My dad wouldn’t let me watch the TV show “Mr. Ed”. I wasn’t allowed to eat “Captain Crunch” cereal. I had pretty relaxed parents when I was little. I was allowed to do most things. But “Mr. Ed” was bad. And “Captain Crunch” was bad.
“Mr. Ed” was a TV show about a man who owned a talking horse. I never watched the show so I can’t tell you much more about it. But from what I gather, whenever he had problems with his wife, he’d go outside to his barn and talk to his horse, Ed, about his problems. My dad thought the show was sexist. “He would talk to his horse instead of his wife!” my dad would say. So that show was out.
“Captain Crunch” was out. As were “Fruit Loops”. “That cereal kills your brain,” my dad would say.
(Mr. Ed and Wilbur)
I now know that a lot of things are worse for your brain. I wish my brain had some brain cells killed sometimes. The cells filled with venom, that infect cells filled with lust or anger or greed or gossip. Cancerous pockets of mirage fill my head sometimes, filling me with anxiety or worry. Did “Captain Crunch” do that? Did Mr. Ed fill me with rape scene after rape scene in my teenage years?
Forget your brain for a second. Your brain is your enemy. You can only succeed if you are utterly stupid. If you are successful there’s going to be a brief moment when even your closest relatives think you’re “disturbed” or “paranoid” or belong in a mental institution. That’s when you know you are about to succeed. There are six components to success. Only one has to do with the brain, if at all:
A) Enthusiasm. I told my 12 year old I don’t want her taking tap dancing lessons anymore. She’s been taking them for five years. She’s been in a dozen performances or more. She could really be good if she keeps going for it until she’s 18. Here’s the problem: she should already be really good at it. She should be great at it. Five or six years she’s been taking it. Never once have I seen her practicing at home or looking at youtube videos of great tap dancers. I took her to see the best tap dancer in the world once. She was happy to go with me and spend time with me. But she fell asleep in the show. The highlight of that evening was we went to eat dinner together. I heard the guy next to us propose to the girl he was with. I offered to take their picture. They smiled for it. Then the girl told him, quietly so she thought I wouldn’t hear, “no”. that was the highlight of my evening at least.
The problem is Josie has no enthusiasm for it. I can tell when an entrepreneur has enthusiasm for something. If all he’s talking about is how big the exit could be, then he’s a loser. If he loves the subtleties and intricacies of the field he’s in, then I can tell he’s a winner. For me, what I have enthusiasm right now for is writing this blog. I have enthusiasm for nothing else. I read and write and think about this blog 20 hours a day. My entire day’s schedule revolves around it.
