Guy Reams (00:00.526)
This is day 187, stop seeking recognition and seek to improve instead. You know, I was flying back in an airplane yesterday and you know, I was, you know, sleepy but couldn't really sleep so I was looking for something to do. So I opened up my phone and
There was a couple of video... Samsung has this or Google or somebody has this new thing where they auto download video games into your phone, whether you like it or not. So there was this game on there, it was like a card game or something. And so I clicked on it and I played through this sequence and I successfully completed the first level.
And then the first level got done and then it popped up with a screen and it gave me two bonus coins for accomplishing the level. And I thought, Whippy, I got two bonus coins for spending five minutes of my time playing this game. But then next to the two bonus coins was the opportunity for me to win 10 bonus coins. And I was going to get the 10 bonus coins if I was to watch a brief video.
So I clicked on the video and the video of course couldn't play because it was in the airplane. So I was bummed for just a moment that I couldn't get my 10 bonus coins. And that's when a thought occurred to me. This video game was actually recognizing me and giving me reward for being a good consumer.
for being a good little boy and consuming their advertising, they were rewarding me with recognition and bonus. So that was interesting to me. And that got me, well, that and a conversation I had over the weekend got me really thinking about this mental shift for success in life. So unfortunately, I think there's this really important mental shift that has to occur for anybody to be truly successful.
Guy Reams (02:10.893)
And that is you have to transition from recognition to improvement is your goal. Unfortunately, a lot of people are focused on recognition. They want to be recognized. And that's not a bad ambition. It's just part of the human nature. Everybody wants to be recognized.
But if you're purely seeking for recognition, that will only lead to temporary, fleeting winds that are shallow and empty and leave you wanting for more. When you improve yourself, you will eventually be recognized and when that recognition comes, it'll be genuine and real and so much more valuable. Recognition these days is no longer something you receive after a lifetime of diligent effort of improving yourself.
Recognition these days comes from something entirely different. Recognition is now a badge, a token that we receive for doing what is required. We gain recognition for being nothing more than just being unique or different. We recognize people for just simply showing up and doing their jobs. Recognition has become a method of validation, a bonus system that actually takes over for a portion of your compensation.
We've been trained to be this way. As I was growing up, I saw video games come around. I was born before video games, but I saw video games coming. And as they come, each video game generation that would come out, more and more of them were leaning towards badge recognition system. This is interesting because badge recognition systems are being used everywhere now, even in corporate America. So in our work lives, we've become
we expect to receive recognition. It's what we get. Recognition is what we get when we do what we are supposed to do and in the sequence our masters require. So we've been trained to crave recognition from our superiors, our owners, our creators. We receive recognition for doing nothing more than just our jobs. Corporations are now feeding into this paradigm.
Guy Reams (04:26.061)
They use reward systems as a small pat on the back for doing what you're supposed to do, for being a lemming and following the herd. A badge of honor is given to you to celebrate you for nothing more than you just showing up. This is involved to a meritocracy based on nothing. Nothing more than just existing. And rewards are almost being given out for just labels because we exist, because of attributes that we have.
I have an attribute that's slightly different than your attributes, therefore I get a badge. These are not recognitions based on the ability for us to improve ourselves or the fact that we did improve ourselves. These are recognitions just because we showed up and did our job.
Do not fall for this. Break free. You are being manipulated by your masters and they will do anything they can to keep you in line and doing what you're told, celebrating your uniqueness and how awesome you are when you're really not because they want to pay you as little as possible. So they will come up with anything they can to not pay you more. So recognition is a cheap way.
for them not to compensate you more. Think about it. If I can compensate you with a plastic trinket, that sure beats compensating with an extra 10 grand a year, if that makes sense. So you can get out of this, by the way. Every time they ring that bell, they reward you when you find the cheese. And you're excited because you found the cheese. Just to find yourself waking up the next day in the same darn rat maze, and the bell is ringing again.
They repeat the same process over and over again, but there is another way. You can get out, you can break free, and you can break free, and there's really only one way to do it, and that is to improve. You must improve. You have to get better. You have to improve your skill set. Success does not come with a ribbon attached to it that you can drape around your neck. It does not come with a pin or a pen or an acrylic little plaque that you get after 10 years of hard work.
Guy Reams (06:41.677)
It doesn't come with that 50 year fake gold watch that you get in the mail after you retire. No, the secret is to stop seeking for recognition and actually seek to improve yourself. Stop signaling to the overlords that you want to be recognized, to be promoted, to be given a job title. They will give out job titles and trinkets and recognition all day long, as long as they can keep you doing your job at a lower compensation level.
Rather than seeking for rewards, seek to improve, become efficient, magnify your efforts by getting better at your tasks, figure out things that you can do. Pretty soon you'll be doing the job of more than just yourself. You'll be doing the job of many teams, right? Many other people on the team. You'll start to really become better. When you become better and you gain your skills and you grow, then that is something that people cannot contain.
They have to deal with it. When you're doing the job of multiple people and doing it more efficient and more effective, they need to keep you. You are now in a real bargaining position because you've improved your value. And really, honestly, that's the best thing that you can always do is improve your value as a person. This demands tangible compensation and people will have to comply. And if they don't, you can go elsewhere or you can go start your own business because you are now truly valuable.
Improvement builds value. Recognition fills your junk drawer. So, you know, if it makes you feel better, go onto Amazon. There's about a thousand or more companies that make little trinkets for reward systems. Go ahead and buy a few, print your name on it, and ship it to yourself every quarter. That's a whole lot cheaper than sitting in a dead -end job, not getting any more, getting your two to three percent raise every year.
No, you should be growing a lot faster than that. And the only way you can grow faster than that is by improving yourself. You know, as I finish this article, I can see I've got my 10 -year plaque over here from a company I worked for for 10 years. Over there, I've got a pin from the college I worked at for 20. The only thing I have left of the business that I owned for 10 years is a small business card, which I have pinned to the wall over here.
Guy Reams (09:06.125)
Up over here, I have my degrees that I bought. Well, I actually went to school and did all that, but I call it bought. I have my bachelor's degree, my master's degree. All of this stuff means nothing compared to what I have done to improve my skills over the years. So in my opinion, seek for constant improvement, constantly getting better. Recognitions will come. And when they do,
Take your five minutes in the glory and smile, but then get right back to work, because the fanfare dies quickly. Work instead on improving yourself and the recognitions will eventually come. Your destiny is in your hands and it only comes with your individual effort to improve yourself.