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- Don't Be So Serious!
Total Read Time = 3 min.
I was a hard-ass.
I always thought it was cool to be all “stoic” and tough in front of my girlfriend. When she would laugh, I would restrain myself and just smirk with a calm and collected face.
Literally us: 😊 x 😐️
Alpha move, am I right?
Little did I understand that I wasn’t being stoic or cool at all. In fact, I was just being boring and even uncomfortable to be around!
I was so serious all the time! And not just with her, but with my friends and family.
I often tried to put on a tough guy act and mysterious demeanor—as if somehow I was a “man who carried himself with respect, unshaken by the world, firm and mighty!”
I followed a very rigid schedule and would turn down most relationship plans. If someone wanted to hang out with me, I’d have to put them on a waitlist:
“I’m booked, may I graciously reserve you for next Friday?”
(I’m joking)
But I’m realizing now how life is so much bigger than just “being on the grind,” handling myself with a tight hard-ass demeanor, and being just serious about everything.
I mean, would you rather get dinner with Peter Parker😛 or Bruce Wayne🤨?
If it wasn’t obvious, the main message of this Letter is:
Don’t be so serious!
Seriously.
Don’t take yourself so seriously!
Lower your ego.
You are not all high and mighty. You are human as well. And that’s okay!
(From my experience, most girls don’t like serious, stern guys. Girls just want to have fun. More on that in next week’s Letter ;)
Don’t take your work so seriously!
Honestly, it’s great to be serious and have ambition for your life’s work, purpose, and goals. I am married to the game as well.
But our personal development, schedules, and work shouldn’t be our only focus. We must not cast aside the relationships and bonds we have.
Photo by my good friend Ethan Chaiko
Busy bees do their work but also connect with other fellow bees in their hive. Even they must stop for water!
Allow yourself to be flexible with your schedule. Be okay with giving some time to your people.
Be spontaneous.
Flow.
Be water, my friend.
Don’t take others so seriously!
Speaking of people, realize that they are human as well. They are not perfect.
With that understanding, I hope it becomes easier to forgive, accept, or take with a grain of salt other people and whatever they say or do.
Don’t take your problems so seriously!
Most of your problems are not worth worrying about. Read that again.
Oftentimes, our problems can be over-exaggerated by our minds.
When something happens to us, it is usually not the act itself that is causing us to be stressed. Nothing is inherently good or bad, after all.
It’s our thinking that makes us perceive things as problems.
And most times, our problems are not as bad as we think them to be. It ain’t that serious!
I mean, not to be insensitive, but is losing 1 newsletter subscriber really the end of the world? Do you really have to stress over your 5’6” height?
(I’m talking to myself ;)
Writer Gabe Vertrees puts it best:
Instead of obsessing over your problems, realize that they may not be as bad as you think them to be.
Instead of worrying about negative things that happen to you, accept that they are not in your control—and let go! Control what you can.
Don’t take LIFE so seriously!
Okay, let me clarify:
I’m not saying we should NOT be serious at times. I’m also not saying we should live a life of pleasure and thrills, either.
Life is NOT meant to be enjoyed (in my opinion).
I’m saying we should remind ourselves to not be so serious all the time! Grind, yes, work hard! But also relax! Let yourself enjoy life!
And if your life is not in the slightest enjoyable, try to frame a positive outlook on it! Life is more than just hustle or work, after all.
Your Takeaway Message
My friend! Don’t be so serious!
Live. Laugh. Be free and flexible!
When you don’t take life so seriously, you will live fully and freely.
Now that’s true wealth!
That’s all for this week friends.
Until then, have a blessed day!
—Chris Son