Long before the Dos Equis commercials came out about The Most Interesting Man in the World, I wanted to be that guy. I envisioned myself as that one person at parties that everyone flocked to because I had done amazing things and had captivating stories.
I often imagined this:
“Hey, Bill! Come over here. This guy is telling a story about how he parachuted out of an airplane over the Sahara, ran an ultra-marathon through the desert and then spent a week living with a tribe of nomads!”
I didn’t do any of those things, by the way. But, that was my goal. I wanted to be awesome! And while I certainly didn’t become the most interesting man in the world, I did do a few awesome things along the way. Even better than that, I met some awesome people who did even more awesome things.
The more awesome you are, the more people will be drawn to you. And if people are drawn to you, then you will put yourself in situations where opportunities are abundant. Perhaps, someone finds you interesting and invites you to a party where you’ll meet your future wife. Or, maybe, you tell a story in one interview and that makes you memorable enough to get hired.
But, being awesome and doing awesome things isn’t just about looking cool at a party. It’s about getting out of your comfort zone and pushing yourself beyond your status quo.
People and stories that are recognized as awesome are seen as such because they’re unusual and out of the ordinary. That means you have to do something outside of your comfort zone. You need to push yourself.
By pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones, we’ll find out things about ourselves that we never knew. We’ll discover that we are capable of so much more.
So, while being awesome and doing awesome things can make you the life of the party, there’s more to it than just that. Knowing how to be awesome is knowing how to push yourself beyond your limits and discover the deeper depths within you.
So, here are 3 quick ways to be awesome:
Do At least One Epic Activity
When I was 24, I traveled to Europe with a buddy and ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. I wore the white pants and shirt with the red sash and weaved in and out of the crowd, dodging bulls along the cobbled streets of Pamplona.
That one story has given me an “awesome factor” for 10 years. I tell it at parties, during meet-and-greet ice breaker games and to pretty much anyone. Before I met my wife, I told the story on every first date I ever went on.
Every single time, it gets the same response: “That’s awesome!” Then, they’ll ask questions and I get to tell the whole story over and over again.
By the end of the 5-minute story, I am the most interesting man in the world- or at least the most interesting man within a 10-foot radius! This one epic activity has carried me for years.
I’m not the daredevil type. But, when people hear this story, they immediately think I’m some badass. My wife laughs every time people say things, like “Wow, you’re a real adventurist!”.
But, in their minds, that story makes me awesome. You know why? Because it is awesome.
Over the years, I’ve known others with similar, awesome tales of epic activities. I met a guy who swam with Great White Sharks in South Africa, another who cared for rhinos on an animal reserve in Africa and another who got scuba certified in Thailand.
Tell one of those stories at a party and you’ll be instantly awesome. But, more important than that, you get to live out the activity and stretch yourself beyond what you thought you were capable of. And that’s more awesome.
Travel to Awesome Places and Embrace the Locals
To fully appreciate the world and see things from different angles, you need to see the world. This doesn’t mean you have to be a non-stop traveler or the person that wanders the world for a year. You should, at least, get out and see a few places outside of your comfort zone.
I am not actually a great traveler. I get nervous leaving the country (I think I watched too many episodes of Locked Up Abroad) and prefer to travel around the U.S. But, I know that this limits me and that I have to get out of my comfort zone.
So, over the years, I have pushed myself to travel to different countries. I still have much of the world to see but, by overcoming my fears and stretching myself, I know I’m to a great start.
Once you do travel to an awesome place, you need to ditch the tourist traps and hang out with the locals. No one cares if you saw the Colosseum in Rome. Everyone that goes to Rome does that. Getting drunk with the locals and laughing at each other’s accents, on the other hand, is awesome.
I went to Scotland once. When I talk about that trip, nobody cares to hear about the rolling hills or visiting St. Andrews. Everyone that goes to Scotland sees those things.
So, instead of that, I tell the story about how my buddy and I went to a local dive bar in the shipping yard of Aberdeen. We were looking to mix it up with some local drunk sailors and get into an old-fashioned bar fight. The plan backfired, however, as the Scottish shipping industry had apparently clamped down on drinking at port years ago.
Instead of encountering badass sailors with anchor tattoos, we stumbled into what used to be known as the toughest bar in Aberdeen only to find it was now owned by a nice Indian gentleman and his cute little puppy.
Despite that, we still made the best of it and did some weird shots with him before heading off to pay drunken homage to the town’s Braveheart statue. It was an awesome, memorable experience.
Anyway, if you want to be awesome, go to awesome places and hang out with awesome people.
See Also: 7 Important Things To Do To Travel Like A Local
Help Others
Helping others is, perhaps, the most awesome thing you can do. If you are able to help someone in need, whether it be something as large as building a water well in a remote village or as small as just being a good friend in times of need….well, there is just something so awesome about that type of love that it’s hard to explain in words. You have to feel it.
I have met people who have traveled to Africa to build water wells in Uganda. I have also met people who have traveled to Southeast Asia to build schools. On top of that, I also got to meet a person who taught children in South America how to read and surf! That is a lot of awesomeness!
I also know people who volunteer at the local pantry once a month, others that donate clothes to the homeless and even people who spend time with their elderly relatives. That is a lot of awesomeness as well!
Knowing how to be awesome isn’t that hard. You just have to take yourself out of your comfort zone and do something for others. It will stretch you as a person and make for an awesome story. Most importantly, it will mean the world to the person you are helping.
Do epic things, travel to awesome places and help your brothers and sisters in the world and you will be AWESOME!!!