This recording gave me the chills. Especially the beginning.
Very powerful.
Thank you.

I read this article, and immediately shared it with 5 close friends that i know. We think the same, we five can relate to this. And by the way, i am a nice guy, trust me and i love helping me.Then, i noticed there were few comments below, i could not believe the article made some people react so negatively, i don't know why,but i did not find you coming across as someone who is "arrogant" or someone who seems to have narcissistic personality. disorder as some one mentioned below, its nothing to do with feeling superior or inferior.. i was so into the writing, focused on the writing style, it was real, true, original, and trust me i usually don't comment on articles, but this one was unique. I mean, i am beginning to not give a shit, to say it as it is, and to give that straight talk, real talk, from the heart. You only live once man, so the hell should you care. I thank you for saying it as it is, for coming out in the street and exposing yourself - the real you. Yeah man, i think i will be here a long, you will find me around, keep bringing that original stuff man. Yeah, i am talking you man, the real you. Cheers. Mahad

Haha. Thanks for the love. Believe it or not we are the majority. This thing has gone viral all around the world and that didn't happen because the majority of the people didnt like it. It happened because it was exactly what you said it was.

Fresh, different, harsh and true. But also entertaining. The people who don't get it will never get it but you should definitely stick around. I'm just getting started and this is going to be a fun ride.

Mr. Tirado,
I find this article somewhat offensive to the reader. Although I find the titles very interesting and gripping, I would like to say that the writings following them were irritating to read. The article was very enjoyable overall. However, I think that you were focusing just a little bit too much on yourself. There were instances with "I did this. I did that" where I didn't quite enjoy reading through. I am a freshmen from the University of Georgia and I've done extensive independent researches and studies on Graph Theory, a branch of mathematics. And even then, I wasn't offended when you unintentionally disregarded my work. What I was angry about was when you claimed yourself to be this unmatched superior person, while you've never even introduced yourself. This article boasts a 'I am writing this and I am god if I said so' attitude. It is akin to wearing short to church. Mr. Tirado, I would to hear from you soon.

This article was a battle between the voices in my head. It was me talking to myself. I do not refute the benefit for some in higher leaning but that is not what this post was about.

I can understand your response here (that you were talking to yourself). I saw this article as a wake up call for myself, something for people to internalize and use as motivation. It did not make me feel defensive. How could you actually be criticizing anyone reading the article - of course you don't know the people reading it, so that could not be possible. Instead, I think you have given a gift to people on how to challenge themselves and to reach beyond their comfort zones. I suppose it's a tough love, drill sergeant approach rather than butterflies and happy thoughts. But there is room for both. I have difficulty being tough on other people (so I would not likely write from this perspective), but I do want to push myself to be exceptional in any way I can, so I appreciated reading it. Thank you for taking the time to write this, and for sharing it.

I agree with 2303sunshine. It was thought-provoking and a detailed confirmation for what most of the article's readers already knew anyway. Very well-written, straightforward and engaging from the title to the comments. Thanks for sharing :)

/signed

Wow Raymmar, that changes EVERYTHING! If you could have somehow indicated in the article itself that these were your internal voices it would have been remarkable. I relate to such dilemmas and internal conflicts. The problem is, I believe, that you let the world see you in a negative light and just add to the judgment you were already putting on yourself from inside. You don't deserve criticism. But next time try to make that more clear - for your own sake.
Btw - listening to you reading the article really helped clarify your tone.
I don't know if you got a chance to read my response to your article, so here it is- http://blogs.timesofisrael.... thanks for generating this important discussion. And you should know that YOU are AMAZING!

I did read your response and I thank you for taking the time to write it but I think it was a cop out. I get your positive tone but honestly I am so over people just pretending like life is easy and friendly and gymdrops and lollypops.

The reason this has gone viral internationally is because people are desperate for this type of content. The tone was purposeful. The tone was intended to crawl under your skin and make you uncomfortable. Not to passify and make people feel good about themselves.

Most people who looked past their own arrogance were able to see this and I am not accusing you of that here but so many people are quick to look at things only skin deep as opposed to actually digging deeper to see the true meaning of the art.

Thanks for sharing your comments.

I really like this article. Very well written... I couldn't stop reading it I ended a call to finnish this article amazing work. I wish I would have written it!

Awesome! Thanks for the compliments. I wish I could write it again too. It is amazing what takes off online and how people respond to other peoples thoughts when shared in this fashion.

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.

Because you feel offended by other people's opinions and you cannot read between the lines. Because you take it personally instead of asking yourself if it fits you at all. Because you think there are superior and inferior people and that there is some sort of standard to compare yourself with. Because you can't be true to yourself and admit where and why you are wrong. Because you have to feed your ego insead of feeding your soul.

I also found an unnecessary arrogant tone.
I grew up more in small town main stream then happily found my way to more authentic life in the fringes.
Sometimes tho I found people like the author in the fringes who seemed to hate everyone in the mainstream.
I hate the system of the mainstream and sheep mentality.
And I really hate the ladder system of I'm better than you. So i also hate out in the fringes when it's just flip flopped to who you hate. That's what I found here.

Change the system! My motto.
With less anger I think I'd find the push yourself attitude way more appealing.

Thats what everyone tells you. Change this or do that. Make it different here or do that there. But what I have discovered over the last two years is that I know exactly who I am and no one can tell me different.

I have followed my passions and been through ups and downs but as soon as I stopped listening to people telling me to change my tone and "be nicer" I started building traction and gaining readership.

People are desperate for the hard hitting truth. I am a flawed individual and I think it is time we accepted that we all are. That doesn't mean we shouldn't all be trying to step up our game. To be better at something. One thing. Whatever you need that to be. Family, community, friendship, blogging, business...whatever! Just DO something. But to live without a pursuit... without a dream, vision or desire? What kind of miserable existence that must be!

The fact you get more readership when you stop listening to advice of being nicer means two things to me. Things do seem to open up and flowwhen you are authentic and this world is now driven almost completely by assholes stepping on whoever they need to to get ahead. Congrats

I am nice... sometimes. I am just blunt. Suck it up.

Life is hard. Quit being a cry baby and take the tough criticism to heart. Why should I worry about hurting someones feelings with my words, on my blog?

Please, tell me again why your opinion of how the world should work is better than mine? Why your opinion to be nice is any different from my harsh approach. From my introspective approach to pushing people to be amazing? From making people uncomfortable in an attempt to inspire change. You think people change when everything feels nice and cozy? When life is gum drops and lolly pops? Get a clue!

What social waves are you making? Where is your art or your movement? How many people have you affected with your "nice" message?

Oh, and by the way, here you are, engaged in a conversation, with a guy you disagree with, on an article you claim to not like. Who is the winner? Who made the impact? Who crawled under your skin from across the internet?

It was me. I reached out and slapped you with my words and it hurt. It was meant to. It was supposed to do just what it did and that is the funny part about all of this.

I set out to do something and then I did it and somehow I am wrong? I should have done something different. Changed the message to what? Please you?

Who is the arrogant one now? Who is the one who is so full of themselves that an article online made them so uncomfortable they had to reach out and try to change the mind of a guy who clearly stated that your opinion was not important to the decisions he makes in life or otherwise.

To all of you haters: You wreak of insecurity and it is a shame that the most in need of the message of this article choose to ignore it, even after having had it kick them in the teeth.

I've read this article in serbian language( mother tounge). And I was so mad, but they did translate it with word destroy more than often,a lot more. So I ended up thinking who the fuck is this lunatic who thinks he can destroy anyone, why he thinks that everyone sees success as he does, why it is important for us to know what he knows and reads? And millions of other angry questions hit my head. Well even heading was all wrong, you have written anything amazing with life, and they've written anything at all. So much lost in translation... And now that I've seen some of your comments I can see that you are not just selfcentered (you are, but I am also so I can't judge you for that:) but that you actualy want to wake people up.... Well you still care, but there are so many disgusting people out there and you can not make them different. I will not change the world, I will just be around those people that are great for me, fix my world and enjoy those I love, and hope that no one will hurt them. Nothing really ever changed when it comes to people, they repeat same mistakes over and over, only time passes by, and they change the way for doing the same mistake... Here is few extreme examples, people kill each other for lets say diamonds, but it is only the hardest rock and nothing more, they fight for money which is paper they got from cutting woods, very smart... You get penalty if you walk your dog without plastic bags by your side, but what is degradable? And do they stop by to think where it will go. They think that the Planet is really all those states, they believe they need to wote, they think that their religion is only true one, they kill animals for their horns like that is of some real value for them etc etc, I could do this all they long... Maybe I am just negative girl, but I don't think there is hope at all for humans, and those great people can't do much, they are in minority... We are not that important so if we go extinct nothing will really change, Earth will be here as long as Sun is here and that is the whole truth...

I was actually giving you kudos for being authentic and not overly nice.
Even if you come across as an authentic ass. I don't mind people with an edge. Just don't think you or everyone else needs to go into constant slash mode.

I am sorry, I have been reading and responding to these things a mile a minute and I let a lot fly there that was not necessarily intended directly to you. I just hate that people think that people who try hard, or sound like me, or get in your face to try to inspire you are made out to be stepping on people.

I think if you actually knew me you would find that I love to help others and I am always looking to empower people to do better.

I just dont buy the BS any more. The people who talk about doing things but never really do. So I just started doing things and a few years later, here I am and the whole world is listening.

That is an empowering quest when you throw in everything else that rounded up the last decade of my life.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

you sound terribly cheesy and arrogant. you'd be perfect for those "life changing" conferences cycle they do in the us. they could even do a movie about you - a young blogger who know a couple of things about the internet and its language, and who has the superpower to inspire people. "Superblogger" sounds cool.

Oh how people pretend to know me because they read a single article. And I'm the cheesy, arrogant, self centered prick!

Thanks for your thoughts but you and the rest of the haters are exactly why this world is falling to shit.

You judge, criticize and indict without a bit of understanding. Your jokes are weak, your opinions are flawed and you project your insecurities to the world like a baby vomits on a new shirt.

Unable to control yourself, desperate to be heard but unwilling to speak out except in an attempt to divide and destroy.

Raymmar Tirado the voice is rolling into me with the same hard tone

I think this article was meant for someone like you (Khoa N.). No wonder you were offended, because you obviously do not understand it. As to the author, bravo for the article. Refreshing, very needed. If only those who this article is addressed to would react favourably.

Awesome post and spot on. I am doing what I deem to b amazing by hosting my own Internet radio show (no it's not a podcast from my garage) - the chatterbox w/Crickette. I find the freedom and flexibility of it all highly addictive. I can't turn it off - which is how I know it's right. I get everything u r saying here: it's the absolute truth! You must try again and again until you break through

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I too run a podcast but it is out of my living room. Nothing wrong with that. I actually have a pro style set up and it is a lot of fun to just have people come over and talk about random things that affect all of us in life.

"...diving head first, into the brain of another man in an attempt to better understand the world around you."
I love this line. I never really thought about reading like that; it makes it sound so much more exciting and open-minded. So thank you for the different perspective. :)

I can see why you love that line it is flipping spot on!
"...diving head first, into the brain of another man in an attempt to better understand the world around you."

Yo! This was a huge inspiration. I love it.. This article reflects my own thoughts, in a more precise and developped way. I like the aggressive aspect of the article and your way of "throwing" your thoughts in the face of the reader, for me it was a source of motivation and I didn't think of it as if it was a way to offend me. Your ideas were more than relevant for me, since I'm developping a clothing brand than defends the principles of deviant behaviour and stands against "self-censorship". Thanks for enlightening a younsters mind.. I would love to have a conversation with you around this topic. Peace

After reading this I had a flashback from the movie "Friday" after Craig knocked Debo out with an uppercut and the camera pans to Smokey screaming at the top of his lungs "that's My Dawg, That's... My... Dawg". Case In point this was a much needed mental refresher that should be spread to every indoctrinated "Career Minded" Student.

The truest article ever written... Thanks for sharing :)

Thanks Raymar. I think you're absolutely right! These people who chose to embrace the mundane are the ones toiling the soil to serve our food, they're the people who clean our streets, the people who do our laundry, they're the ones using their brawn to construct our buildings, they're the people who taught you how to read, the people who entertain you, they're the people consuming your products, the people stuck in shifts to assist the sick or serve mad customers... These people do what they are told, they just end up doing what the rest of the people do, learning what other people learn, or maybe they just go on with what they're doing because the circumstances are not in their favor! They're the ordinary people that serves as backdrop to make amazing people look even better! The mundane exists to highlight the extraordinary!

Of course, I'm being sarcastic. It's such a pity that you look at us in this light. Like the things we do never makes an impact.

I can't believe what I'm reading in these comments! People feel the need to defend themselves?!?! Wait...I do believe what I am seeing here. So often, people feel the need to open their mouths and offer some excuse to someone else, or bash someone else for saying something that strikes their fragile little nerves, rather than visiting where the problem really lies. Inside themselves. If you are so completely happy with what you are doing...why do you need to defend it? Why call someone else's point of view dumb?

I say...bravo Mr. Tirado! I have had recent events in my life reveal to me almost ALL of what you are saying here. And you speak the truth (for me anyway, I have had such a similar argument in my own head, it's scary. Are we related? ;) This article just assured me that regardless of the fear that tries to sneak in and take over, I am on the right track and I'm not crazy. Well, I am, but we might agree that that's a good thing.

It's a funny dichotomy--going with the status quo is easy, yet so many people who do so have such a hard time with it, and they're miserable. I lived that way, until recently, when I finally decided to jump out of the box that society has tried to lock me up in. It is scary, I do fail, I get rejected, I go forward with ideas that in hindsight were stupid. I don't necessarily love any of that in the moment. Actually, I hate it. Until I accomplish something. Then, I love all those hardships, because I know that those are what pushed me to wherever I am in the present.

I am sure you are a busy man, but I am in need of a mentor! If you have the time, I would love to hear from you via personal email. If not, well then at least you have just gained a new follower. Thank you for your brilliant words.

Thanks for understanding the intent of the article. Please subscribe and come back often. We are working on a lot of things here and we are going to connect the creative independent talent all around the world.

you sound like a person with narcissistic personality disorder.

I agree with your assessment

Thank you. Lol

This was an article I wrote to myself. Started as an argument in my head and evolved into what it is now. Don't pretend to know me because you read half an article.

Thanks for your feedback though.

Suzi you are studying to be a head-shrink? If so may I suggest perhaps a little more study-time or another career choice. You are a little off base on this NPD assessment. The cultural rot of 'the narcissist' is what Mr. Tirado fights against daily. Some traits of the narcissistic personality are; They feel they deserve special treatment above anyone, they exaggerate their importance, and lack empathy for anything but themselves.
Oh, Snap! That sounds like a liberal to me, so perhaps most liberals have narcissistic personality disorder as well?

The reason this article is irritating: it is not made apparent that these are two voices within yourself. It sounds like you're arrogant and UNintelligent enough to assume you are the only one who is "untraditional" and a "self-educator", while all the readers are lemmings. This then goes against the very argument or belief you seem to be promoting in this piece. Not to mention: it is not a dichotomy. One can have a formal diploma/ education and still be an original thinker, skeptical of the spoonfeeding media that surrounds us. In fact, it almost seems like you are trying to compensate for your lack of objective achievement by dismissing those who have followed that path in life.

If you really believe that structural and societal issues don't influence your outcome, you're a sociopath. 43% of people born into families in the bottom quintile stay there as adults. 40% of children raised in the top quintile will stay there as adults. Only 4% of people born in the bottom quintile will rise to the top quintile as adults. We do not live in a meritocracy by any stretch of the imagination. To deny the structural and societal influences that trap the poor in generational poverty is to condone the system under which we find ourselves and be in agreement with the sociopaths that are doing everything in their power to uphold the status quo.

So then we should all just give up? I see your point. That is a way better solution.

No, we need to unite and organize to set the country back on the path to the thriving middle class we had from 1945 until 1971/72 unless you're content with the countries inevitable slide back into the Gilded Age.

Settle the country to the past ... where we have already been? The past that lead us straight into this mess?! Oh, heck no flipping way! We have a sacred responsibility to act like Americans. As a US Citizen we are obliged to move our country forward, not backwards.

Only a sheep would follow the Pied Piper of Lies down the path this country is going which is directly towards a tyrannical oligarchy that sacrifices the blood and sweat of it's people on the altar of the Military/Security/Police State and the ever expanding corporatocracy. Corporate profits are at an all time high while debt, unemployment, and wealth disparity are higher than they were during the great depression. You need to wake up and start standing up for your neighbors because after they're thrown out on their asses, YOU'RE NEXT.

You assume I follow folks Mr Forester, how amusing
that is to me!

We were on the right path until people who consequently ignorant and politically illiterate allowed their national sovereignty and the basic principles of self-determination to be co-opted by plutocrats. If you insist on dragging the rest of the country down this path with you, there won't be a country left to move forward with.

What path...the path of the past mistakes we are on now? We need fresh and new ideas not repeats of the same stale ones. We need to get out of our comfort-zones and stop the insanity of jumping back on the hamster wheels of life! The Plutocrats and the poor have always been, and will always be with us those are facts. So, what changed? Think outside that box you are in.

We were on the right path in the 40s, 50s, and 60s until Nixon opened trade with communist China and flooded the US with goods produced with near slave labor and uncoupled our currency from the gold standard, forever devaluing it through inflation and rampant printing without taxation to remove it out of circulation. 90% top tax rates ARE out of the comfort zones of most people because they've been brainwashed to believe that tax breaks for the wealthy creates jobs for the middle class. It doesn't, it never has, and the CRS did a study that proved their was no correlation between those two things. Until we get the middle class back to work earning family sustaining wages and equalizing social mobility for the those born into poverty with those born to the rich, this country has no future. The robber barons have returned and no one bats an eyelash as they extract trillions in blood money from this country while our children go without food, our poor go homeless, our elderly go without needed medicine, and our veterans go without healthcare. What changed? The people changed. They became impassive to the plight of their neighbors because it "wasn't their problem". People know what made America great post WW2 and the path back to that greatness is obvious but the majority are too cowed and too afraid to make the necessary sacrifices to bring us back there.

Hey now - America will always have a future, as long as those of us who are not fair-weather patriots are around.
The people changed. You are on the right track and have the correct time frame. Nice, my question is this: How does one control the mindset of so many without them being aware of it?
Jedi mind tricks?
What was one of the greatest changes in American history after WW2 .....?
(drum roll)
:) I know; I'm full of questions. You seem
full of answers, no doubt you can handle them.

I'm not going to address the idea that the US is impervious to collapse or dissolution. Historically, all empires eventually crumble under the weight of their own corruption. And yes, the people changed in same ways for the better and in some ways for the worse. The greatest change in American history after WW2 was that they put a television in every US household. How do you control the mindset of so many without them being aware of it? You brainwash them by centralizing the dissemination of all information in the hands of 5 corporations. If you can control what people know, than you can control how they will react and if you repeat lies over and over again, eventually people start to believe them. It doesn't make the lie any truer; it just means more people are wrong.