Who you calling successful?
I thought about declining the interview. For one thing, Navallo.net says it “features interviews with the world’s most successful people,” a claim on which their wanting to interview me casts no small doubt. For another, the questions struck me as setups for flatulent, self-congratulatory rhetoric. Indeed, a look through past interviews revealed quite a bit of that. Take Question 4, which asks, “When faced with adversity, what pushes you to keep moving forward?” Answers included gems of unrealistic non-insight like “quitting isn’t an option,” would-be humble profundities like “the illumination from the lanterns held by others,” and the oxymoronic “by not letting ‘no’ be part of my vocabulary.” But in the end I decided to participate. I wanted to see if I could muster a substantive answer or two. Did I pull it off or only succeed in giving voice to my inner snob? You can read my attempt by clicking here. —Steve Cuno |