Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) can teach you a thing or two about your work. The question is… are you ready for the lesson?

Tyler Durden on Motivation

The first thing that Tyler Durden taught me was about my motivation for work. Am I there for the right reasons? Check out this quote.

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.

Whether we admit it or not, we are all slaves to advertising and marketing. We think we need that better car, bigger house, sexier watch and so on. We really define our own personalities with the things we buy.

The next part of the lesson is that we will endure a lot of suffering to buy this stuff that we don’t need. People will work in offices they hate so they can add some other useless item to their collection.

The Solution:
A better idea would be to become mindful of your job and your motivation for being there. Work somewhere that stimulates yourself and benefits others. Realize that you are not defined by what you wear or own. Start defining yourself by your motivations and actions.

Tyler Durden on Ambition

The next thing that hit me from Tyler lesson on life is this quote:

We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.

Everyone wants to be a movie star. Everyone wants to be like Britney or some other Hollywood loony. Statistics will tell you, however, that it is very unlikely.

Now this quote isn’t an attempt to crush your hopes and destroy your hard work. No. It is getting you to look at the reason why you want those things. Why do you want to be famous? What is it inside you that NEEDS to be loved and approved by others? Finally, if you don’t reach that goal are you going to be destroyed? Did you define yourself by what you thought you were going to be in life?

The Solution:
Start to be mindful of your motivations for doing things. Do you want to be a movie star so you can change the world or do you just want cash and power? Do you define your sense of “self” by your ambition or would you be happy if you didn’t achieve it.

Many people degrade the simple life but very few of us are actually living it.

The final lesson from Tyler:

You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your fucking khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

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