Friends of Dave #227: underestimating the stupid
Are you really the role that you play?
I had the pleasure of catching up recently with long time Friend of Dave and colleague Jimmy Suppelsa and the topic of people playing roles in their personal and professional lives came up.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we really are all storytellers writing our own books every day. And in those stories, we usually have an interpretation of the role that we play.
Are we a vocal leader? A diligent follower? The industry pundit? Are we the title we hold at our work or the persona we present on our LinkedIn profile? Are we the involved parent? Doting partner?
We can find ourselves living in bubbles throughout the course of our lives and, as a result, we can easily start acting a part that we envision for us.
But is this part really who we are? Is it our true authentic self? Or are we trying to be the person we think we are supposed to be?
You have likely seen it. It can be as simple as watching someone on a Zoom call you know is wearing a sport coat on top but pajama bottoms below, broadcasting a fake bookcase background that is really hiding piles of dirty laundry behind them.
They are like a mullet -- business in the front, party in the back.
It can also be someone you have known for a long time that gets a new job with a new title and a new comp plan, and all of a sudden they just change. They start acting different. They move to a new zip code. They are not the person you knew years ago. They are That Guy/Girl.
They seemingly transform into an a**hole, prick, d-bag, jerk, airhead, know-it all, wacko -- you name it, that is them. But everyone knows it is really not them. It's painful.
Jimmy and I talked about people we both have known like this over the years. I've seen it in others throughout the course of my life.
I've also seen it in myself.
Looking back, there have been times where I was definitely playing roles and living up to standards that I thought I should play in both my personal and professional life. Sometimes these roles happened to be natural extensions of myself.
Most often however, it was like trying on a stylish shoe that seemed right, but was a size too big or size too small. Neither were comfortable. And for the people around me who were watching me walk around in the shoe, I'm sure it was painful for them at times.
But I got lucky. I came to a point where I realized the benefits of comfort over style. It didn't mean I wasn't going to try to "be somebody." I just decided I wasn't going to "be somebody" I wasn't comfortable being.
So we all have the power to break the spell. We can leave our bubbles if we so choose. It might not be easy to undo or admit to ourselves, but it can be done.
We can always decide that we don't want the role of That Guy/Girl we think we should play anymore and revert back to the role we were meant to play -- Me.
In many ways, I guess this is growing up.....
Have a great weekend everyone. The next issue is a big one -- after all, it's gonna be May.
XOXO
Dave
Think on This...
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Your Weekly Dose of Randomness...
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And The Last Word....
The Man Behind The Legendary Steak-umm Twitter Reveals How The Brand Immersed Itself In Internet Culture And Avoided Becoming ‘How Do You Do Fellow Kids?’ — knowyourmeme.com While the vast majority of brands on social media who post memes find themselves mercilessly ridiculed, Steak-umm has managed to succeed against all odds. We spoke with Allebach, who runs the Steak-umm Twitter, to figure out exactly how they managed to pull it off.
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