life is more than a dress rehearsal

Yes, I’m going to be the cheesy person who relates to you, my helpless reader, all the wonderful new things I’m learning in class.

I assume though that my winning voice will keep you captivated, of course.

This week I started a course called (and I quote): “The Master Strategies of Superachievers.”  And who doesn’t want to be a superachiever?  Duh! Everyone wants to be one! (Assumption #1).  But, no, really, this class is pretty cool.  It’s supposed to correct the fact that our educational system doesn’t prepare us for real life by teaching us 15 master strategies that will take us from being “drifters” to “superachievers”—those people that are worth writing books about.

I got involved because I realized there is a deplorable lack of mentorship built into the current relationship between new grads and their employers.  Of course I’m young and inexperienced!  I just graduated, genius! (Pardon my outburst.) So, this class is my effort to surround myself with some other folks in the business and art world who are determined to up the ante.  So, here you go:

Master Strategy (1): Discover which type of personality you have.  Play to your strengths, and your weaknesses will be empowered as you go along.  Learn the personalities of those around you, and partner with people whose strengths compensate for your weaknesses.

We are only part of the way through the various personalities, but a quick 10-question test can determine where you fall in the helpful metaphors: lion, otter, golden retriever, and beaver.  Side note, although possibly the most important thing I discovered: these metaphors are conceits!  For those of you not in the loop, a conceit is a complicated, sustained metaphor used to make an argument.  And I think the name usually fits well—-many authors are incurably attached to certain metaphors and in their conceit, they believe those metaphors are the best, most accessible means of explaining their point—regardless of the audience.  Anyway, the Lion personality is nothing like a real lion.  Ditto for the Otter, Golden Retriever, and Beaver.  The personalities are, however, very like our cultural constructions of a lion, an otter, a golden retriever, and a beaver.  So, I permit their use as an exercise in cultural semiology, long may it live.

Here’s the Lion:

• decisive
• aggressive
• take-charge
• natural leader
• impatient
• results-oriented
• easily bored
• glad of a challenge / variety

What do you think?

LION

OTTER

GOLDEN RETRIEVER

BEAVER