Alton Brown has had four successful television series, include “Good Eats” which won him a Peabody Award. He’s written 10 books on food and cooking. He wanted to be a pilot so he went out and got his license and now owns two planes. I think it’s safe to say that we should all take a lesson out of Alton Brown’s book.
1. “The more you try to impress people, generally the less you do.”
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So next time you walk into a job interview with an overblown resume and a story on your “exciting” (read: a little untrue) adventure abroad, just don’t. Be yourself instead.
2. “I still believe that television is the most powerful form of communication on Earth. I just hate what is being done with it.”
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In a world of “The Real Housewives,” create a “Good Eats” instead.
3. “I’m going from doing all of the work to having to delegate the work, which is almost harder for me than doing the work myself. I’m a lousy delegator, but I’m learning.”
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Even Alton Brown doesn’t play well with others, but the important thing is that he knows it and actively works on it.
4. “Very good cooks who are employed as ‘chefs’ rarely refer to themselves as ‘chefs.’ They refer to themselves as ‘cooks.’”
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Stay humble. Don’t let your ego prevent you from learning to do better.
5. “Although I don’t take myself very seriously, I do take my work extraordinarily seriously.”
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A good lesson a two levels. Number one: live a happy, fun life. Number two: know when to work and when to play.
6. “The problem is I am both a procrastinator and a power junkie, so I am very frustrating to work with.”
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He knows his flaws, do you?
7. “We’re getting dumbed down, taste-wise.”
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Are you going to sit and watch a documentary or are you going to binge-watch “The Real Housewives” again. It’s okay to have your guilty pleasures, but spend time learning, too.
8. “I can’t talk about anything or write about anything if I don’t understand it. So a lot of the stuff that I go through and a lot of the time that I spend is understanding.”
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We all have our opinions, but, if you actually want to make a difference, you need facts. Spend time learning and researching.
9. “I do believe that those of us who have the attention of a audience have responsibility. But if we don’t know exactly what to do with that responsibility, park it in the pit for a minute.”
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And if you haven’t done the research and don’t have the facts, don’t try to enter the conversation, yet. If you want to change hearts and minds for the better, you need facts.
11. “If I can entertain you, I can infect you.”
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Okay, so that sounds a little creepy, but it’s true. You do learn from entertainment, whether you notice it or not. When you create something, keep your audience in mind so that you have a chance to change their minds.
12. “We’ve shied away from things that actually matter in human interaction.”
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Alton Brown doesn’t mind all that much if you have a food Instagram, but don’t just take pictures of your food. Take pictures of the people you’re having that experience with. We need to get back to actually interacting with the people right in front of us.
13. “It’s funny because people say I want to do this, and I don’t care, you’re not a precious snowflake. That’s one thing that Fight Club got right, you are not a precious snowflake, what it’s about is your ability.”
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I know we all want to believe that we’re special and that we’re the only people that can do what we do, but the truth is that there are a lot of people just like us in the world. Your employer won’t care what your major was or if you decided to tack on a third minor if your work is not better than what your competition can create.
14. “I can’t begin to tell you how important I think travel is. To just taste things, smell things, hear things, read things.“
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Alton Brown really believes in learning, but learning from other cultures is something that he says changed his life and is important to the education of any college student.
15. “Ninety percent of us that do anything worth a damn in life had no idea what we were going to do in college.”
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Here’s a little relief. You’re only 22 when you graduate. You don’t need to know what you’re going to do the rest of your life.
16. “I don’t have a [culinary idol] in mind. That’s not my style.”
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Be your own person. Do not try to follow in someone else’s footsteps. You will never do exactly what they do and that’s a good thing. Create a path for yourself.
17. “Self reliance is an important skill and when you get out of school, your mom won’t be cooking for you, the lunch lady won’t be cooking for you.“
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This is true for cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, getting directions, making appointments, whatever. Do it yourself.