3 lessons I learned from Don Draper

Tonight is the season premiere of Mad Men.

I could write an in-depth preview of my thoughts on what will occur this season.

But, there are a lot of other blogs that probably do that sort of thing and do it way better than I would or want to.

However, I am good at making humorous metaphors using pop culture references.

So I will do that now to demonstrate what I learned from Don Draper on how to live the life YOU want to live:

1. Try new things.

Before becoming a successful small business owner, Don sold women’s coats. And he did a ton of other interesting and amazing things in his life.

A lot of those things lead to a lot of heartache and stressful situations. But it’s a TV show.

How will you know the outcome of a new activity without TRYING it first? At least TRY it before you pass judgment. That gets you much further in life than always playing it “safe”.

Look at Don. He’s still above ground and he’s done some f’d up stuff. But he survived. And sometimes, that’s all that matters.

2. Learn from your choices.

Don is actually a terrible example of this. Every season, we see him make the same mistakes with the same disastrous results.

Try things, then figure out how it went. Did it go well? Cool! Did it go badly? AWESOME! Then you know what NOT to do the next time and make it even better.

3. Don’t be afraid to create the life you want.

Don did not want to be a Dick. So he changed it.

You have opportunities to change your life as well.

Try things, learn as much as you can, and decide what YOU want to do.

Then do them.

That’s what Don does.