Time to Rock

Joe,

One of the things we suggest in the Manifesto is that people “Rock out.”  We ARE all rock stars, we just need to act like it.  Rocking out is fun.  Rocking out means being yourself, doing it your way, and not making excuses for being awesome.  Just being uniquely awesome is what being a rock star is all about.  Unleash your inner Lady Gaga or Jon Bon Jovi.

So, why is it so freaking hard to do?

This is a question that plagues me both as I work with others but also in my own experiences, particularly as a professional.  Why is it that we feel like we need to keep our inner rock star locked in a cage and only let it out once in a great while?  This is profoundly sad to me because it is our rock star self that has the ability to change the game, to produce astounding results, to make an enormous difference on the world around us.   So, why keep it locked up?

Here is what I think might be going on:

1. Rock stars stand out, they get noticed. Think of Lady Gaga in a meat dress or walking through the airport in her underwear.  Being a rock star means that people will notice you and they will want to know more about you.  Starting in elementary school, we are trained not to stand out, not to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves, so we’ve become convinced that attention is bad.  It’s not.  Being awesome means that people are going to notice you, and you should embrace it when they do.
2. Being rock star awesome seems risky. Once you let out your rock star and start doing awesome stuff, people start expecting you to be awesome more often.  This means that you have to stop hiding behind low expectations and safety, and start living up to your potential.  High expectations feel good.  Once you start being awesome, awesome becomes your new normal and then you will become even more exceptional as you grow.
3. No one is going to come along and give you permission to be a rock star. If you don’t feel like a rock star or think you are a rock star, no one is coming to tell you it’s okay to start.  You just have to start acting like a rock star.  Be yourself, let out your personality.  Do amazing work, even if it makes people around you uncomfortable.  Refuse to accept half hearted work and stop spending time with people who lack passion.
4. If your friends are haters, its time to break up the band. Do your friends talk about doing rock star things?  Do your friends act like rock stars?  If not, they aren’t going to want to see you act like a rock star either because it makes them feel bad about their own lives.  Rock stars have to change members of their band sometimes until they find the right crew.  Find people to spend time with who are rock stars in their own way and who push you to be a rock star too.

Look around and what you will see are far too may people trying to fit in and not make waves.  Forget that.  Waves are how change gets made.  Even tiny waves have a huge potential.  So, let’s commit to rocking out.  Let’s commit to being rock stars, every day and every where we go.

Yours in awesomeness,

Jason