Before I get started today, I want to ask a favor. As you listen, if you like what you hear, please sit down and write a review. If you want to discuss anything from this episode, or any other, you can reach out on the Strive Seek Find page on Facebook. Or to @chancewhitmore5 on Twitter. Thank you. I'm really watching myself today. I'm not an old man yelling, get off my lawn. I'm not an old man yelling get off my lawn. Oh, hell, I just may be welcome to the Strive Seek Find podcast. I'm chance Whitmore. Has anyone noticed that? As a society, we're seeing a shift towards wealth as the main definition of accomplishment. And that achievement has been replaced by building the brand. It is so much a me over we approach that doesn't necessarily fit with people growing anything more than a bank account. Why did we make a switch? Why is accomplishment viewed as transactional? What happened to aspirations and inspirations? These are questions that have been bothering me as of late. As I think about this, this is not an indictment of any generation, he can find it all of us. It's indicative of cultural shifts. For clarity sake, here are a couple of important notes. Most of us work and work hard. Most of us are also passionate about things beyond work. Managing to make money on those things isn't wrong, especially in a time where a lot of people need a side hustle. But we do need to fix our cultural fixation. Now let's get started. Growing up, for me, at least, the greatest view of popularized heroes tended to be either test pilots or astronauts. They were modern explorers, pushing the boundaries of human experience and opportunity driving us towards that huge roles to drive us forward to defeat the communists. It was the 70s and 80s After all, I know it could part of its public relations. Media didn't tear people down like it does today. But it worked for me. Chuck Yeager, Gus Grissom, Neil Armstrong. All were larger than life. And even though their exploits were long over, it spoke to me because they had exploits. sports figures like Reggie, white musicians, writers all worked hard. They built, they grew, they accomplish things. There was at least the tacit acknowledgement that some of these people had connections that helped them out, even if I didn't realize them young. But along the way, work and sacrifice was at least part of the success story. They inspired us. They gave new ideas to aspire to. The beginning of the end for me, was when that little piece of me died. When I realized astronauts were cab writers writing along with other countries trips to space and that after the right stuff era, he didn't hear much about test pilots so they were doing some amazing work. And then I blinked and I was suddenly in golf done the current trend. influencers, YouTube, Instagram, fitness, fashion lifestyle, take your pick. have a knack for great product placement in your Instagram photos. And boom, you're suddenly a paid fashion influencer, turning relationships into currency to allow you to build your brand, connect with other brands that are bigger and have more money and grow your bank account. Some of these folks are using their platforms and influence to do good. Make a difference in the world. But an even greater number just don't appear to it's about the Benjamins. It appears to be inspired by fame for fame sake. Reality TV, I'm looking at you. You're not adding value. You're not creating your feelings. Time, You're distracting. It's not personally what I'm after. Not what I believe that people should be about. The movie Wall Street comes to mind. Gordon Gekko statement that incriminates in my mind, the 1980s of greed, for lack of a better term is good. Shouldn't resonate as a positive with as many people as it does. So what's this trend doing to the culture? I know these people hustle. I know they work hard. I know they make themselves look perfect. I know, they probably don't walk onto camera and sweat pants. I know that some of them are supporting their family and lifestyle, as best they can. But let's break it down and look at the message we're inadvertently sending to the rest of our culture. Why strive to be an astronaut. With the years of sacrifice of education and training, a test pilot meets a scientist when you can film farts on YouTube and score a million hits, and possibly 1000s of dollars. Don't ask me if I'm quoting a real YouTuber, I have no idea. I did not. during the making of this podcast, search for farting on YouTube. I'm just sure it's there. Why not do unboxing videos for a living? earn money on the back of your kids love of toys? How does it teach them the value of what they have? In large part it comes down to why seek to make things better. When the easy tendency is to seek the bigger better deal. In life, what is easiest not always right. Why do the hard things when there's so many things are low hanging fruit fruit. All you have to do is sell yourself respect and any hope of a better future. Now I'm probably grossly overstating. I'm sure there's someone out there that is a millionaire, playboy unboxing champion who also is working to solve cancer. But it certainly does not seem to be the norm. And sadly, it's the norm that needs to change. based on where we're heading. We have countless real issues that we need to address if we're going to leave this world a better place for our kids from the economy, post COVID look at interesting to the environment to how we move forward as a culture to make ourselves better. What legacy Are we going to leave the next generation debt regret? Or something better? What is our spirit of accomplishment going to look like? Is it going to be a Gordon Gekko like figure grasping all we've ever had and ever will have? Or is it going to be something visionary? Whether it's scientist, entrepreneur, astronaut, or something I can't even imagine. What will we choose to aspire to? How can we inspire others? How do we move forward? How do we make our future brilliant? Special shout out today. Shout out to Dale Dale recently, in the last month or so join us over at the strife seek find page on Facebook, and has been one of the biggest contributors to community. Dale, I really appreciate you taking part in helping us grow. worth mentioning. This week I've got an article from the BBC future section. How the western mind was shaped by the middle of evil church by Joe Heinrich. This one fascinates me. I seem to say that a lot these days. Specifically, it looks out kin base relationships. In other words, your relatives were impacted by the medieval church throughout history versus how other cultures developed. One of the big places that impact was our view of conformity in the culture without giving away the entire context the article because you need to read it. For me, the ongoing societal differences created by a change in focus is so fascinating. And that alone makes it worth checking out. I've added a link to the article on the Strive Seek Find page on Facebook. That's it for this week's edition of stripe See find. If you enjoyed what you heard, leave your review. It really helps and subscribe questions or comments or just want to reach out. reach me at@chancewhitmore5 on Twitter. Until next time, keep seeking your own brilliant future. Have a great day.