Its All About the Cool Kids
Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about themselves, and small people talk about others.
Have you ever been lucky enough to be a cool kid?
Then you know how some form of power feels.
In the last ten years, I’ve had 13 cats come and go. Strays all of them. Well taken care of. Currently there are 6 cats here. Three of these cats consider themselves the “cool cats”, with one trying very hard to be the fourth.
The fourth is a big orange Maine coon, new to my collection of strays, who reminds me of the Frankenstein monster in Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein. He’s bigger than the other cats, he makes strange grumbling noises to talk, and boy does he talk, unlike my resident gray Maine coon.
The orange Maine coon is the sweetest guy and to quote my significant other, using a line from king Julian in the movie Madagascar, “he’s just a giant pansy”.
He wants to be friends, but the cool cats won’t let him. Much hissing, frequently a growl, no big fur flying fights. He wants what the other cool cats get and he definitely doesn’t want to be one of the back porch cats (not the cool cats). The cool cats sit on the front porch in the afternoon sun.
The coolest cat is my big gray Maine coon. He gets what ever he wants when he wants it.
How did he get to be the coolest kid? He took the power by convincing me to give it to him through a series of actions I observed closely.
Can you transfer this story to people in your life?
To yourself?
Are you a cool cat, or Frankenstein or a back porch cat?
Some people will become a cool kid because of authentic gestures, others will betray, belittle, demonize others, or maybe even you, to become a cool kid.
Have you ever thought about different groups of people and their cool kids?
Take politicians for example, the people who have power over you and me. There are politicians who do whatever they want, whether it is constitutional or not and the ones who want to be cool and let them. They don’t want to miss the cocktail parties.
Look at Hollywood, there are the big names you recognize who come out and say the most illogical and ridiculous things and those too afraid to oppose those illogical thoughts because they want to be cool too. The same with sports figures and musicians. Ditto about the cocktail parties.
Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about themselves, and small people talk about others. John C. Maxwell
Popular culture provides a rich environment for you to observe and use a “cool kids” filter.
When you start to look at the world around you with a with a “cool kids” filter you begin to realize being a cool kid really doesn’t matter and character does. And the hidden gift, you may also realize that we’re all trapped in a world where meaningless things are valued.
Highly.
Whether we’re a cool kid or not.
How did my gray cat get to be the coolest cat?
Gratitude.
Find time everyday to feel grateful, but don’t just feel it, show it by expressing it in some way.
You’ll begin to feel like a cool kid immediately.
The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization by John C. Maxwell
That's a great Maxwell quote. I must up my conversational skills!