2013: Year of The Hack

Hacking Nearly Everything

Today, all you have to do is attach “hacking” to virtually any term and, in the process, become a profound thought leader. The popular motivational website Marc and Angel Hack Life is inspired by the site “lifehackers.com,” which is about as technical as my shoe lace. Hacking in this new, broader context has nothing to do with computer code or even computers, as a quick scan of the posts on lifehacker.com indicates:

• • Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Co-Workers and Boss

• • Less Thinking, More Doing: Develop the Action Habit Today

• • 51 Slang Terms You May Not Be Familiar With

These titles are about hack, you might ask? Who knew? I’m imagining that soon we can expect to see references to:

• • Food hacking (pre-washed lettuce, seedless watermelons)

• • Pajama hacking (the art of sleeping in the nude)

• • Wedding hacking (eloping)

• • House hacking (living in a trailer)

• • Underwear hacking (going commando)

Okay, your turn. What are your predictions for the big hacks of 2014? Sure would be nice to see a few political issues get hacked (which in this context would equal “solved”). Like immigration. As a Boomer, I would like to see age discrimination get hacked and the corporate practice of cutting the senior people pre-retirement made illegal. Perhaps it would be wise to get an MBA in growth hacking?

I think it must have been way back in the late 1960s when “bad” suddenly became “good,” and since then we’ve seen countless variations on the theme. For example when something is really bad (really good), it becomes “the shit” or “sick.” Now, if that makes sense to you, getting comfortable in the world of good hacking should be a no-brainer. Hack away!

For the rest of us, time will inevitably bring us around. The only problem is by then, we’ll be onto some other switcheroo. Personally, when old becomes young, I’ll be the first to get on board.

(Of course, there’s always the other kind of Hack, which is described in my August 2012 novel published by HD Media Press. It’s the story of a painter who hacks his way to financial success by dying.

Last piece by Jeb:

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