Its smarter to work harder.

Let me repeat that. Its smarter to work harder.

If this clashes with the lazybones idea of selling, so be it. Being lazy has never earned a dime for me, but hard work has always paid off.

So, where did we get this counter-work ethic, this idea that we can rest-for-success? That there is an inescapable choice between working hard, and working smart?

I have a hunch. Its probably from the same glitz and glamour factory that narcotizes people, knocking them on their butts, on average, for 4-7 hours every day.

Its from TV and other popular media.

TV and movies show us a prettified world of ease, comfort, style, and sensuality. The overarching message of these media isnt that sex sells or violence works. Sex and violence are only the means.

The end, what media are really promoting, is passivity.

Media make us reactive, according to the recently departed observer, Dr. George Gerbner, also former Dean of The Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. He made a career of studying the impact of TV viewing.

If you want to drain your motivation, chip away at your work ethic, erode your discipline, be a consumer, and watch TV. Not only will it prevent you from doing other things, it will perpetuate the myth that everything should be easy.

If you want to be a producer, try producing better TV and better movies. Weve all had decades of exposure to the formats, so why cant we at least replicate them, if not improve upon them?

(My dad, a career salesman, actually did this. He produced TV and radio talk shows. One day, he just decided to do it!)

Try turning off the TV. I think youll find youll recover incredible energy, and your career will soar.

It has worked for me!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman 2005