You Are A Badass

You Are A Badass helps you become self-aware, figure out what you want in life and then summon the guts to not worry about the how, kick others’ opinions to the curb and focus your life on the thing that will make you happy.

Do you know how you remember some people for one, distinct thing they taught you? With one girl from high school, the only thing I ever really learned from her came in the form of a status update she posted on Facebook:

I’ve never forgotten this lesson. How you choose to spend your time is entirely up to you, so how you distribute it reflects your true priorities, no matter what you claim they might be. Naturally, chasing a distant dream of yours infers choosing yourself over others – and that always creates some fallout.

If you’re aspiring to be a writer, like I am, some of the comfort you usually get from hanging out with friends will have to come from appreciating the time you now spend writing. Being serious means putting in days, months, years of work.

You’ll lose some friends. You’ll go to less happy hours and football games. You’ll be laughed at. Ridiculed. Made fun of.

But none of that matters if you’re happy spending time chasing what others don’t dare to: To really go for your dream, you must put your inner badass in charge.

Sticking with the example of becoming a writer, here’s how most people go about that particular dream:

Realize they want to be a writer. Analyze every writer that inspires them in detail, learn about their paths to success and craft a masterplan of which track they can follow. Give up after six months of analysis paralysis and not writing a single word.

That’s the kind of trap you should try to avoid at all costs. Jen suggests doing so by figuring out what you want, but not obsessing over how you’ll get there. Here’s an updated plan for becoming a writer:

Realize you want to be a writer. Start writing.

There really isn’t much more to it. Imagine making your way through a poorly trodden forest. You’ll find and shape your own path as you go along. The most reassuring thing you can do to get the confidence to call yourself a writer is write, not seek comfort from other writers.

Over time, with more and more hours of writing practice put in, you’ll get into a virtuous cycle that positively reinforces your attitude – and thus gets you to write even more. This is what actually lets you make progress towards your goal. Not planning, or debating, or strategizing.