“Badass” is a scientific term, at least if you’re an elder millennial like myself.
You know the type. They seem to always be dialed in. They bring a good energy to the people around them. They have a high bar but they don’t force that bar on people that don’t want it. They’re engaged with life. They do a lot of things well. They aren’t swayed easily by the tides of opinion or the inevitable swings of life. They operate like snipers, moving in silence toward their goals and not needing the validation of others to get there.
But the badass that lives inside of you doesn’t start with actions. It starts with mindset. Without the right mindset, actions are rudderless. Bulletproof your mind, and the right actions will follow.
Smile. Seriously. Your body and mind don’t know the difference between a forced smile and an organic one. Force an upset kid to smile and suddenly they’ve turned it around. Adults are no different. “Fake it until you make it” is horrendous advice in most capacities, but when it comes to our mindset it couldn’t be more true. Happiness doesn’t come from our external world being perfect. It comes from making a choice to be happy. Smiling is a good place to start.
Get perspective. Even on the big stuff. When Cade died, I remember one of the most surprising revelations I had was along the lines of “Holy shit, millions of people have to bury a child every year just like we are.” That was freeing in some way. It made the story about we instead of me. Are you alive? Do you know where your next meal is coming from? Are there people that love you? Congrats. You’re in the 1%. That’s not to minimize death, bad relationships, difficult pasts, depression, anxiety, or any of the other hard realities of life. It’s to put them in perspective. When you realize that the things you expend your energy fighting are simply part of the human experience, it removes their power to control your contentedness.
Engage. I could use the term “be present” here, but that term has lost its power in recent years. But what does being present actually mean? It means engaging with the world around you. Not reliving the past. Not pondering some unwritten future. The here. The now. The person in front of you. The task at hand. The birds, wind, and sun outside. The badass that lives inside of you isn’t drifting through life with their mind perpetually elsewhere. They are engaged in the world as it is, right now, in front of them.
Lead. Lead yourself. Then lead those around you. In that order. Be the person that makes a plan. Be the person that has an opinion on where to eat. Be the person who picks up the trash on the ground that everyone else has ignored. Be the person that reaches out. Be the friend that is willing to give hard feedback when others won’t. Be the person that tells someone they’re doing awesome. Be the person that celebrates someone else’s success without the need to talk about your own. Be the person that…leads.
It is inarguable that there is a badass living inside of you. You’re human. And you’re alive. Which means there is a version of you that is distinctly unshackled from the chains that hold most of us back.
Smile when you don’t want to and the external ceases to control the internal.
Get perspective and the big thing becomes a tolerable thing.
Engage here and now because it’s the only place that the shadows of the past and worries of the future cease to exist.
Lead yourself and those around you and you’ll have no choice but to come alive.
If you find value in the things I publish here, it’d mean the world if you’d share it with someone else. It’s the only way this space and community continues to grow.
✌️ and ❤️,
Adam Griffin