1. Don't see. Do.
Anyone can share opinions about movies or TV or even (I'll
grudgingly admit) books. That's why opinions are quickly forgotten. What you
say isn't interesting; what you do is interesting.
Spend your life doing instead of watching. Cool things will
happen. Cool things are a lot more interesting and a lot more memorable.
That's especially true when you...
2. Do something unusual.
Draw a circle and put all your "stuff" in it. Your
circle will look a lot like everyone else's: Everyone works, everyone has a
family, everyone has homes and cars and clothes....
We like to think we're unique, but roughly speaking we're
all the same, and similar isn't memorable.
So occasionally do something different. Backpack to the next
town just to see how many people stop to offer you a ride. (Don't take them up
on it, though. Unless you appear to be in distress, the people who want to give
you a ride are the last people you want to ride with.) Try to hike/scramble to
the top of a nearby mountain no one climbs. (Trust me; take water.)
Compete
with your daughter to see who can swim the most laps in three hours. (If you
live in my house you'll lose. Badly.)
Or work from a coffee shop one day just to see what you
learn about other people... and about yourself.
Whatever you do, the less productive and sensible it is, the
better. Your goal isn't to accomplish something worthwhile; the goal is to
collect experiences.
Experiences, especially unusual experiences, make your life
a lot richer and way more interesting. You can even...
3. Embark on a worthless mission.
You're incredibly focused, consistently on point, and
relentlessly efficient.
You're also really, really boring.
Remember when you were young and followed stupid ideas to
their illogical conclusions? Road trips, failing the cinnamon challenge, trying
to eat six saltine crackers in one minute without water... you dined out on
those stories for years.
Going on "missions," however pointless and
inconvenient, was fun. In fact the more pointless the more fun you had, because
missions are about the ride, not the destination.
So do something, just once, that adults no longer do. Drive
eight hours to see a band. Buy your seafood at the dock. Or do something no one
else thinks of doing. Ride along with a policeman on a Friday night (it's the
king of all eye-opening experiences.)
Pick something it doesn't make sense to do a certain way and
do it that way. You'll remember it forever—and so will other people.
4. Embrace a cause.
People care about—and remember—people who care. When you
stand for something you stand apart.
But...
5. Let other people spread the word.
People who brag are not remembered for what they've done;
they're remembered for the fact they brag.
Do good things and other people will find out. The less you
say, the more people remember.
6. Get over yourself.
Most of the time your professional life is like a hamster
wheel of resume or C.V. padding: You avoid all possibility of failure while
maximizing the odds of success in order to ensure your achievement graph climbs
up and up and up.
Inevitably, that approach starts to extend to your personal
life too.
So you run... but you won't enter a race because you don't
want to finish at the back of the pack. You sing... but you won't share a mic
in a friend's band because you're no Adele. You'll sponsor the employee
softball team but you won't play because you're not very good.
Personally and professionally, you feel compelled to
maintain your all-knowing, all-achieving, all conquering image.
And you're not a person. You're a resume.
Stop trying to seem perfect. Accept your faults. Make
mistakes. Hang yourself out there. Try and fail.
Then be gracious when you fail.
When you do, people will definitely remember you because
people who are willing to fail are rare... and because people who display grace
and humility, especially in the face of defeat, are incredibly rare.
I'd like to thank Jeff Haden for this article.
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