A few things to preface the following article. No, we at Boss Hunting do not condone substance abuse, misogyny, socio/psychopathy, and definitely not the murder of colleagues to Huey Lewis. Or the homeless. Or models.
The murder of anyone, really, is a no-no, even if that person happens to be Jared Leto. It seems like an obvious statement, but we’re just waiting for all you reasonable people out there to say something undoubtedly reasonable in the comment section.
There are actually lessons to be extrapolated from Patrick Bateman & Co. in the cult classic American Psycho. Some of which can be utilised by you – the modern man. Please note: this was penned way before the sigma grindset memes.
Competition is healthy
We live in an era where participation trophies are handed out freely, and keeping scores is discouraged for fear of hurt feelings. This shit is regressive. Competition – whether it involves business cards or primo slices of New York real estate – is what keeps us on our toes. It’s what allowed our species to stand here today. Competition forces us to become the best possible version of ourselves to lead the rat race instead of being another rodent in the pack. By all means, you should only look at your neighbour’s bowl to make sure they have enough, but a kick in the ass towards the right direction never really did any harm.
Know when to pull back from an obsession
To clarify, there are two types of obsession: a) The kind which motivates us to do 1,000 crunches a day, take care of our skin, and function the most efficiently we can, and b) the kind that drives us to hatchet someone in the face for getting a dinner reservation we could not, only to return to an apartment we couldn’t afford. Stick with the former and you might see some results. Go with the latter and the law might catch up to you. Bret Easton Ellis doesn’t write our reality.
Conformity’s for suckers, you do you
Sure, you could be another slick haircut in a bespoke Valentine Couture suit and Oliver Peoples glasses; or you could be your own person. Define your own style. Don’t give people the chance to forget you or confuse you for someone else. And live on an engine fuelled by your own ethos. Full disclosure, it’d be pretty awesome to be in a bespoke Valentine Couture suit and Oliver Peoples glasses, but if everyone’s on that level, where’s the fun?
If you’re failing to plan, you’re planning to fail
Again, I cannot stress how anti-serial killing we are, but the key lesson here is marked by the moment Patrick Bateman acts on impulse and emotion. From there it’s a slippery slope. Impulse and emotion are the enemies of logic;Â failure to plan means you’re planning to fail. Go over every detail, every contingency scenario, the contingency scenarios to those contingency scenarios – rinse and repeat.
