Coupes And Roses, And Breaking Bad!

If long monotonous babble isn't your thing, you can skip this part.

Hi, I would like to welcome you to the new blog page, so many things have happened since my last blog post, on nairanotes, which was some 10 months ago. During that time, the super eagles of Nigeria finally won something! The Africa cup of nations in February. I watched all the matches except the finals at the hospital, it was bittersweet. I wrote my final papers in January and fell terribly ill during that period, I promptly flunked some of my papers lol. Anyways, I went under the knife for the first time, I didn't fully recuperate from everything until late march. Then I discovered an awesome TV show, breaking bad! It was ridiculously awesome, I was hooked from the first episode!! The cast couldn't have been more perfect, the acting was superb, the writing, production and scripts were excellent. What hasn't been said about this thunder-bastard of a show? I’m not here to bore you about what happened, or what it all really means or what lessons we could all learn from Walter h. white and co., I’m sure you know all that already, otherwise, just do a quick search of “breaking bad” on Google or Bing or whatever search thingy is used in your country and you will be inundated with all sorts of articles, opinions on breaking bad. I can't do all that because I could create a whole new website or write a whole textbook on  Vince Gilligan's creation and frankly I’m really not that smart. Here’s my tribute to breaking bad, the story of the fall ,rise and fall and redemption of Walter White aka Heisenberg aka Mr Lambert. I hope you enjoy it;

THE TOP 30 QUOTES FROM BREAKING BAD

30  “This kicks like a mule with its balls wrapped in duct tape!” – Tuco Salamanaca (season 1 episode 6).

Tuco was one mental bastard during his short stint in the show, but he had to die, primarily because he was bat shit crazy. Before that anyway, Jesse pays him a visit with his recently cooked meth and allows him a taster, just to test the standard. Of course, Tuco likes, as the quote from him suggests, while allowing Jesse and Walt to realise the quality of the product that is available to them. The psychopathic drug dealer then beats Jesse into a pulp.

29 “Darth Vader had responsibilities. He was responsible for the Death Star.” – Badger aka Brandon Mayhew (season 3 episode 9)

This list wouldn't have been complete without any of Jesse's cronies, badger, skinny pete and combo. Well, they couldn't not have a Star Wars reference in, could they? Jesse has to have the RV, in which him and Walt regularly cooked, crushed. Pinkman is in somewhat of downhearted mood at a deli with friends Skinny Pete and Badger. It’s coming at a time when Jesse is looking to sell again and is under reports a batch’s weight in order to steal some of the product him and Walt had produced in the lab, hinting it was better cooking when he used the RV rather than under the watchful eye of Gus Fring.

In season 5 episode 3, Badger drops another gem while having one of those epic conversations with skinny pete; Dude, you are so historically retarded! Nazi zombies don't wanna eat ya just 'cause they're craving the protein. They do it 'cause, they do it 'cause they hate Americans, man. Talibans. They're the Talibans of the zombie world.

28 'You're my free pass ... bitch.' Jesse pinkman (Season 3, Episode 7)

Jesse rarely gets the best of Walt, but after being beaten and bruised by Hank, he's got a Get Out of Jail Free card. More importantly, he's got another one up his sleeve: the great Heisenberg. Jesse threatens that if he's ever taken into custody, he'll give Walt up. "You're my free pass … bitch."

27 If you're committed enough, you can make any story work. I once told a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because I believed it' Saul goodman (season 3 episode 11)

Saul goodman, the lawyer who always has a guy for every situation, made us laugh with all sorts of shenanigans on the show. Here, the sleazy lawyer introduces himself well to Mrs White. The show producers say Saul was such a big hit with the fans that a spin off of breaking bad is being made with him as the star.

It has been stated that the Saul Goodman character and the Ari Gold character from Entourage are based on the same person, real life Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, that guy must be one mean sonofabish.

25 'Yeah, bitch! Magnets!' Jesse pink man. (season 5 episode 1)

No one does "b***h better than Jesse Pinkman, here he shouts this when he has come up with a way to destroy police evidence.

23 ‘Robbing a train.’ Walter White (seasson 5 episode

Walt tried his damnedest to keep the details of his new job from Skyler, but couldn't help but bask in the great train robbery with a wry smile.

22 "Yeah, science!" – Jesse Pinkman (season 1 episode 7)

Walter and Jesse are stuck in the wild ,after cooking up their biggest batch yet, after Jesse leaves the ignition on. Jesse gives a shoutout to science when Walter makes a home made car battery.

20 “Look, let’s start with some tough love. You two suck at peddling meth. Period.” – Saul Goodman (Season 2, Episode 11)

It's hard to imagine, but there was once a time when Saul Goodman could blatantly disrespect the great Heisenberg to his face. After Walt and Jesse suffer the setback of Combo's murder, he says: "Look, let's start with some tough love, all right? Ready for this? Here goes: You two suck at peddling meth. Period." Saul goes on to give them the (seeming) answer to their prayers: the opportunity to work with a distributor, who we eventually learn is Gus Fring. We all know how that turned out …

19 'May his death satisfy you.' Gustavo fring (Season 3, Episode 6)

With these words, Gus sets in motion the ill-fated assassination attempt of Hank. The move marks the beginning of the end for the killer twins, as well as the first sign that he's ready to cut ties with the cartel, as the attempt goes against the expressed wishes of Juan Bolsa, who dies soon after at the hands of Mexican federales (also a Gus move).

18 'You’re an insane, degenerate piece of filth, and you deserve to die.' Heisenberg (Season 2, Episode 2)

Remember the days when Walt was clearly a better human being than his meth peers? We couldn't help but cheer for him when he put Tuco in his place: "We tried to poison you. We tried to poison you because you’re an insane, degenerate piece of filth, and you deserve to die." It was an incredibly ballsy thing to say, considering Tuco had an automatic weapon in his hands. The line was designed to throw Tuco off his game, and it worked, allowing Jesse enough time to hit him in the head with rock.

17 “Sitting around, smoking marijuana, eating Cheetos and masturbating do not constitute ‘plans.’” – Walter White (season 2 episode 9)

From the episode ’4 Days Out’ – season two, episode nine – Walt is attempting to convince Jesse to head into the desert to cook meth for an entire weekend, something Pinkman is wholeheartedly against, insisting he has ‘plans’. Cue Walt tearing into his business partner, while quashing the dreams of every keyboard warrior, and persuading Jesse to cook the biggest batch of product up to that point in the show.

17 ‘Because I say so? Walter White (season 5 episode 1) Mike was the enforcer throughout Breaking Bad and a man not to be messed with. To see Walt so casually and placidly put him in his place following the evidence room plot put a huge grin on our faces.

16  Just because you shot Jesse James doesn't mean you are Jesse James.' Mike Ehrmantraut (season 5 episode 3) Mike is still angry at Walter for killing Gus, he thinks Walter is out of control and should not be trusted. he feels they had a good operation under Gustavo.

“You are not the guy. You’re not capable of being the guy. I had a guy, but now I don’t. You are not the guy.” (season 4 episode 4)

When Mike’s “Guy” is killed, he begins taking Jesse with him on his little escapades across the state. Pinkman explains to Walt that he’s their to protect Mike and that he’s become the new “Guy”. Of course, Mr Ehrmantraut takes it upon himself to pull over to the side of the road and explain to Jesse that he is not the “Guy”, a statement that leaves him shell shocked. 'You -- are not the guy.'

After Jesse asks if he's going to be an enforcer type, Mike puts young Mr. Pinkman in his place, reminding him that he's no Victor -- the man Gus dispatched with a box cutter.

15 ‘We’re done when I say we’re done’ Walter white in season 5

Heisenberg seemed to revel in intimidating Saul, advancing on him slowly and flooding his personal space as he announced the lawyer’s enslavement. however in a later episode, Saul announces hes done with Walt by announcing its over as well.

14 "If you try to interfere, this becomes a much simpler matter. I will kill your wife. I will kill your son. I will kill your infant daughter." - Gus Fring (season 4 episode 11)

when Gus makes a threat, you know he means it. hes one cold villain. between Todd alquist, Walter white and Gustavo fring, i'm not sure who's the baddest villain in the show.

13 "I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was alive." - Walter White (season 5 episode 16) this is probably the first and the last time Walter was ever totally honest about what he did to skyler.

11 'Stay out of my territory.' heisenberg (season 2 episodse 10)

This is almost a precursor to Walt's "Say my name" speech in season five. Having nothing but his bad-ass attitude and staring-contest skills, Walt successfully gets two tough-looking meth wannabes to leave his territory after he catches one of them buying supplies for a cook.

10 ‘You’re goddamn right.’ heisenberg (season 5 episode 7)

There was bare-faced insolence from Heisenberg in his last scene with Declan, in which he commanded him to say his name and demonstrated his obsession with his empire.

9 ‘I watched Jane die.’ Walter white (season 5 episode 14)

We knew the truth about Jane had to come out somehow, but few thought that Walt would confess not to atone but to rub salt in the wound. A seriously bad dude.

8 'No more half-measures.' Mike Ehrmantraut (Season 3, Episode 12)

Mike is the enforcer, the fixer as well as a Sage, he drops several memorable lines during the show including this, where he explains to Walt why he needs to address Jesse's plan to kill two drug dealers against Gus' wishes. He recounts being a cop who attempted to scare an abusive man straight, only to have the scumbag murder his victim two weeks later. "The moral of the story is: I chose a half-measure when I should have gone all the way. I'll never make that mistake again. No more half-measures, Walter."

Trivia: Aaron Paul has "no half-measures" tattooed across his bicep.

7 ‘Run.’ Heisenberg (season 3 episode 12)

OK, so it was the actions preceding it that made this one special, but you couldn't help but get shivers of delight when Walt came to Jesse’s aid. Those were the days eh…

Walt is known for his long monologues, but after running over two drug dealers and shooting one in the head, one simple word is enough to send chills down viewers' spines: "Run." Charles Baker (Skinny Pete) told THR the scenes ranks as his favorite in the series. "I jumped out of my chair when that happened," Baker said. "It was fantastic. As an actor, watching Bryan work, it's like a study in how to do it right."

6 ‘It’s over. I won.’ Walter white (season 4 episode 13). 

Walt needed to choose his words carefully here lest he implicate himself in the partial demolition of a nursing home here, but the four he settled on certainly got the message across, leaving Skyler both relieved and terrified.

Many networks didn't rejected breaking bad, pitching a show about a drug dealing science teacher wasn't exactly a cake walk. Showtime, TNT, FX and HBO all passed on the chance to have one of TV's best dramas. (FX opted for the forgotten Courteney Cox tabloid drama 'Dirt.') AMC, flush with success from 'Mad Men,' took a gamble on breaking bad and they won with one of the best TV shows of all time.

5 'All I can do is wait . . . for the cancer to come back' (season 5 episode 4) Skyler white/

I fucked ted  (season 3 episode 3). skyler white has to be one of the most hated tv characters of all time. so much hatred that she had to write this article in the new york times. however, anna gunn dropped some memorable lines and i don't shell be too bothered by fan hatred of skyler after she picked up the gong for best supporting actress at the 2013 emmy awards.

4"You asked me if I am in the Meth Business or the Money Business. It's neither. I am in the Empire Business." - Walter White (season 5 episode 6) when Walter invites Jesse over for a heart to heart conversation, its not to apologise and be sorry, its to gloat.

3 ‘If that’s true, if you don’t know who I am, then maybe your best course… would be to tread lightly.’ "Tread Lightly." - Walter White (season 5 episode 9)

Bryan Cranston excelled in this tete-a-tete with Hank, appearing weak, defeated and cornered one moment, then, with a twist of a sentence, deadly the next.

2 “It says, ‘TO W.W., MY STAR, MY PERFECT SILENCE.’ W.W., I mean, who do you figure that is? Woodrow Wilson? Willy Wonka? Walter White?” – Hank Schrader (season 4 episode 4 and season 5 episode 14)

The only line used in two separate episodes: Gale is dead and Hank believes he was the ever elusive ‘Heisenberg’, only for Walt to intervene and insist his prodigy was nothing more than a novice. Upon looking at the lab notes, Walt notices a Walt Whitman poem and dedication to match: “To W.W. My Star, My Perfect Silence

1 'I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!' – Walter White/Heisenberg (season 4 episode 6). The transformation from meek school teacher to fearsome drug kingpin was complete with this scene, made all the more captivating by the fact that Walt’s looks as surprised as Skyler by the words that just came out of his mouth.

The most famous Walt quote has been celebrated by fans and inspired this homage by Samuel L. Jackson Breaking Bad writer Gennifer Hutchison, who wrote the episode, told THR she didn't realize the monologue would become iconic. "It was always a cool scene. I didn’t realize how big it would become." Here's the quote in full: "You clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No! I am the one who knocks!"

12 Habits You Need To Develop This Year

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Habit 1: Strive to be authentic. Be as honest with yourself as you can about what you want and why you do what you do.

Habit 2: Favor trusting relationships. Put your efforts into building relationships with people you can trust and count on, and make sure those same people can trust and count on you.

Habit 3: Maintain a lifestyle that will give you maximum energy. Work your way up to doing aerobic exercise at least three times a week, eating a light lunch, and getting enough sleep.

Habit 4: Listen to your biorhythms and organize your day accordingly. Make it a habit to pay attention to regular fluctuations in your physical and mental energy levels throughout the day; and based on what you learn, make adjustments to how you schedule tasks.

Habit 5: Set very few priorities and stick to them. Select a maximum of two things that are your highest priority, and plan time to work on them.

Habit 6: Turn down things that are inconsistent with your priorities. Get good at saying no to other people, and do so frequently.

Habit 7: Set aside time for focused effort. Schedule t time every day to work on just one thing.

Habit 8: Always look for ways of doing things better and faster. Be on the lookout for tasks you do over and over again, and look for ways of improving how you do them.

Habit 9: Build solid processes. Set up processes that last and that run without your attention.

Habit 10: Spot trouble ahead and solve problems immediately. Set aside time to think about what lies ahead, and face all problems as soon as you can.

Habit 11: Break your goals into small units of work, and think only about one unit at a time. Spend most of your time working on the task in front of you, and avoid dreaming too much about the big goal.

Habit 12: Finish what’s important and stop doing what’s no longer worthwhile. Don’t stop doing what you considered worth starting unless there’s a good reason to give it up.

Related articles

• Twelve Time Management Habits to Master in 2013 (forbes.com)

6 Secrets Successful People Will Never Tell You

 

 



Happy New Year! And like every other year, we, as well as everyone else, try to become better or improve ourselves. And the most common way people try to achieve such improvements is by making New Year resolutions. However nobody ever sticks to their New Year resolutions, for instance, the lady whose New Year resolutions appeared on this blog last year didn’t keep any one of them. So this year I’ve come up with a different approach.. Here’s a list of truths that will make you a better person in 2013 but which most people won’t tell you.

 6. The World Only Cares About What It Can Get from You



The simple truth is that the society is full of people who need things or are after their own selfish interest. They need houses built, they need food to eat, they need entertainment, and they need fulfilling sexual relationships. The moment you came into the world, you became part of a system designed purely to see to people's needs.
so you have two options, Either you will go about the task of seeing to those needs by learning a unique set of skills, or the world will reject you , no matter how kind, giving and polite you are. You will be poor, you will be alone, and you will be left out in the cold.
Does that seem mean, or crass, or materialistic? What about love and kindness --don't those things matter? Of course they do, as long as they result in you doing things for people that they can't get elsewhere.

 5. Bitter Vs. Motivated: Your Attitude To Your Job Determines How Successful You Will Be

Here’s the famous speech Alec Baldwin gives in the cinematic masterpiece Glengarry Glenn Ross:
"Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you! Go home and play with your kids. If you want to work here, close."
It's brutal, rude, and also it is an honest and accurate expression of what the world is going to expect from you. The difference is that, in the real world, people consider it so wrong to talk to you that way that they've decided it's better to simply let you keep failing.
The genius of that speech is that half of the people who watch it think that the point of the scene is "Wow, what must it be like to have such an asshole boss?" and the other half think, "Fuck yes, let's go out and sell some goddamned real estate!"
Or some people in that room will get the message despite all the cursing and feed off the energy while others will take it personally and find a way to defend themselves or attack the man.
And the point is that the difference in those two attitudes -- bitter vs. motivated -- largely determines whether or not you'll succeed in the world. Some people may say you are not your job, make no mistake: your "job" -- the useful thing you do for other people -- is all you are.
There is a reason your job will become your label if you happen to make the news ("fashion blogger gets married/Professional Basketballer Attempts Suicide").
Don’t you ever wonder why a particular company or firm keeps being successful despite being very controversial, it's because they do their job well. And that's all that matters.
You don't have to like it. People have needs and thus assign value to the people who meet them. These are simple mechanisms of the universe and they do not respond to our wishes.
You may not be your job but people judge you based on how well you do your job, if you have a job at all.

 4. What You Produce Does Not Have to Make Money, But It Does Have to Benefit People

I read several dozen stories a year from miserable, lonely guys who insist that women won't come near them despite the fact that they are just the nicest guys in the world. If you’re one of those guys; what do you bring to the table? The Scarlet Johanson lookalike in the bookstore that you've been daydreaming about moisturizes her face for an hour every night and feels guilty when she eats anything other than salad for lunch. She's going to be a surgeon in 10 years. What do you do?
"Well, I'm fucking wicked at capture the flag."
"What, so you're saying that I can't get girls like that unless I have a nice job and make lots of money?"
No, your brain jumps to that conclusion so you have an excuse to write off everyone who rejects you by thinking that they're just being shallow and selfish. But really, what do you offer? Are you smart? Funny? Interesting? Talented? Ambitious? Creative? OK, now what do you do to demonstrate those attributes to the world? Don't say that you're a nice guy -- that's the bare minimum. Pretty girls have guys being nice to them 36 times a day. It's up to you, but don't complain about how girls fall for jerks; they fall for those jerks because those jerks have other things they can offer.”But I'm a great listener!" Are you? Because you're willing to sit quietly in exchange for the chance to be in the proximity of a pretty girl (and spend every second imagining how soft her skin must be)? Well guess what, there's another guy in her life who also knows how to do that, and he can play the guitar. Saying that you're a nice guy is like a restaurant whose only selling point is that the food doesn't make you sick.



 3. You Hate Yourself Because You Don't Do Anything

The step that often gets skipped -- it's always "How can I get a job?" and not "How can I become the type of person employers want?" It's "How can I get pretty girls to like me?" instead of "How can I become the type of person that pretty girls like?" See, because that second one could very well require giving up many of your favorite hobbies and paying more attention to your appearance, and God knows what else. You might even have to change your personality.
"But why can't I find someone who just likes me for me?" you ask. The answer is because humans need things.
"But I'm not good at anything!" Well, I have good news -- throw enough hours of repetition at it and you can get sort of good at anything..
Don't like the prospect of pouring all of that time into a skill? Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the sheer act of practicing will help you come out of your shell. People quit because it takes too long to see results, because they can't figure out that the process is the result.
The bad news is that you have no other choice. If you want to work here, close.
Because in my non-expert opinion, you don't hate yourself because you have low self-esteem or because other people were mean to you. You hate yourself because you don't do anything about it.
Step One: Get up.
Do the math: How much of your time is spent consuming things other people made (TV, music, video games, websites) versus making your own? Only one of those adds to your value as a human being.

 2. What You Are Inside Only Matters Because of What It Makes You Do

See, there's a common defense to everything I've said so far, and to every critical voice in your life. It's the thing your ego is saying to you in order to prevent you from having to do the hard work of improving: "I know I'm a good person on the inside." It may also be phrased as "I know who I am" or "I just have to be me."
Don't get me wrong; who you are inside is everything -- the guy who built a house for his family from scratch did it because of who he was inside. Every bad thing you've ever done has started with a bad impulse, some thought ricocheting around inside your skull until you had to act on it. And every good thing you've done is the same -- "who you are inside" is the metaphorical dirt from which your fruit grows.
But here's what everyone needs to know, and what many of you can't accept:
"You" are nothing but the fruit.
Nobody cares about your dirt. "Who you are inside" is meaningless aside from what it produces for other people.
Inside, you have great compassion for poor people. Great. Does that result in you doing anything about it? Do you hear about some terrible tragedy in your community and say, "Oh, those poor children. Let them know that they are in my thoughts"? Because fuck you if so -- find out what they need and help provide it. A hundred million people watched that Kony video, virtually all of whom kept those poor African children "in their thoughts." What did the collective power of those good thoughts provide? Nothing. Children die every day because millions of us tell ourselves that caring is just as good as doing. It's an internal mechanism controlled by the lazy part of your brain to keep you from actually doing work.
"I just wanted to tell you that you're in my thoughts. Good luck -- let me know if that cured you."
How many of you are walking around right now saying, "She/he would love me if she/he only knew what an interesting person I am!" Really? How do all of your interesting thoughts and ideas manifest themselves in the world? What do they cause you to do? If your dream girl or guy had a hidden camera that followed you around for a month, would they be impressed with what they saw? Remember, they can't read your mind -- they can only observe. Would they want to be a part of that life?
Because all I'm asking you to do is apply the same standard to yourself that you apply to everyone else. Don't you have that annoying Christian friend whose only offer to help anyone ever is to "pray for them"? Doesn't it drive you nuts? I'm not even commenting on whether or not prayer works; it doesn't change the fact that they chose the one type of help that doesn't require them to get off the sofa. They abstain from every vice, they think clean thoughts, their internal dirt is as pure as can be, but what fruit grows from it? But JESUS said, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
The people didn't react well to being told that, just as the salesmen didn't react well to Alec Baldwin telling them that they needed to grow some balls or resign themselves to shining his shoes.

 1. Everything Inside You Will Fight Improvement

The human mind is a miracle, and you will never see it spring more beautifully into action than when it is fighting against evidence that it needs to change. Your psyche is equipped with layer after layer of defense mechanisms designed to shoot down anything that might keep things from staying exactly where they are -- ask any addict.
So even now, some of you reading this are feeling your brain bombard you with knee-jerk reasons to reject it. From experience, I can say that these seem to come in the form of...
*Intentionally Interpreting Any Criticism as an Insult
*Focusing on the Messenger to Avoid Hearing the Message
*Focusing on the Tone to Avoid Hearing the Content
*Revising Your Own History
*Pretending That Any Self-Improvement Would Somehow Be Selling Out Your True Self
And so on. Remember, misery is comfortable. It's why so many people prefer it. Happiness takes effort.
Also, courage. It's incredibly comforting to know that as long as you don't create anything in your life, then nobody can attack the thing you created.
It's so much easier to just sit back and criticize other people's creations. This movie is stupid. That couple's kids are brats. That other couple's relationship is a mess. That rich guy is shallow. This restaurant sucks. This Internet writer is an asshole.
Whatever you try to build or create -- be it a poem, or a new skill, or a new relationship -- you will find yourself immediately surrounded by non-creators who trash it. Maybe not to your face, but they'll do it. Your drunk friends do not want you to get sober. Your fat friends do not want you to start a fitness regimen. Your jobless friends do not want to see you embark on a career.
Just remember, they're only expressing their own fear, since trashing other people's work is another excuse to do nothing. As long as they never produce anything, it will forever be perfect and beyond reproach. Or if they do produce something, they'll make sure they do it with detached irony. They'll make it intentionally bad to make it clear to everyone else that this isn't their real effort. Their real effort would have been amazing. Not like the shit you made.

Don't be that person. If you are that person, don't be that person any more. This is what's making people hate you. This is what's making you hate yourself.
So how about this: one year. The end of 2013,that's our deadline. Or a year from whenever you read this. While other people are telling you "Let's make a New Year's resolution to lose 15 pounds this year!" I'm going to say let's pledge to do fucking anything -- add any skill, any improvement to your human tool set, and get good enough at it to impress people. But the key is, I don't want you to focus on something great that you're going to make happen to you ("I'm going to find a girlfriend, I'm going to make lots of money ..."). I want you to purely focus on giving yourself a skill that would make you ever so slightly more interesting and valuable to other people.
Damn it, you have to kill those excuses. Or they will kill you.
You have nothing to lose, and the world needs you.

BONUS: 15 Success Tips For 2013

 They use lists. High achievers organize their thinking with lists, they organize their time with lists, and when they want to spur their creativity, the best tool they have is to force themselves out of the comfort of their list.

 They use pharmaceuticals. Adderall is de rigueur for the high-powered jobs in high-powered cities to the point that there is a shortage of available Adderall, (and a site to monitor the shortage). Pharmaceutical frenzy is nothing new forgen-yers who used prescription drugs to get a leg up on everything. New York magazine’s ode to Xanax lets you diagnose the type of overachiever you are with the type of pharmaceutical you like best.

 They let doors shut all the time. Overachievers know their mom was lying when she said they could be anything. So it’s not that big a deal when they see doors shut. They pick a specialty, they give stuff up to get stuff, and they know life is about making tough choices.

 They talk about their weaknesses. Not in a stupid way, like, “I wish I could not be so perfect.”But in a real way, because every strength comes with weaknesses and we’re not good at everything. Overachievers know they aren’t being hired for their weakness, so they let people know that they see themselves clearly by talking about weaknesses.

 They work for free. Internships that are (illegally) unpaid, startups that are not (yet) funded speeches and blog posts that help you do the (unavoidable) work of building your brand. These are all acceptable paths to greatness, you just need to know when it’s okay to work for free.

 They drop out of school. Most powerful people go to the same small group of schools. For all other schools, college is a ponzi scheme. Besides, today the top-tier schools are set up to favor homeschoolers over kids who go to conventional school. And don’t even get me started on grad school: it’s so bad for your career that you’ll have to leave it off your resume.

 They get tons of coaching. High-performers get coaching—they pay for it themselves, and their companies pay for some as well, because corporations know that high-potential employees only get to full potential with coaching. Also, people who are on their way to the top ranks enlist mentors to help them get there. (What’s the difference between a mentor and a coach? The type of access you have.)

 They get pregnant at 25. If they’re a woman, that is. It’s clear that only a very small, anomalous group of women can have a high-powered job when they have young kids. So women should make a plan to have kids early, and then they can position themselves for a high-powered job once their kids are all grown up.

 They come out of the closet. If they’re gay. People who are openly gay at work do better than people who hide it. Probably because, people who hide that they’re gay cannot make true connections with people at work. The photographer Jeff Shenghas done amazing work around the importance of coming out. (Most recently, his Fearless project documents overachiever athletes coming out, and the photos in this post are from that project.)

 They don’t talk about being well-rounded. Top performers are people who focused on something to get great at it. As kids, it means they stop learning to meet national standards because the standards create mediocre learners. And as adults it means you find a specialty so you remain employable.

 They don’t get divorced. Sure, the divorce rate is really high. But not for rich, educated parents. (Example: divorce rate among Asian college graduates is around 1%.) Divorce decreases your resources by half. But more importantly, divorce selfishly messes up the kids’ lives, and overachiever parents want to raise overachiever kids.

 They don’t write books. The book industry is dead. They have no control over distribution channels and they have no control over author publicity, so the value publishers add in the book business is pretty much zero. Amazon so completely dominates the book industry that Forbes declared that Amazon is now ripe for disruption—they are the publishing model to beat. So for now, if you have an idea, put it in a blog. Harvard Business Review says that people who are serious about ideas are blogging.

 They don’t let themselves get fat. The Economist reports that obesity in the US is largely something that does not affect rich, educated people, (which is consistent with research that shows good-looking people make more money.)

 They sell out. High achievers sell out all the time.

 They steal stuff. Overachievers know they have tons of ideas so they don’t care if people steal some of theirs. Overachievers are more likely to bend the rules to make life easier for themselves. That’s why I stole the idea for this post from another blog.