Know What You Like

0ptimizR is here to make sure that the public knows how to not waste their life. It has come to the attention of the author a very strange form of life wasting. It is no novel idea, it has been around since the beginning of time, and it is a trap that springs on even the best 0ptimizRs. In the quest to have more friends, people waste so much of their time falling in line with what they feel others expect them to do.

First, I would like to study two cases. 

Billie Jo is an average high school girl. Ever since middle school, her friends and her had always been in the school's chorus. Moving into her upperclassman years, she realizes that having taken chorus for so many years, she has missed out on other electives that she never bothered to even look into. When she brings the idea up to her friends, they shoot it down, and Billie Jo is expected to show up after the summer sitting in the exact same 1st soprano seat. 

And then there is Michael. Michael gives the impression that he hates the mainstream. His whole persona is to be so far away from pop culture that he seems to be living in another era. He swears that he listened to Dubstep in 2008, and then when Skrillex came out it "all went down hill". He wears mismatched socks under his shoes that have different color laces, and wears large poindexter glasses that have no prescription because he has perfect vision.   

These are two very different cases, but they have problems that are rooted in the same source: lack of originality and thinking for oneself. There is no real happy ending here. Billie Jo does what she is expected to do, and graduates with top honors in the music department, but then goes to college hating singing, and spends money on an introductory course in what she never knew she had a talent for: psychology, a class her high school offered for free. Michael goes the rest of his high school years unhappy with the way he is, because what he doesn't know about himself is that he is a natural born leader, and thus he comes to school every week with a different style because everyone starts to mimic him. 

There is however a solution to both of these issues. Here it is: Find what you really enjoy doing and do it. Especially now, high schoolers. High schoolers have so much opportunity to learn what they enjoy. High schools offer classes in everything from history to music theory to psychology to computer science to languages. If you take an elective and don't like it or get tired of it, drop it. That means it is not a passion for you. By all means, move on. 

Also, don't go against the crowd for the sake of going against the crowd. That's stupid. By no means am I condoning anyone to fall into a conformist pit of following those who are considered by all outside sources to be "better than you". But here is a hint: If many people like it, it may actually be good. Sure, society has a knack for exploiting the mess out of trends until you can't stomach hearing Adele sing "Set Fire to the Rain" not even one more time before you commit yourself to the happy house. But don't oppose it from the beginning because it is accepted. It is alright to like things others like. Its okay to not like things other like. 

Leading and Managing

Anyone with a sol;id Type-A personality knows the struggle to get a higher position in whatever they are doing, whether it is school or work or an extracurricular. Gaining a position usually means more authority, and the ability to make decisions. Not to mention, gaining position is a serious ego booster. 

However, there are two paths a person with position of authority can take: One may lead, or one may manage. Now the secret is to know the difference. That is 0ptimizR's role this week, to teach the difference. 

The simple answer: Managing has the connotation of keeping things running smoothly without much change, while leading has the connotation of moving forward. 

The not so simple answer: When we think of a manager, we tend to think of paperwork, reprimands, and general chores that a certain business goes through. He is the one who makes sure all of the workers are safe, and have fair moral. He ensures the quality and quantity of his product or service. While these things are necessary, he has no stock in moving the organization forward to the next level. 

Then we think of the leader. He focuses much of his energy on moving to the next level. He thinks to himself "What can we do to advance this organization?" and "What needs to be done to fulfill a greater desire?". He cares about his subordinates, not because they are a liability, but because he sees their value in progressing the organization. He has no stock in reprimanding minor offences or filling out paperwork.

While in most situations, there is quite a bit of overlap in the two descriptions, a leader and a manager have different and seemingly opposing end goals. And for a person with position to be an 0ptimizR, he needs to know which on his position calls for.