“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole live believing that it is stupid.” -Albert Einstein.
People often think in the mythology "Survival of the fittest," but that idea is simply bullshit.
The way life really sorts out people is by the idea of survival of the most flexible.
You can be fit for a position, and you may get it, but getting a job is one thing, but keeping a job is something else entirely.
To keep a job you can't just be fit for it, you need to be flexible with it. You need to understand that to succeed at anything, you must adapt to any given situation.
You can not be stubborn, or stuck in your ways. When you have a curveball thrown out you, you need to learn to hit a home-run or just try and get on base so the next guy can get the job done.
I love the saying that "Everyone is a genius, but if you ask a fish to climb a pole he looks like an idiot."
You can't ask people to do things they aren't' capable of, and although they may want to do it, you need to be flexible to the idea that maybe they can't.
Stop focusing on being "fit" for a position, and start focusing on becoming as flexible as possible to be able to handle anything life throws at you.
Although a lion may be the strongest in the jungle, the reason he survives is his ability to adapt to his surroundings. And when the moment is right - that's when he pounces.
How right you are. I agree with you because all that belief does is promote bullying, which I’m against. And so, down with bullying forever!
I get where Brandon is coming from, but I don’t think he explained his position quite well enough.
I don’t mean to speak for Brandon (as I could never fill his shoes) but I think what he was getting at is those who BELIEVE that they are already the fittest, get stuck in their level of learning and educating others. The term “Survival Of The Fittest” in business is often a statement that come from ego more than anything and I think that’s why Brandon is so against that statement.
We constantly have to keep learning especially with all the changes in the world as time passes. I think that’s the flexibility Brandon was speaking of and I have always lived my life in that way.
Where Brandon & my hobby goals are very different, our philosophies are the same.
I’m very physically disabled and my goal is to find ways to donate as many decent sports cards and Certified Autographs to hospitalized children without spending hardly any money as I live on $1,200 a month as my only income in Soc. Sec. Disability plus I’m stuck with all my house bills as my mother was forced into a Nursing Home.
I’ll be making a donation this year for the first time since 2015 because first I had to get my Medicaid benefits resolved (which took 33-months because Medicaid is broken in NYC) and now I’m still fighting to get the $3,000 they owe me!
So now I can concentrate my efforts on donations again that I did EVERY year from 1989-2015 (first inspired by Gary Carter when I was 22 in ‘89). The minimum value of my yearly donations is $2,500 now. Before I became so sick (2009) it was $5,000-$10,000 a year.
I live with the philosophy if I save just one child by allowing them to concentrate their attention on the cool cards I donate to them which will help their bodies heal vs. constantly thinking how sick they are; then everything I’ve ever done was worth it.
In 2014 I bought hundreds of 2014 Topps Inception Certified autographs for $2-$3 each. I bought (5) Aaron Judge and (6) Gary Sanchez for this low price. I donated all but one of each to a Manhattan hospital in 2014. These same Judge autographs were up to $500 each for many straight months last year and Sanchez was $50 each all year. Can you believe I misplaced my Aaron Judge and still can’t find it. But it made me SO HAPPY that sick children got these great cards. I know I think so much differently than other sports card dealers and collectors. I’ve even had several dealers over the years tell me “Donated the cards to me!”. Greed???
My career was saving lives as an advanced EKG Interpretation Technologist & Educator (a position I created for myself, yet never got paid for it). I never made money a driving force at all in my life. All I needed was enough for the absolute basics and I was happy. I have nothing against anyone who does want to get rich. That’s just not the way I think.
Just be the best you can be at whatever you do: which means continually changing the way you think and never stop learning!
Brandon, I generally love your postings. This one didn’t really work for me. You seem too be telling the fish that in this day and age he needs to be flexible and adapt to tree climbing if that’s what the job requires. Einstein’s quote is about not trying to be what you are not. In the future I will also comment on the posts where you nail it.