You may have noticed a couple industry-related articles written by me in the last week on this blog. Have you enjoyed them? Why did I write them (you may or may not be asking)? There's a good reason, and it's mostly selfish. The reason is -- to stay hungry. I'm probably like many of you and have had an amazing and long career in this industry (knock on wood commences). And I, like you, have witnessed some draconian changes. What used to be fully staffed radio stations are now half that (or even less). What used to be full morning shows are now solo.
It's easy to get depressed and complain, but I choose to thank God everyday I still get to play radio.
The biggest problem CAN be staying hungry, though. Kids, wife, mortgage, soccer, basketball, and (fill in the blankk) can leave your head spinning. Our younger selves used to live at the radio station soaking it all up, but the version of ourselves that look like our dads can no longer invest that kind of time.
That's why I've started writing about things that go beyond prep, and hope to keep them going throughout the summer. I'm going to focus mostly on our listeners, and learning as much about them as possible. But if I find an inspiring article on the web that I think you need to see (like today's), I'll pass it along.
Today's article is nothing but quotes. Quotes that point out the danger of becoming a lazy conformist. I think it's important in this industry to be as critical about yourself and your performance as possible. The biggest danger we face as we become older... is laziness. It's easy to just read a statistic on the air and turn it into a trivia question -- everyone does it. Is it boring to the audience? Maybe. So how can you make that bit different?
What about Battle of the Sexes? Is that played out? I would think so...so how can you put an original touch to that game? Or should it be retired? Read the following quotes below, and feel inspired to thing OuTsiDe tHe bOx!
1. It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed ~Albert Einstein.
2. Every society honors its live conformists, and its dead troublemakers. ~Mignon McLaughlin
3. If there is anything a non-conformist hates more than a conformist, it's another non-conformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of non-conformity. ~Bill Vaughan
4. A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking. ~J.K. Galbraith
6. It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. ~Herman Melville
7. Only dead fish swim with the stream. ~Malcolm Muggeridge
8. All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions. ~Adlai Stevenson
9. If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking. ~George S. Patton
10. Conformity is that jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. ~John F. Kennedy
11. How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. ~Alfred de Musse
Which one of those touch you? Does it get a fire rumbling in your stomach? I hope so. See you on Wednesday!
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