AVOCADO TOAST

Kind of a blog, but not really. It’s a place for recent thoughts and experiences. One offs. Not a scroll. A place for my voice. Why “Avocado Toast?” For starters, I love avocado toast. It seems super simple. But done well? It’s got layers. Nuance. A range of flavors. Kind of like messaging. Kind of like voices. Plus, once, I thought of calling my agency Avocado with the tagline, “What a voice can do.” So there’s that.

His Royal Awesomeness, Ryan Reynolds, dropped an absolute truth bomb in a recent interview.

Before we get to his main point—the one CNBC highlights—I think this is the most powerful quote I’ve read in forever.

Yup, even more powerful than the ones from A-List Celebs du Jour popping off about psychedelics. (My bad—that was unnecessarily snarky.)

Have I buried the lede enough to game the system (ooooh, portending irony—I think)? Here goes:

“We live in a world that’s increasingly gamified, and I think we have an instinct to win, crush and kill,” he said. “But if you can disengage or disarm that instinct for a second and replace it with seeking to learn about somebody instead, that, as a leadership quality, for me, has quite literally changed every aspect of my life.”

Per social expectations:

—*Boom!*—
—THIS!—
—OMG, Ryan! Are you in my MIND!??”

Now that we have that out of the way, can we dissect this a bit? My favorite quote from my past work with Airstream was this, “If you want to hate your country, watch the news. If you want to love it—ride your bike across it.”

We’ve sacrificed Diplomacy and Humanity for the W. In the name of what? Oh right. More fodder for the doomscroll. Win at all costs is a short-term strategy. Meanwhile, behind the scenes is a Greek Tragedy of Toxicity. (NARRATOR: He’s not actually sure that makes sense, but it reads well.)

While the article (in first comment) is all about conflict resolution, I think this article is about gamification and the damage done. What if we approached engagements with Successification, instead?

I’d rather Succeed than “Win.”
I’d rather help others do the same.
With a hat-tip to Simon Sinek, I’d rather be Infinite.

I’ve got all kinds of things to add, but I’m walking in Runyon Canyon as I type this (thus whatever typos one might find). This goes to my “when the thought strikes” practice. I’ve got some stillness to do.

Anyway—The Payoff: And you know what it is if you read this stuff regularly. Let’s Heal ourselves. Let’s Love ourselves. “Winning” takes on a new meaning and Success is as easy as watching the sunrise.