Do these pants make me look ***?

September 2nd, 2011

Yes, they probably do.

If you ask, you are probably in two situations: you have a body image issue, or they do actually make you look ***. Your instincts are right, good for you.

Assuming you don’t have a body image issue, which would place you in a 3% minority, you may need to face the fact that this particular item of clothing will make you look ***. You may actually be *** and the item of clothing you have chosen would be more suited to someone less ***. If you are ***, that’s fine, you are in the greater majority and many a *** person has gone on to live a long and prosperous life.

Some people would consider Nigella Lawson to be ***, but that is not to say that she is not greatly respected, and I am confident that there would be many a member of the opposite sex who would respect the sh*t out of her given the consensual opportunity. Same could be said for Jack Black.

My point is that there is really only one answer to the question. ‘Who cares?!’

You probably aren’t ***, you have probably just acquired an item of clothing that would be better suited to a different body shape. And there will be hundreds of alternatives that will look smokin’ on your hot frame. Ask your partner, you will probably find that ‘nude’ is a good start. And probably a good finish.

And besides all that, is the point of the dress-up to look nice or skinny? Whether or not the item of clothing makes you look *** may well be beside the point. The item of clothing may indeed not make you look ***, but may leave you looking like an idiot. Hats indoors, sunglasses indoors, shoes in a boat – these items won’t make you look *** but that is the least of your worries.

If a footballer with footballer legs sports a pair of skinny jeans, they won’t make him look fat, not by any stretch, but they will make him look like an idiot, like a white guy with a homie limp.

Everyone wants to look nice but let’s not confuse ‘nice’ with ‘skinny’. And let’s not confuse *** with anything larger than ‘athlete fit’.

Honestly, who knows, you may well be ***. But that’s not to say you aren’t one sexy motherfucker.

The irrelevance of ‘I want’

August 30th, 2011

I had the privilege of seeing Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan present recently at a Microsoft conference on the Gold Coast. Glenn has been a long time business success story and extreme fitness freak, while his wife had been less fitness focused but equally successfully in business. Heather tells a story of how a heated conversation between herself and husband Glenn resulted in Heather becoming a world record holder. Glenn, always challenging the standard, was preaching about changing the way we think and how doing so can give us the chance to achieve greatness. Heather had had it with Glenn’s righteousness and challenged him to apply this wonderful theory to his completely unmoved wife.

Twelve months later, Heather had gone from an overweight 40 year old corporate mum, into a world class extreme base-jumper. Six years later she base-jumped off Mt Meru, India (6672m), to set a new world record, breaking the previous record as held by Glenn, by around 700 metres.

Glenn stated that the most significant element of the training regime was to eliminate ‘I want’ from their vernacular. ‘I want’ was just noise.

His point was that ‘I want’ has no validity. We either will, or we won’t. ‘Wanting’ is crossing fingers hoping that a miracle falls into our lap – it is ineffective, and lazy.

Heather rubbed out ‘I want’ from her conversations.

She then jumped off a six and a half thousand metre cliff to set a new world record and turn the rock-climbing/base-jumping/skydiving world on its head.

No half measures

August 22nd, 2011

A colleague of mine recently sat an interview for a role with a new company. It offered promising career opportunities as well as an increase in income.  He was unsuccessful but only moderately disappointed.

Him: “It’s moderately disappointing. But there would have been some pretty strong candidates I’d say” (he didn’t know for sure).

Me: “What did you wear?”

Him: “Just my suit, tie, work shoes – the usual thing.”

Me: “Did you buy a new suit?”

Him: “No – just wore the one I usually wear”.

Me: “Did you wear a watch?”

Him: “No.”

Me: “What colour socks did you wear?”

Him: “I don’t remember.”

Me: “Did you take a pen and a nice folder”.

Him: “I took a notepad and pen”.

Me: “What kind of pen was it?”

Him: “I don’t know, one from [four star hotel] I think.”

Me: “Did the notepad have a cover?”

Him: “Why are you asking so many damn questions?”

Me: “Sorry, just making small talk.”

Me: “How big of a deal was this opportunity?”

Him: “It would have been pretty great.”

Me: “Could you have done a good job if you had have got it?”

Him: “Oh yeah, no problems there.”

Me: “So you attended an interview for a job that you could have nailed and would have offered you a great opportunity, you wore a five year old suit, scuffed shoes, and came equipped with a promotional click pen, and missed out on the job?”

Me: “Feel like a beer?”

Him: “Sure.”

So we had beers.

Opportunities fall into two categories: Want; or Not. If it’s want, then give the decision maker no reason to deny you. If it’s not, save your time and play Nintendo.

If you aren’t prepared to invest in yourself, why should anyone else?