Career Advice from Hunger Games

I was pretty surprised at how much I liked seeing the Hunger Games.  I admit that I had pretty low expectations for a movie based on a book written for teenagers.  I expected wooden acting and few surprises.  I was impressed with how developed the different locations were, although I admit I'm less excited for the future knowing now that we'll all end up as flamboyant ravers.

Once Haymitch came out of his (somewhat cliche) drunken state, his first piece of advice to the young protagonist was remarkably insightful.  "Make people LIKE you." That's good advice to all of us.

I've written before about the importance of relationships with other people and how maintaining the trust of other people is critical to persuading people, but not a lot is ever said about how to actually get people to like you in the first place.  I want to outline two things

Who can you trust?

It can be a tough thing to pursue a big dream.  There's always risk involved: risk of giving up a typical career, risk of looking silly when your dream doesn't work out, risk of dying alone and destitute when society shuns you for your unappreciated perspective.

We're social creatures.  In every aspect of our lives, in one way or another, we crave validation.  We want to feel like what we think and do is normal, or okay, or appreciated, or innovative.  As much as we might like to think that we are each individual islands, we all need some kind of recognition.  Where we go for this validation has a big impact on who we become.

You Can't Please Everyone
Some people require validation from the masses.  Some people are only comfortable when a majority of their acquaintances approve of their choices. Remember, though, that appealing to the largest group is how we got Jersey Shore, American Idol and