No need for a long introduction here. These eight books are quick reads filled with wisdom attributed to all sorts of people ranging from ancient Greek slaves to 21st century business masterminds.

On The Shortness of Life by Seneca (105 pages)

I’ve never read a book so old that’s as applicable to 2017 as this one. A practitioner of Stoicism, Seneca’s insights on wealth, jealously, power, and happiness are as useful today as they were when he was advising his students (including Nero) in Ancient Greece during the first century AD: “Envy you’ll escape if you haven’t imposed yourself on other people’s notice, if you haven’t flaunted your possessions, if you’ve learned to keep your satisfaction to yourself.” Don’t expect a college textbook when you read this. Seneca differs from other “philosophers” in that he’s practical – he doesn’t ask esoteric questions that have no answers. He’s easy to understand and you’ll have a collection of great quotes by the time you finish.

 

Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield (146 pages)

I’m a big fan of Pressfield’s best-known book, The War of Art, and this follow-up is equally down-to-earth and provocative. He relentlessly confronts our ever-present fear of abandoning the “amateur” life and outlines what it takes to shed comfort in order to live as a professional in the craft we pursue. It’s pages are packed with the kind of old fashioned wisdom that gives you the kick in the ass you need every once in awhile.

 

 

 

The Dip by Seth Godin (96 pages)

Although The Dip is Seth Godin’s shortest book by far, the lesson it provides is his most valuable in my opinion. Every idea for a business, product, book, app, or whatever sounds like a blast at first. But what happens when we face the inevitable barriers and setbacks? Seth calls this “the dip,” and asserts that true winners know when to ride out the dip and when to call it quits. The Dip explains how to make that decision. Although he’s a pioneer of modern-day business and marketing, Seth’s insights on goals and strategic quitting are applicable to just about any aspect of life.

 

 

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (112 pages)

“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury;” “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it, and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” These are just two reflections from the 2000+ year old journal-turned-book of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (yeah, the guy from Gladiator) which documents his quest for inner peace and virtue during times of war and turmoil. The people he governed literally worshipped him as a god; he could have anything he desired. But the insights in his book reflect his emotional sobriety and mental clarity. If the most powerful man in the world could tame his ego, so can you. If you spend one dollar on a book, make it this one.

 

The Way to Love by Anthony de Mello (196 mini pages)

When I first got this tiny book, I thought I’d finish it in a couple of hours. But two years after I first read it, I’m nowhere close to absorbing all the insights and guidance that it offers. The late Anthony de Mello was a Jesuit priest, but his writing cuts across cultures: it’s is clear, practical, and calming, and packed with timeless lessons about all facets of life. I could read the book a thousand times and feel like I was reading something new each time. De Mello insists that he nor any other anyone else has the power to “change your life” – only we can do that for ourselves. But he concedes that we do need clues and hints to get on the right path, and I think this book is a great first step for anyone, no matter where we are in life.

 

 The Prince by Machiavelli (80 pages)

This is one of the most controversial books of all time, which is why many history classes reference it, but also why so many people misunderstand it. It’s easy to play off Machiavelli as a cold hearted politician obsessed with gaining power, but this ignores the fact that the residue of his writings is still visible in today’s politics. The Prince is a stark reflection of what works in the realm of power and what doesn’t. Nobody said you had to agree with him, but the price of ignoring history is remaining clueless about the present.

 

 

 The Moral Sayings of Publilius Syrus: A Roman Slave (92 pages)

The best philosophy often comes from people who never labeled themselves “philosophers.” That is, they don’t study it in an academic light – they live it and practice its virtues. As a slave in ancient Rome, Syrus developed this handbook of practical wisdom that sharpened his mind and enabled him to live a full life in spite of his horrendous circumstances. The book is comprised entirely of independent quotes, (doesn’t matter where you pick up or leave off) and is just as practical today as it was over 2,000 years ago. Some of my favorite sayings include: “When the tree has fallen, anyone can cut wood” and “Better to be ignorant of a matter than half know it.”

 

 

Why Don’t We Learn from History? by B.H. Liddell Hart (126 pages)

“Fools learn from experience,” said Otto von Bismarck. “I prefer to learn from the experience of others.” B.H. Liddell Hart references this quote in the opening pages of this book after posing the question: What the purpose of studying history? He notes that while we we flail aimlessly trying to solve today’s complex issues, the truth often lies in the study of the past. But even if history can’t tell us precisely how to act in a given situation, it can serve tell us what to avoid, which is perhaps more important. Written by perhaps the most respected historian of the 20^th century, this book is a call to drop our prejudices of what the past was so we can see the truth clearly when it matters the most: now.

 

All of these books were included in my previous monthly newsletters – If you’d like to sign up to receive more recommendations, you can sign up here.

You’ll have to dig past the “hot tracks” of Apple Music and the “Fresh Finds” of Spotify. Way past. Older than “Ice Cream Paint Job” and “Throw Some D’s” and into the depths of the robot-curated playlists. Beyond the allure of fan-favorite tunes lies the most useful, and probably the oldest, genre of music on these platforms: classical.

I don’t remember how or why I first got hooked on classical music. I probably thought it made me feel cultured or intelligent as an 18-year-old college freshman. Since then, though, it’s become clear that the music itself has nothing to do with making someone smart or boosting mental performance. But it has everything to do with keeping you focused, calm, and creative, of which getting shit done is usually a byproduct.

The Mozart Effect (the theory that listening to Mozart positively alters the brain) has been debunked. But Duke University’s Dr. Kevin Labar says that classical music can still improve intellectual performance without raising your IQ. He notes that classical music can produce a calming effect by releasing dopamine and stopping the release of stress hormones, generating a pleasant mood. “And inducing a pleasant mood,” says Labar, “seems to clarify thinking.”

Classical music, or any music for that matter, obviously can’t compensate for a lack of effort or chronic procrastination. That’s like spending $300 a month on nutrition supplements but refusing to go to the gym. Instead, it eliminates unconscious thoughts and lowers your heart rate, streamlining the creative process. We can agree that no meaningful work gets done, whether it’s writing, studying, etc., when the mind is racing or the body is tense. Classical music alleviates both of these issues.

In one of Spotify’s blog posts, classical music (unsurprisingly) didn’t crack its top 10 list of most-streamed genres, getting beat out by “indietronica,” “indie poptimism,” and the ever-popular “stomp and holler.” Forget these rankings, though. If you’re not listening to classical music, you’re doing yourself and your work a disservice.

It’s not for everyone, though.

I know classmates who listen to pop hits when they write papers. Their rationale for doing so? I love my music! I’m they do. That’s also why they produce 6th grade level work and can barely put together a coherent sentence. They use music to distract themselves from the task and pass the time, not to concentrate.

There’s something about the music not having words, its simplicity, that makes it so effective. Bach, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Chopin – you can’t go wrong with any of them. Maybe it’s a placebo effect and this whole article is pointless. Or maybe these old dead guys really are the saving grace for a culture drowning in a sea of trivial distractions. Either way, it’s worth a listen.

Just make sure you don’t accidentally play a cello suite when when someone rides in your car. It’s embarrassing.

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.

When my grandparents were my age, shopping and fashion revolved around winter, spring, summer, and fall trends. Those on a tighter budget may have only shopped for two seasons: cold and warm. Fast forward to 2017 and the fashion industry has manufactured over 50 “micro-seasons,” the goal of which, according to Factory45 founder Shannon Whitehead-Lohr, is to get consumers to buy as much stuff as possible in the shortest time span.

We’ve heard the safe and easy explanation for this over and over: We’re a materialistic society; we’re obsessed with clothes and gadgets. The Atlantic even suggests that 80 percent of Americans think our culture is too materialistic. But there is a more complex question that lies behind this: Are we actually concerned with acquiring more things, or is it the stories we tell ourselves about those things that leads us into an endless cycle of buying?

Juliet Schor, a professor of sociology at Boston College and author of The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need, is a contemporary expert on radical consumer behavior. When it comes to materialism, she argues that we need to become true materialists in the sense that we genuinely care about the material quality of goods. “Instead,” says Schor, “we’re in a world in which material goods are so important for their symbolic meaning…what they do to position us in a status system.

In other words, we’re materialistic in the everyday sense of the word, but arguably the least materialistic generation of people in the true sense of the word.

I initially disagreed with Schor’s theory, but in the following days it began to make more sense. Do we buy a new iPhone or the latest Jordan shoe release because its quality is dramatically higher than whatever we already own? Or do we buy to mitigate our insecurities and tell ourselves a story?

What we’re concerned with is rarely about the product itself. Hypothetically, if it were proven that a pair of Sketchers was better for your feet and stayed intact longer than your Nikes, would you make the switch? As pathetic as it sounds, I probably wouldn’t. We care about the authority and esteem of the product, as if fabric and rubber can have either. An advertisement tells us little about the product being sold, but everything about the dreams and insecurities of the people who might buy it. We purchase an image, an ideal. This is as distant from material as we can get.

The late media theorist and cultural critic Neil Postman recognized this as early as 1992 in his book Technopoly:

“What the advertiser needs to know is not what is right about the product but what is wrong about the buyer…The business of business becomes pseudo-therapy; the consumer, a patient reassured by psychodramas.”

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.

Sir Henry Royce, the co-founder of Rolls Royce, had this Latin phrase inscribed on his mantle: Quidvis recte factum quamvis humble praeclarum – “Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble.”

There is a tendency among my generation to feel perpetually dissatisfied. I’m not learning anything from this class. This job doesn’t pay enough. I deserve a better internship. But when we see life through the lens of our inflated expectations, we fail to recognize the truth that Sir Henry Royce embodied: how you do anything is how you do everything.

Maybe you’re making coffee despite having a college degree. Maybe you got beat out for a job by someone you feel is less qualified than you. Any number of situations can cause us to feel frustrated, stuck, defeated. But the idea that any of this is unfair is delusional. The reality is we don’t deserve anything, and circumstances often lie outside of our control.

What we do have control over, however, is our response to these circumstances. Do we throw a pity party for ourselves? Or do we embrace our position and see it as an opportunity to progress, learn, and grow?

James Garfield, the 20^th President of the United States, paid his way through college in the 1850s by convincing his school, the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, to let him work as a janitor in exchange for tuition. He worked with pride each day, up-keeping the facilities hours before he would begin his school day. Within one year at the school he was teaching a full course as a professor in addition to his own studies. By age twenty-six he was named the Dean of Students. This isn’t to say working hard as a janitor is the best path to the presidency, but Garfield’s story perfectly illustrates how a shift of mentality is the difference between feeling sorry for yourself and reaching your potential. He understood the distinction between wanting something and feeling entitled to it.

A mentor of mine once told me, “If you’re to big to do the small things, you’re too small to do the big things.” This is why I put up with pulling weeds, scrubbing floors, and peeling potatoes when I was sixteen. Sure, I wanted more, but acting as if what we desire is no different than what we deserve is dangerous. Ironically, the people I’ve known who claimed they were “too good” for their positions tended to have the most trouble advancing.

As Andrew Carnegie famously said, our first jobs should introduce us to the broom.

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.

What did you expect from two Arizona frat stars?

Yes, indeed. The founders of Sunny Co. Clothing and the masterminds behind the red swimsuit saga are Alan Alchalel and Brady Silverwood, two University of Arizona undergrads who, according to their lovely bio, “have been friends since the 5^th grade!” But even more interesting than girls buying overpriced ($64) pieces of fabric to cover their private parts from two bros behind a laptop in Tucson is the bold gonzo-marketing stunt that these guys unleashed today.

“Sharing is caring,” the Instagram promotion reads. “EVERYONE that reposts and tags us in this picture within the next 24 HOURS will receive a FREE Pamela Sunny Suit.” As I write this, there are over 300,000 reposts for this promotion. Alan and Brady now have two options: shell out some serious cash to give away hundreds of thousands of swimsuits, or say “We didn’t expect such a huge response!” withdraw the offer, and enjoy the free publicity.

If I was a betting man, I’d place my money on the latter.

How do you get attention in an attention economy? Boring things (like swimsuits) are expensive to market traditionally. In order for a neutral product to go viral, it takes a shocking or controversial tactic, maybe even something that risks the reputation of the product itself.

Offering a free swimsuit to anyone who shares a picture is a pseudo-event: it’s planted for the solely for the purpose of being talked about. It’s engineered to be newsworthy, and the conversation shifts from the product itself to the controversy over whether Sunny Co. Clothing is legit or not. The result is social media chatter and millions of website visits, neither of which happen with a paid advertisement.

Chances are the people who shared the picture won’t get a free swimsuit. But even if they do, that’s not what this is all about. It’s about making Sunny Co. Clothing the first brand anybody talks about when they buy swimsuits this summer.

As one tweet read this afternoon, “If you say gullible really slow it kinda sounds like ‘repost for a free swimsuit from sunny co clothing.’”

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.

The Pew Research Center reports that 15% of American adults have used some form of online dating, a number that has steadily increased since the dawn of Match.com in 1995. The stereotypes surrounding these users – basement-dwelling, overweight, awkward – whether you agree with them or not, exist.

What losers, says the twenty-something. How desperate can these people be that they exaggerate their accomplishments and looks then sit behind a screen waiting for validation? Can’t they just find companionship like normal people?

 For many young people, it seems taboo for such behavior in regards to romantic relationships. But when it comes to the same behavior for social relationships, validation from behind the screen becomes the norm and is even admired.

“[Millennials] are growing up in a Facebook-Instagram world; in other words, we’re good at putting filters on things,” says author and consultant Simon Sinek. “We’re good at showing people that ‘life is amazing even though I’m depressed.’”

I’m not here to take a stance on Internet dating or social media. But I am here to lay out the similarities of both so you can decide for yourself which one is more shallow. As I was researching for this article, I noticed that each similarity between social media and online dating fell into two categories, the first of which is the urge for dopamine.
Engagement with social media releases the reward-chemical dopamine – this is why getting notifications feels good. It’s why we count our “likes” and log onto social media apps when we’re bored, lonely, anxious, or depressed. When people acknowledge us, however superficial that acknowledgement is, it feels good. When someone posts “Happy birthday!” on Facebook or retweets us, a signal is sent to our brain telling us we’re relevant and desired. And the more of it we get, the more dependent the brain becomes dependent on apps for temporary relief. Soon enough it becomes an addiction.

“If you’re sitting at dinner with your friends and you’re texting somebody who’s not there, that’s an addiction,” says Sinek. “It sends a subconscious message that ‘you’re not that important.’ If you wake up and check your phone before you say good morning to your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, you have an addiction.”

This same chemical dependency occurs with online dating. When a user is matched with someone on a dating site, he or she gets a rush of dopamine to the brain, a feeling which is most useful within the same emotional states that we log onto social media: bored, lonely, anxious, or depressed. We run into a problem, though, when we believe this is the best way to fulfill ourselves.

Whether a hit of dopamine comes from social media or eHarmony makes no difference to the human brain. But in our culture it’s the difference between being cool and potentially getting labeled as a social outcast.

The remaining similarities fell into a category that’s best described as the pursuit of perfection. We’re quick to share our ideal selves on social media: our proudest achievements, our daily highlights, our perfect relationships. We have external apps to enhance our best pictures, because Instagram’s built-in filters don’t make us look “good enough.”

Yet we wouldn’t dare tweet our failures, Instagram our dissatisfaction, and Snapchat our imperfections. Scrolling through this infinite buffet of people’s curated lives creates the illusion that what we see is all there is, when in fact we’re blind to the 99.9% of their lives that are conveniently edited out.

Sites like eHarmony and Match.com function along these same exact premises.

“Online dating promises to open up something absolutely wonderful,” says modern-day philosopher and author Alain de Botton. “It encourages the idea that good relationships are conflict-free…and that any conflict or imperfection is wrong.”

Our fear of rejection prompts us to hide any traces of weakness and vulnerability. But ironically, confronting those exact feelings often leads to more genuine romantic and social relationships. The idea that technology can make human relationships easier is seductive. It eliminates the need for patience, we can connect and disconnect at our convenience, and we can save ourselves the awkwardness of unplanned interactions. But it may be possible that our technology has outpaced the evolution of our brains.

“Where is the app that will teach us how to read human behavior?” asks de Botton.

It’s unclear whether that task will ever become easier, but for now it’s safe to say neither Instagram nor Match.com is the solution.

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.

Navy SEAL veteran Jocko Willink wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every single day. You may have seen his popular video on Business Insider in which he explains the benefits of such an early start and why others would do well to adopt this habit.

“Just on a practical side, if you wake up early in the morning — like at 4:30 in the morning — you’re going to have some free time to yourself to make things happen,” says Willink. “It’s not fun to get out of bed early in the morning. When the alarm goes off, it doesn’t sing you a song, it hits you in the head with a baseball bat. So how do you respond to that? Do you crawl underneath your covers and hide? Or do you get up, get aggressive, and attack the day?”

Point taken.

This routine and mindset has propelled Jocko not only to a decorated military career, but to successful ventures as an author, speaker, and leader in general. To argue whether or not he would have the same résumé if he woke up at 5 instead of 4:30 is irrational. It’s equally irrational, however, to assume that since Jocko’s routine worked for him, it can work for everyone else, too.

Tim Ferriss hosted Jocko on his podcast earlier this fall to discuss the topics of discipline and leadership. It’s a must listen and I highly recommend it. Jocko is one of hundreds of influencers whose advice has been distilled into Ferriss’ mammoth of a book, Tools of Titans. Ferriss has realized a key point, however, that he touched on during his Talk at Google: there is no secret formula for routines. You just need to have a routine – one that’s both consistent and effective.

It seems as though once anyone succeeds at something through a specific process or strategy it’s quickly adopted by others and becomes codified, often to everyone’s disappointment when it doesn’t replicate the same results.

I would imagine that a decent chunk of the people who listened to Jocko’s advice actually attempted to wake up at 4:30 that same week only to find themselves unable to sustain the habit. This is not because of laziness or a lack of discipline, but because waking up at 4:30 isn’t tailored to their specific needs.

The problem lies not in the idea that we are unmotivated, but that we believe there is a blueprint for success, for wealth, for happiness. The author Robert Greene puts it best:

“The world is full of people looking for a secret formula for success and power. They do not want to think on their own; they just want a recipe to follow. They are attracted to the idea of strategy for that very reason. In their minds strategy is a series of steps to be followed toward a goal. They want these steps spelled out for them by an expert or guru. Believing in the power of imitation, they want to know exactly what some great person has done before. Their maneuvers in life are as mechanical as their thinking.”

You’ve seen it before: X celebrity shares their secrets that allow him/her to achieve X, Y, and Z! We follow these steps blindly while ignoring our individual strengths and weaknesses. In a culture of immediate gratification, this kind of static thinking is a recipe for frustration when immediate results aren’t achieved. How much better off would we be if we used these influencers’ advice to inspire our routines as opposed to taking them as gospel?

The opportunists, creatives, and leaders of today stand out not because they replicate formulas but because they are able to focus relentlessly on the present moment – on what suits them best. The greatest routine is the one that produces the best you, no matter what that entails.

As Abraham Lincoln said: “My policy is to have no policy.” Steady yet nimble; disciplined yet fluid.

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Like to read? Make sure you get the list of 5 books to base your life on, plus 11 writing lessons from iconic authors. Just let me know where to send them. Enjoy!

Instinctive reactions are kind of like the “door close” button on an elevator: useless.

Not too long ago, I agreed to set up a meeting with someone, only to have him call and cancel as I was pulling into the parking garage. I left class early to make it there on time and I woke up an hour earlier to fit it in my schedule. Was it acceptable to be annoyed and frustrated? Probably. My pouting lasted about an hour, after which I moved on with the rest of my day. I actually forgot about the incident until just now when I needed to think of an example of a useless, instinctive reaction.

But that’s the point.

Looking back, we realize that so much time is squandered giving in to situations and people that have absolutely no effect on our future – we often can’t even remember what we were mad about yesterday. So why do we still let ourselves ruin the present moment? The answer probably lies in some physiological explanation of reactions that I’m unqualified to write about. But there is a tool we can implement to keep our short-term emotions under control.

The 10/10/10 rule asks us to evaluate our reactions using three different time frames:

            How will you feel about it 10 minutes from now?

            How about 10 months from now?

            How about 10 years from now?

I first learned about 10/10/10 through Chip and Dan Heath’s book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work. And while this strategy was originally intended to help people make better decisions about their health, jobs, and finances, I’ve found that 10/10/10 is equally helpful for less tangible situations. For example: How will you feel about the guy who cut you off in traffic in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 years?

It may seem ridiculous, but it forces us to look at our daily decisions as investments instead of letting people and events arbitrarily dictate our feelings. It helps you realize how trivial 99% of problems truly are. Realizing that in a matter of days you’ll almost never remember that thing that’s currently draining your energy and wellbeing is an ultimately liberating feeling.

One of my favorite authors, Anthony de Mello, sums up this concept much more eloquently:

 “Life is infinitely greater than this trifle your heart is attached to and which you have given the power to so upset you. Trifle, yes, because if you live long enough a day will easily come when it will cease to matter. It will not even be remembered – your own experience will confirm this. Just as today you barely remember, are no longer the least bit affected by those tremendous trifles that so disturbed you in the past.”

The best part of 10/10/10 is that it’s so dynamic. Considering the three time frames can be applied to virtually every decision. Will you regret spending hundreds of dollars on shoes ten years from now? Will you still be upset about a breakup with your girlfriend/boyfriend in a decade? Is it worth getting mad over a text or Snapchat that you won’t remember in 10 minutes, much less 10 years?

Spare your day’s worth of mental energy for the things you actually value.

Short term emotions are a deterrent to rational thinking. And while conducting a 10/10/10 analysis doesn’t guarantee that the long-term perspective is the right one, it does guarantee that your short-term emotion isn’t the only voice at the table.

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.

During my sophomore year of high school, I sat next to a skinny kid with a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air flat-top. His name was Anwar Grimmett-Lee. And while I don’t remember anything from the class we took together, I do remember that Anwar could dance, draw, and piss our teacher off when he was in the mood to be the class clown.

After we graduated in 2014 and Anwar was no longer saying “Wassup wit it, Dom?” to me in the hallways, I lost touch with him. But this fall I was struck when I came across his own song that he shared on Twitter. It was called “Sleepless,” and if you’re familiar with hip-hop, it sounded like a cross between Kid Cudi and Travis Scott: not mellow enough to lull you, but not raucous enough to stir you up either.

Soon after my first listen, I put “Sleepless” on repeat. But I didn’t want to keep this gem to myself. Below you’ll find a dynamic interview I had with Anwar as well as the music video for “Sleepless.” If you like what you see, his contact information is listed near the end.

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, can you explain what your primary interests and goals are?

I started off engineering and mixing songs for myself and my friend/artist Matty Wood$. That just has to do with mixing the sound of the voices on the track. My primary interest is my love for the music itself and my goals for right now are just to improve and create more tracks.

Aren’t you also involved with fashion?

A lot of people say this to me, but I don’t register what I do as being in fashion or anything. I just always liked nice clothes and would compete with my friends on who would get the freshest. I gave up competing long ago and now I just buy what I like no matter the brand. I believe the clothes one wears represents them – it’s the first thing anyone with eyesight will notice about you besides your face.

 

What do you want people to take away when they listen to your music?

I want them to take away a feeling, an emotion. Maybe for people to not go in trying to criticize it – don’t even think of me as the one rapping or singing but just to catch the feel of the track, what actually took place in the short three minutes of sound.

It seems like you’ve changed a lot since high school – is that accurate or were you hiding the real you back then?

Not really – only thing that has changed is my hair. I’m still goofy and an extrovert at times. I just found something new to put my energy into. I think that’s what everyone needs to do. Find the correct thing they want to put their energy into and improve on it every chance they can get.

It seems like a lot of millennials are waiting until they graduate or make a lot of money for their “chance” to impact the world. How can our generation change its mindset and do amazing stuff right now?

There is nothing to wait on. Ever. There’s no amount of money that’s going to get your life on track. It can only help materialistically. You have to go back in time to when you were a child and think of what your main joy came from and feed off of it in the now. Mine was music and drawing, [I spent] too many hours dancing and drawing to just cut it off because I found a major I halfway don’t enjoy. So I chose to pick that back up somehow. Our generation just needs to quit looking at and copying everyone else and find their true selves and feed off of it to create something to help the world.

Why do you think some young people are afraid to create?

I think people young and old are afraid to create because they don’t know where to start or how to even get to where they want to be. But that’s the problem, it’s not about where to start or how to get there, its just about starting somehow. And once you start just never stop and you’ll notice the improvements and amaze yourself. Once you amaze yourself a couple times you’ll start to feel an addiction building. Become addicted to improving.

Are we better than older generations in regards to creativity?

Not really. I would say [we’re] worse. Our generation is better at creating memes and other silly shit. Our cell phones and apps are destroying our real human communications and memory which affect the ability to be original. You have to create something original.

Do you value ignoring mainstream culture (media, trends, etc.) in order to produce valuable work?

Hmmm, I value sounding different. And yes, I casually refuse to create something already done that I know of. The only true way to add to the culture is by creating something new and different, not something that’s already been done several times. I do believe people either hate or love something different/new as well. I like that perspective.

What excites you most about the future?

I’m afraid of the future as much as I am excited about it. I feel like it’s the future right now – you just have to go out and see it. I just want to see the world start to look like a robot-techno world like the old cartoons and movies. I know its coming. Did you see that Amazon food store [commercial] where you just pick up items and then just walk out of the store? Lol.

What should we expect from you in upcoming years?

Expect more sounds and new visuals. That’s the only way I can reach everyone.

I send my subscribers reading recommendations every month – what’s a book that has impacted you?

The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles

How can people connect with you?

Soundcloud: ANWAR; Instagram: anwar_is

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.

 

I recently rewatched one of my all-time favorite movies, Whiplash. But this time, the film’s message hit home for me. Below is my reflection.

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Towards the end of the 2014 film Whiplash, Andrew Neyman and Terence Fletcher sit across from each other at a jazz bar in New York to answer one question: can you go too far in the pursuit of perfection? Neyman (played by Miles Teller) is a young, determined jazz drummer and Fletcher (played by J.K. Simmons), is his famed yet abusive instructor. Throughout his mission to craft Neyman into a star percussionist, Fletcher resorts to mocking, slapping, and even hurling a chair at Neyman out of frustration during their rehearsal sessions.

But the film isn’t about Fletcher’s disturbing teaching style, nor is it about the dramatic narrative culminating in Neyman’s ultimate triumph. The purpose of Whiplash is to resurrect the often-ignored truth that the creation of genius comes at a substantial cost.

The 21^st century has created a Nerf-like environment for young professionals: anything flies, I’m okay, you’re okay, feeling trumps logic, give me the most for the least amount of effort. Whiplash shatters this ideology in the most flamboyant way possible.

Andrew Neyman forgoes friends, family, and a girlfriend in his quest for mastery. He drums until his fingers bleed. His teacher’s idea of mental training is to crush his psyche by calling him “worthless,” “faggot,” and “retard.” This teaching method is like killing a fly with a wrecking ball: you accomplish the job, but you cause a lot of unnecessary harm along the way.

Fletcher’s savagery shouldn’t be taken literally, though. Whiplash’s director Damien Chazelle, who has established a reputation as a masterful storyteller, even stated in an interview that the movie “takes it to a level that I do not condone.” Instead, Fletcher should be viewed as the personification of the cruelty and ridicule that all artists face in their creative pursuits.

Neyman’s willingness to endure this constant upbraiding is a plea for us to cultivate the kind of hardness and grit required to produce greatness. His character embodies the message that if you’re sincere about refining some craft, there are going to be aspects of it that are humbling, damaging, even terrifying. This realization is common among elite athletes, and it’s no wonder Whiplash resonated with some of today’s best.

When asked about Whiplash during an interview with Chuck Klosterman,

Kobe Bryant said, “Of course. That’s me.” Cleveland Cavaliers’ guard Kyrie Irving even wrote “Whiplash” on his shoes  with a silver sharpie during the 2015 NBA playoffs (right). Whether you think identifying oneself with a provocative film is morally unacceptable or writing on your sneakers is superstitious is irrelevant.

It’s the mentality that matters.

At the jazz bar, Fletcher looks Neyman in the eye and tells him, “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job.’” If there’s anything to take away from Whiplash, it’s this.

“But is there a line?” Neyman asks. “Maybe you go too far and discourage the next Charlie Parker.” The New Yorker movie critic Richard Brody provides some helpful commentary on this dialogue, noting that “a real artist won’t be lulled into self-satisfaction by ‘good job’ because a real artist is hard on himself, curious to learn…and to push themselves ahead.” The point is that the next Charlie Parker would never be discouraged. The talent he possesses is already present within him. All he can do is develop it, no matter how uncomfortable that may be.

The obstinacy and perfectionism portrayed by Fletcher mitigate the toxic effects of ego, yet pop culture wants to shy away from this rigidity. I’ve seen coaches hand out participation trophies and teachers change their corrective ink from red to blue in order to navigate around kids’ feelings at the cost of their potential. This is why Whiplash is valuable: it’s raw, uncut, and devoid of fluff – never leaving the viewer unclear about its purpose.

“Anyone can conduct…I was there to push people beyond what was expected of them,” says Fletcher. This push is something that Fletcher deems an absolute necessity. Otherwise, the world may be deprived of its next great musician.

Fletcher goes on to reference the story of Charlie Parker having a cymbal thrown at him after playing out of tune early in his career. The 16-year-old

was laughed off the stage, and nearly cried himself to sleep that night. But he vowed to practice relentlessly with one goal in mind: to never be laughed at again.

One would be hard-pressed to find a story like Parker’s in 2017. Instead of using negativity as fuel, teachers hold back their criticisms: “It’s okay, good try!” How am I to improve from that? This is a tragedy that the film confronts, whether the viewer wants to realize it or not.

Whiplash illustrates, with great lucidity, that artistic mastery is not the result of coddling. It is deliberately cultivated through hours of repetition and objective criticism. And although the film pushes the boundaries of taste with its aggressive dialogue and abuse, the viewer need not condone Fletcher’s actions to internalize the message: true greatness is agonizing.

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.

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References

Brody, Richard. “Getting Jazz Right in the Movies.” The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2014.

Fordham, John. “A teenage Charlie Parker has a cymbal thrown at him.” The Guardian. 16 June 2011.

Kiernan, Tony. “Whiplash: Terence Fletcher The Insults.” YouTube. 18 Feb. 2015.

Klosterman, Chuck. “Kobe Bryant Will Always Be an All-Star of Talking.” GQ, 17 Feb. 2015.

McKenna, Sean. “The Perfection of Storytelling in Season One of True Detective.” SeKenna.

McMenamin, Dave. “Kyrie and Cavs learning what greatness requires.” ESPN, 13 May 2015.

Robinson, Tasha. “Damien Chazelle on what is and isn’t ambiguous about Whiplash.” The Dissolve, 15 Oct. 2014.

Rotte, Sarah. “Love for La La Land.” Sarah Rotte, 30 Jan. 2017.