3 Things That You Can Do Today That Will Make You More Awesome Tomorrow

Barney Stinson was not this awesome yesterday. He was still Doogie Howser.

1.  Set a simple goal and accomplish it

The thing about accomplishment is that it motivates you to accomplish more. When you can call a task complete, you feel satisfied and oftentimes energized to complete something else. So when I say simple, I mean it. You want to read more? Then your goal is to read 1 page of a book today. Just one. You’ve overcome the inertia to begin and accomplished a goal. It’s so simple that you can only fail if you want to.

My goal for today is: To write this blog entry. No, it’s not cheating to use this as my goal. It makes me more awesome and therefore qualifies.

2.  Learn a new word

I remember seeing on a movie, or maybe a TV show – doesn’t matter really – but there was a character and he had one of those “Word of the Day” calendars. For some reason, his use of this calendar and his attempts to apply his new word made him flawed in some way and we were supposed to regard him with little respect.  So essentially, the guy trying to expand his vocabulary is a clown. Well, at the end of the year that guy’s vocabulary exceeds yours by at least 365 words. He can communicate with greater clarity and nuance. Who’s the clown again? Learning a new word also means pronouncing it correctly and applying it appropriately in conversation. Misusing vocabulary earns negative awesome points.

My word for today is: PAEAN - a piece of writing, a song, etc. that expresses enthusiasm and admiration.  This blog is a paean to awesomeness.

I’ll do you a favor and get you started. The word is niche. Pronounce it as “neesh” instead of “nich” and use it in a sentence tomorrow. When people look confused, tell them that you’re not only awesome, but you’re erudite and articulate as well.

3.  Fully enjoy a moment

This one is a little “touchy feely.”  I know. You can measure whether or not you’ve set a simple goal and accomplished it. You can measure whether or not you’ve learned a new word.  But enjoying a moment is… ambiguous. So I guess the best way to approach this is to just try to do it until it feels right.

Maybe examples are in order:

• You just took a long gulp of some ice cold grape pop. Lick your lips, smack obnoxiously, say “aaahhhhh, refreshing.” Grin like an idiot.
• You just climbed into bed after a long day. Bundle the covers over your body, assume the fetal position, rub your feet together like a cricket. Grin like an idiot.
• You just finished writing another personally satisfying blog entry. Spell check, find an amusingly appropriate picture, preview, post. Grin like an idiot.
• You just finished reading The Awesomeness Consultant’s latest post. Laugh, cry, reflect, self-assess. Grin like an idiot.

 My moment of enjoyment for today: They just keep coming…

Your comfort zone is a trap

She's not gonna be comfortable for a long time...

Your couch is plush. Your feet are kicked up. Your belly is full and if it wasn’t, your refrigerator is. You have successfully carved out a comfort zone. Now, kill yourself.

Yeah, I went a little overboard with that. But once you get into that comfort zone, what’s the motivation to keep moving onward and upward? Comfort zones are deceiving little boxes where the variables are all known, the outcomes are all planned, and security abounds.  In this type of environment, evolution comes to a screeching halt.  Evolution is a result of adaptation. Adaptation occurs in response to changes in the environment. So if your environment never changes, it’s safe to say that you won’t either. You are an awesomely sophisticated machine and efficient to boot. That means once you’ve suitably adapted to an environment, you won’t waste a bit of energy on any further adaptation.  

No more adaptation = No more evolution :: No more evolution = No bigger, stronger, faster, smarter You.  

And that sucks.

I like comfort as much as the next guy, but is it worth sacrificing the next, even better version of me?  Is it worth setting to the side The Awesomeness Consultant v 2.0? And subsequently versions 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55… I gotta say no. 

So, what is there to do? Seek the challenge.  Cooking a healthy meal tonight may be uncomfortable. Running a couple of miles tomorrow may be uncomfortable.  Writing a business plan next week may be uncomfortable.  But you won’t be stuck in the trap. You will be evolving.

Screwing up may be the best thing you’ve ever done

A few minutes ago, Daniel screwed up 

You’ve screwed up. Royally. And as you sift through the pieces of your shattered project, job, reputation, relationship, etc…you don’t feel awesome one bit.  But what you may be failing to realize is that you could be standing in the aftermath of one of the best things that has happened to you.

While we give lip service to the fact that mistakes are opportunities for growth, we hate to make them. We hate dealing with the consequences of our screw-ups. We hate to be reminded that we may suck a little bit more than we otherwise thought (or at least projected). Why? Because behind the defensive mechanisms and the egoist posturing – we’re really fragile.  And often times, to protect that fragility we build walls, dig moats, erect watchtowers, and post/deploy armies.  So the “Nation of You” never really builds its internal resources (i.e. creativity, self-assessment), but commits all of its development to its external resources (i.e. finances, public image).

Sometimes when you screw up and are standing in the wreckage, you can actually see clearly to what extent you are really awesome or not. Sometimes when you fall off, you realize that you weren’t that far from the bottom to begin with – or you weren’t sitting as high as you thought you were.  A screw-up gives you at least a moment for a pretty clear reflection, without the distractions associated with maintaining the walls, the moats, and the army.  When you screw up you are found alone with simple, fragile YOU – the core from which your awesomeness actually emanates.