wrote the note. At some point, these people’s children will have to work very, very hard to make sure their friends never see what their parents did “back in the day.”

We can only assume one of two things is going on:

1. They forget they’re on TV
2. They don’t care, and only want to make decisions to get them through the short term.

Either way, it’s dumb, dumb, dumb…

If your goal is to have a good old party time and hook up with lots of people and not worry about it, then sure, think short term. But for most of your communication and relationship decisions, you are much better off keeping the big picture in perspective.

Don’t make stupid short terms decisions that will bite you later on. Don’t lie to save yourself 5 minutes of discomfort now and have it result in potentially year long problems later (not to mention the added stress of maintaining the lie).

When you feel tempted to take the easy road, pause, breath, think, and remember the big picture. If your short term relief is going to lead to long term pain, then rethink your plan.

Even if you never watch the show, these are three communication lessons you can take away to reduce your stress, increase your effectiveness, and stay on the track to success. Try them the next time you are faced with a tough communication situation, or happen to meet “the Situation,” and you will be well on you way to making better decisions than J-Woww, Snooki, et al.

***
Are you planning an event and looking for a great speaker to add humor and energy? Then visit Avish’s Motivational Humorist page now!

I heard about this on the radio this morning, and had to see it for myself. I wanted to share the video with you because…well…I don’t really know. But I figure if I have to have this taking up valuable real estate in my mind, so too should you. Plus, it makes me giggle…

I guess this is art. At least according to the MoMA.

Silly as the “performance” is, somehow, somebody gave Yoko Ono the greenlight to perform this live. How did that happen?

I call it the “Yoko Ono” effect, and it’s a result of two factors:

1. Knowing that there’s a market for anything
2. With a Strong Platform You Can Write Your Own Ticket

Let’s take a look at these two ideas…

Knowing That There’s a Market for Anything

There is probably somebody right now thinking I am a philistine for not appreciating the brilliance of this performance piece. If this is your thing, more power to you. Just realize that I will never take a road trip with you when you have control over the stereo.

The bigger picture is that no matter what you like to do, there are probably people out there who:

1. Have an interest in it too
2. Would be willing to pay money for it

Keep in mind, some interests are going to be much less easy or lucrative than other. “Voice Piece for Soprano” by Yoko Ono is not going to be quite the same success that “Hey Jude” is. At least not until the seventh seal is broken and Brian Boitano goes ice skating on the river Styx. I’m just sayin’…

I realize that the people watching Yoko in the video probably didn’t pay to see her, and the MoMA may not have paid her, but look in your alternative newspaper for what’s going on around town on the weekend and I bet you will find plenty of very “niche” shows that some people are paying to go see.

Whatever you do or want to do, go find your people, go find your market, and go be happy. And please, if you plan on screaming and gyrating in public and calling it “art,” do it far away from me…

With a Strong Platform You Can Write Your Own Ticket

Let’s be honest: if you walked up to the director of the MoMA, said, “I have this great piece of performance art,” and then started screaming and convulsing like Linda Blair in the Exorcist, not only would he not sign you up to perform, he would probably also kick you in the groin. Ironically, the sounds emerging from your mouth both pre and post groin kick would be eerily similar…

Yoko Ono gets to perform this…er…let’s call it a “piece”…because she’s Yoko Ono. She has a name, a following, and a platform. Who she is matters more than what she does.

This is the same reason that:

• Mike “the Situation” Sorrentino from Jersey Shore gets a 6 figure book advance
• Paris Hilton gets to act (if you can call it acting)
• The “Countess” Luann de Lesseps from “Real Housewives of NYC” gets to produce a song

The list of people with no talent in a field who get much farther in that field simply because they have a platform goes on and on. Checkout the Countess’s song:

Don’t be depressed by this – learn from it! Build your own platform. Seth Godin calls this a Tribe. Build a following of people who love what you do and will support you by:

• Buying your stuff
• Recommending you to others
• Forwarding on your videos and articles
• Speak about you without prompting
• And so on

You don’t need a huge platform; it just needs to be big enough to support your needs. Some people have a strong platform in a small industry (I have a friend who is known as the person to set up Museum Shop displays for special exhibits), a small geography (be the full service medical practice in Dayton, TN) or a small online community (having an email list of only 1000 people is fine if everyone of them is a True Fan).

With technology today, there are so many ways you can build your platform:

• Build a blog
• Run a great online or offline newsletter
• Get on YouTube and post a ton of useful videos
• Network like crazy and get to know everyone
• Speak everywhere you can in your particular industry or geographical area
• Write a book (or multiple books)
• Do PR like crazy

Of course all these things take time, and you have to do them well, but they are worth it. Once you have a solid platform of people who love your stuff, no matter how “niche” or weird it might be, life gets much easier and doors open up to you. You just have to be willing to put in the work up front.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an audience waiting for me to scream into a microphone while gyrating like John Hurt before an alien bursts from his chest…

***
Are you planning an event and looking for a great speaker to add humor and energy? Then visit Avish’s Motivational Humorist page now!
 

I am in the process of putting together some new offerings. They include a mix of free webinars, paid coaching, and live seminars.

Please help me offer you the best possible value I can be taking this quick (1 page, 10 questions, less than 2 minutes to take) survey:

Avish’s New Offerings Survey

All questions are optional so you skip over any that you get “stuck” on!

Not only will this help me, but it will help you by making sure I am creating posts, webinars, seminars, etc. that you are genuinely interested in.

Thanks so much!
Avish

P.S. That link again:
Avish’s New Offerings Survey

Have you ever overslept, then woken up in a panic and scrambled to get to work on time? Did that oversleeping cost you ten million dollars? No? Then consider yourself lucky.

Last week, golfer Jim Furyk was disqualified from the Barclay’s golf tournament because he missed his tee time by a few minutes.

The reason he missed the tee time? He overslept.

The reason he overslept? He was using his cell phone as his alarm clock, and the battery died so the alarm never rang.

My goodness. One dead cell phone battery leads to a few minutes of tardiness, and now he has severely hurt his chances to win a $10 million prize. That comes out to something like $2,500,000 per minute. Or $41,666.67 per second.

Most. Expensive. Sleep. Ever!

Any sane person reading this will think to themselves, “how on Earth could a person do that? Why didn’t he have a backup plan??”

Good question, and one I asked myself too, until I thought more about it and realized that many of us, in many situations, tend to ignore backup plans. It’s easy to assume things will go exactly as we intend – but as we all know, Ding Happens!

Lest you fall into the trap of assuming that everything will go as planned (and then get screwed when they don’t), here are three ways you can prepare yourself to deal with life’s unexpected hiccups:

Check Your Equipment!

If your cell phone dies because you forgot to charge it, well, that's your own fault...

Technology is not infallible. Far from it. If you are going to use your cell phone as an alarm clock, especially before a big event, check the battery first. Or leave it plugged in overnight. Just do whatever you need to to make sure it works.

In the same way, double check all your equipment before major events. Get that little rattle you hear from car fixed before your road trip. Test your PowerPoint on the actual laptop you will be using in your presentation. Double check your bag and make sure you have everything packed that you need for your business trip.

Checking equipment isn’t hard, it’s just something we need to remember to do. Make it a habit and you will cut down on the number of headaches you have to deal with.

Use Backups!

Have a backup, in case the first one breaks down (note: throwing your hands up and complaining is not a backup plan)

Here’s the obvious lesson from this story: Use backups! Furyk had many backup options. He could have set an alarm clock. He could have had a wake up call. He could have had a friend check on him. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t do any of those things. He put all of his eggs into one cellular basket, and that led to disaster.

I speak on the importance and power of having the ability to improvise. However, just because you can improvise doesn’t mean that you should use that as an excuse to not prepare!

You don’t have to stress over every little thing that might go wrong, but at least consider the few major potentialities and create backups for those.

For example, in my motivational speeches and workshops I use a bell. It’s a fairly critical piece of my presentation (watch this video to see what I mean). When I travel, I take two bells in case one breaks. I also take a physical copy of my handout even if I sent over a copy to the planner to make copies in advance, just in case they didn’t make copies for me. If I ever use PowerPoint (I try to avoid it like Paris Hilton avoids smart decisions) I would take a copy on a USB drive even if I previously emailed the presentation to my client.

Create backups for your critical items and activities. Not only will you cover your butt in case of a problem, but you’ll also be less stressed because you know that you’ve got it handled.

Know Thyself!

Take a look in the mirror - you know what you need to worry about

Oversleeping is not usually a problem for me. I am a light enough sleeper that even quiet alarms will wake me up. And, for important events, I often wake up before the alarm goes off (of course, even though I know this I still set back up alarms, just in case).

On the other hand, I know some people who sleep like the dead. You could send a marching band into their bedroom and they wouldn;t budge. They are the ones who need to set multiple alarms and have backup plans (like a good friend with a pitcher of ice water…).

Self-awareness is an important skill, and one of the things that separates us from the evil sentient robots (for now). You know your strengths and weaknesses better than anybody, so there is no excuse for you to not set up plans and backups to deal with your weaknesses.

The next time you have an important event in your life, don’t make the same mistake Jim Furyk made. Check your equipment, use backups, and know your weaknesses! A little bit of prep and thought can prevent a lot of problems (and save you $10,000,000!)

***
Are you planning an event and looking for a great speaker to add humor and energy? Then visit Avish’s Motivational Humorist page now!

John McClane, protagonist of the Die Hard movies, is quite the action hero. He has foiled 4 different terrorist plots that rang in scope from taking over a building to shutting down the country. McClane is an amazingly capable badass, but it’s not just his own prowess that allows him to succeed. No, he is helped by the fact that his opponents tend to convolute the heck out of their plans.

This past weekend I re watched Die Hard 2: Die Harder. It’s actually a fairly entertaining, if mindless, movie (guess the “mindless” part goes without saying, eh?). It wasn’t very well received, and I think that is for two reasons:

1. It suffers in comparison to the original Die Hard.
2. It is truly ridiculous.

There are many ridiculous things about Die Hard 2: John McClane happens to once again be in the middle of a terrorist plot. Bruce Willis’s wife happens to be on a plane with the dumbass reporter from the first Die Hard. Laws of physics are summarily ignored. Grenades take forever to explode when it helps the plot. A bad gut is out run by an airport moving walkway. Two men die in a massive shoo tout in the hidden “baggage conveyor belt area” (that scene is like the swinging doors scene from Monster’s Inc, but with guns. And Bruce Willis) using automatic weapons, and not only do the police not take this seriously, but they don’t even close off the crime scene. Amazing.

But the most ridiculous aspect of the movie is the villain’s ridiculously convoluted plot. I could go on and on making fun of how unnecessarily involved their plan is, but Cracked.com already wrote a very entertaining article on the subject. You can read their take Die Hard 2 (and four other bad villain plots) here.

In a nutshell, a former special forces operative wants to get a drug lord freed. The drug lord is flying in to Dulles Airport, so the soldier recruits a team to:

1. Infiltrate the airport by passing guns to each other in gift boxes
2. Hack in to take control of all communication between the airport and the planes
3. Set up an ambush at what will be the airport’s most likely response
4. Be in cahoots with a legitimate current special forces unit who they assume will be sent in
5. Set up a fake shoot out with the special forces unit which involves shooting blanks at each other to stage a shootout

Oh, and by the way, this entire plot hinges on there happening to be a blizzard on the day the drug lord is being flown into Dulles. A blizzard which:

1. Must be bad enough to prevent any of the pilots from visually seeing the landing strip…
2. …but not be so bad that the flights will be cancelled or diverted in advance.

Wow. Is your head spinning yet? Mine is about to explode…

It’s easy to watch a movie like Die Hard 2 and laugh at how overly complicated the bad guys made their plan. However, if you spend any time talking to people about their life goals and plans, you’ll see that they tend to make their plans (if they them) just as complicated. And that is no laughing matter.

It’s easier than you think to overcomplicate your plans. Here are are three ways to make sure your plan is less convoluted than a Die Hard villain’s scheme:

Maximize How Much Is In Your Own Control

You can't control everything, but the more you can, the better you'll do

In Die Hard 2, the bad guys leave a lot to chance. Primarily, their entire plan revolves around a snowstorm hitting Washington D.C. at the exact time they want to hatch their scheme. Not just any snowstorm mind you, but a blizzard so bad that it completely eliminates the pilots’ visibility!

Sure, it snows in D.C., but how frequently does it snow so bad that everything shuts down? A couple of times a year? Maybe? And what are the chances that that blizzard will hit on the night you need it to? That’s leaving a pretty critical element up to fate…

Sounds crazy for the Die Hard bad guys, but we do this all the time in our own plans. For example, you can have a plan that says, “I am going to do presentations in front of targeted groups and then people in the audience will want to hire me.”

Sounds like an ok plan, until you realize that once you finish speaking, you have left everything else out of your control. You are leaving it up to the audience to think about hiring you, go back to their office and try to sell you, and then contact you themselves.

A better plan would be, “I am going to do presentations in front of targeted groups. I will collect business cards in return for a free gift so I can collect contact info. I will then email a thank you to everyone afterward (and the thank you email will have info about my services) and then I will call each person on the phone to talk about working with them and getting referrals.”

See how the second plan puts a lot more of the process into your control? Guess which version has a higher likelihood of success?

Lesson: The more you put your fate in your own hands, the better off you’ll be. Take control and take action!

Minimize the Number of Breakdown Points

Reduce the number of points you can breakdown, lest you be waylaid

Each step in your plan is a “breakdown point.” The more steps, the more opportunities there are for something to go wrong.

See if you can simplify your plan as much as possible. Remove unnecessary steps. Replace three roundabout steps with one concise one.

Often we add in steps because:

1. We are following someone else’s plan which may be convoluted in and of itself
2. We are trying to avoid the simple route because we don’t like it or
3. We believe things are more complicated than they really are.

These are bad, bad traps to fall into. Reduce the number of steps, reduce the breakdown points, and keep things as simple as possible!

Lesson: Simplify, simplify, simplify!

Be Direct!

How direct is your path?

Whatever your goal is, chances are that these is a short, direct path to achieving it. Make sure you first identify what that path is, and then do your best to stay as close to that path as possible. A little flexibility and variety is fine, but every step further away you take, the longer and harder your path will be.

Lesson: Identify the direct route and then take it!

It’s hard enough achieving the major goals in your life. Don’t make your life harder by over complicating what should be a simple plan. Keep things in your control, simplify, and take the direct route. That’s the surest way to success – unless you want your life to be an over the top Hollywood action move!

***
Are you planning an event and looking for a great speaker to add humor and energy? Then visit Avish’s Motivational Humorist page now!
 

Were you on last night’s Presentation Skills Webinar? If not, don’t worry! you can watch the recording of the entire webinar online here:

Better Presentation Skills Using Improv Comedy!

In additon to some great info on presentation skills, there are some special offers I announce in the video that are good until this Friday, 8/27!

Check it out now!
Better Presentation Skills Using Improv Comedy!

Thanks!
Avish

P.S. If you’d like to use the same tool I did for your own
broadcasts and video email, check out:
http://www.SuperDuperVideoTool.com

I was recently interviewed by Brett Clay, author of Selling the Change, on his radio show, “The Actuation Zone”!

The interview went great. In fact, here is what Brett emailed to me afterward:

“This is my favorite interview! First, I am drinking the Koolaide on how applicable and valuable are your improve techniques. Second, I guess the interview really shows how your improve techniques really work. …You said “Yes, and…” to every comment and question I had—and the interview just flowed.”

Brett is a great guy and host, and it turns out we share a lot of opinions on things. Take a listen for yourself (you can listen on-line or download the MP3)”

Listen to Avish’s interview with Brett Clay on the Actuation Zone!

Here’s a reminder (or an announcement, if you missed my first notice about it!):

I am conducting a free presentation skills webinar tonight, Monday, Auguat 23rd at 8PM EST.

There is no charge, and you don’t even have to sign up! Just surf on over to:
http://www.SeeAvishLive.com
at 8PM tonight!

Please spread the word and invite anyone and everyone you know who would like to improve their presentation skills. The webinar is appropriate for all levels; I’ll be sharing two beginner concepts, two intermediate concepts, and two advanced concepts!

Webinar Info:
Monday, 8/23, 8PM EST
http://www.SeeAvishLive.com
No sign up necessary, just follow the link at 8PM EST on Monday the 23rd

(Note: If the system seems stuck on “Waiting for host” close out and try again)

See you on the webinar!

Here’s a short video where I explain why sometimes you have to be willing to get worse in order to get a whole lot better:

If you like it, please share it!

Pop quiz: What band wrote the following songs:

• Working Man
• Fly By Night
• La Villa Strangiato
• Far Cry
• Show Don’t Tell
• Subdivisions
• Tom Sawyer

If you answered, “Rush” congratulations! You win a hearty smile of approval from me. If you answered, “I have no idea,” then go watch the videos on this page now! Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, just go now!

Long time (and perhaps short time) readers of this blog know that Rush is my favorite band of all time. “Why,” you ask? For one reason: Because RUSH IS AWESOME!!!

The melodies are amazing, the musicianship is unparalleled, the lyrics are fantastic and thought provoking, and they are still the only band, who, every time I see them, makes me feel, for lack of a better tern, “inspired.” Just. Too. Good.

I recently had the immense pleasure of seeing Rush in concert from the 16th row! This was one hell of an experience – it cost a bit of money, but it was well worth it. I can definitely cross one item off my “bucket list.”

This tour was partly to promote Rush’s new documentary, “Beyond the Lighted Stage.” To prepare for the concert, I made a point to watch the documentary first. You can see the trailer here:

The documentary is awesome, and I learned quite a few things about Rush that I did not know. I also came across some things that really made me think.

You can not deny Rush’s talent, longevity, and business success. Whether you love their music or hate it, you would be a fool not to follow their example. Here are three lessons we can all learn from Rush:

Maintain Your Authenticity

Alex Lifeson

Their label came to their manager and demanded that the next album feature only shorter radio friendly songs. Wanting to keep the label happy, the manager said, “of course! Absolutely that’s what they’ll do!”

The three members of Rush then got together and had a talk about it. They ultimately said, “We’d rather go back to our old jobs than write music we don’t want to write. Let’s just write what we want.”

Rather than producing an album of short songs, Rush came out with “2112.” 2112 was a record who’s entire side one was one song – almost 20 minutes long! And it’s awesome too – check out the opening:

History now shows that this was a brilliant move. 2112 went on to be a huge hit – spurred on by just word of mouth since radios couldn’t play the song! Geddy Lee says, “2112 gave us free reign to do whatever we wanted after that.”

It can be so easy to get steered off course, to do something you don’t believe in, or to compromise on your dream just to make a few bucks or please someone else. But the path to true greatness lies in being true to yourself.

This is not to say that compromise is never the answer. You just need to decide what you really want and what you are really willing to do to get it. Rush’s gambit worked because a) they are really good at what they do b) they worked very hard to make 2112 great and c) they were truly willing to put it all on the line; it wasn’t a false decision.

When it comes to your dreams and goals, are you staying true to yourself? Are you willing to forgo short term gains for long term success? You can make money a lot of different ways, but there is only one way to being truly happy, and that is to maintain your authenticity.

Keep Improving

Neil Peart

You know what he did after 20 years of being at the top of the game? He studied with jazz instructor Freddie Gruber to revamp his style!

Yup. In 1974 he joined Rush. He won Modern Drummer Magazine’s “Best Drummer” awards in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986. After winning all those, in 1994 he decided to “revamp” his style. (For a more complete list of his awards, check out the awards section on his Wikipedia page.)

Take a look at the master at work:

Astonishing. Here is a man (and a band) that understands the concept of constant improvement. How many bands fade into the background because they never learn or grow? Not only do the fans lost interest, but the band members themselves can get bored with it.

Are you constantly improving in your business and life? No matter how awesome you are, or whether you are at the top of your industry, are you still pushing yourself to learn more, be better, and try new things? If Neil Peart can go study with a jazz drummer after 20 years, I think we all could stand to improve our game a bit too.

Clean Living Helps

Geddy Lee

Sounds dorky right?

Well, consider this: They have been together over 30 years, have 19 studio albums (the 20th is coming out in 2011), 24 gold records, 14 platinum records, and their sales put them behind only the Beatles and Rolling Stones for most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band. They have never broken up, and no one has had to go to jail or rehab.

In a world where so many bands infight, break up, go to jail, get addicted to booze and drugs, etc., it’s great to see what simple “clean living” can do.

I am assuming you are not a hard core drug user, so what does this lesson have to do with you? Simply that clean living matters.

As I get older, I notice this more and more. A few drinks with dinner the night before and I am sluggish the next morning. Eat a bad lunch, and all I want to do is nap in the afternoon. Go too long without any kind of exercise (even a walk) and my productivity drops.

In order to achieve your goals, you need clarity of mind and energy! If you are content to wake up, shamble off to work, come home, watch TV, go to bed, and repeat, then this point doesn’t matter. But if you want to experience more of life than that, then a little clean living can go a long way.

I am not saying you should never indulge (believe me, I am the last person who would ever say that!) Just do it intelligently, and keep in mind what over indulgence may cost you in the long term.

There you have it. Three great life and business lessons from the bes band ever. If you have an even remote interest in Rush (or in things that are AWESOME!!!) I highly recommend you check out “Beyond the Lighted Stage” now!

P.S. For you rush neophytes, I created an “Intro to Rush” YouTube playlist for your listening (and viewing) pleasure.

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