Christopher Penn wrote an uplifting, empowering post about obliterating your own limitations. And I agree with him. But one of his central tenets is that, in order to succeed, you have to be awesome.
But most of us are not. And here are five reasons why.
- You’re boring. What you do is uninteresting, and you fail to make it appealing to others.
- You’re redundant. What you do is the same thing everyone else does, and we can’t tell what makes you different.
- You’re lazy. Sure, you have a million amazing ideas. So do I. Do something.
- You’re insincere. If you don’t believe what you’re telling me, why should I?
- You have to tell me you’re awesome.
So there you have it. You want to bust through some limitations? Be my guest. But you might want to solve that whole awesomeness problem first.
9 Comments
John · August 11, 2009 at 4:08 pm
6. You’re reading this blog instead of doing awesomething.
Chris · August 11, 2009 at 11:52 am
The Bible says I’m awesome, just ask your mom!
Justin · August 11, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Considering the bible is a book of fables and tall tales, I wouldn’t be surprised…
Jeremy Meyers · August 11, 2009 at 11:49 am
#5 could be “You think you’re the one who has to tell me you’re awesome.” Just like the guy who’s always talking about how great he is, businesses talking about their own awesomeness (whether it has any basis in fact or not) come off as hollow and insincere. Instead, show how what you do affects the world, ideally empowering those you’ve affected to tell their story about how your awesomeness helped them.
doogle · August 11, 2009 at 10:00 am
I’m awesome because my shirt says I am. Shirts don’t lie. Its in the Bible.
john blue · August 11, 2009 at 9:06 am
Not everyone will be awesome because if we were all awesome then the awesome norm would be high but then no one would know because that is the norm, not awesome. Awesome implies beyond the norm, with above average super powers. Of course we all could be under the The Lake Wobegon effect :) http://bit.ly/L8Mmj
Still, we should all aim to be awesome and, with some real work, some of us will become awesome!
John Blue
TruffleMedia.com
guido · August 11, 2009 at 9:04 am
Good points… I wonder if you could also add believing in your self as a tenet. If you don’t believe you are awesome, who else will…
Ramon Ozoa · November 29, 2012 at 12:17 am
I’m Awesome no your not dont lie
Do You Want Them to Remember You Tomorrow? | Justin Kownacki · May 6, 2015 at 3:22 pm
[…] I’d wager that most creators think so, which is why so much of what we make is short and / or bad. […]