Try Not To Suck.

Hi! My name is Parissa. This is "Modern Badass: A Field Guide", a place for Modern Badasses to feel seen, heard, understood and respected. And, it's also a place for others to crack the code on the Modern Badasses in their lives (and maybe learn some badassery themselves). Want to receive this 2x/month? Hit the "subscribe" button above.

Try not to suck is the advice that Javier Baez received from Joe Maddon at the beginning of the 2016 Chicago Cubs championship-winning season. Regardless of how you may feel about the language, the advice is pretty funny given the many millions of dollars they were paid to perform successfully that year. The larger point is what Joe Maddon said of that moment when he was asked about it later.

"We all, as professionals, one of the main things you do on a daily basis is try not to embarrass yourself. So how do you do that? By trying not to suck."

He went on to say,

"Take it with a light heart. ... I want them to just go out there and play like they're in Little League. Like a bunch of kids having a good time. Don't worry about making mistakes."

Having a quick wit, a sense of humor is one of the 14 Modern Badass traits that help you succeed. Taking things with a light heart is a superpower of yours. So is keeping your wits about you at all times to create and maximize opportunity.

Your laser-sharp wit is a gift.

Laser cutting is a technology that uses well, lasers, to cut through materials. Modern Badasses like you have laser cutting down to an art and science. Your ability to speak truth to power as well as to challenge norms and assumptions exists because you're so darn good at separating the wheat from the chaff, as the expression goes.

But what good is this laser-sharp wit of yours? It means that your ability to think on your feel helps to propel you forward. Anything other than laser-sharp wit, like moderation, is at your peril. Professional athletes know this and you know it, too.

Your appreciation for humor, even the absurd, is also a gift. You don't believe everything is a joke, however, you can find something to smile or even laugh at amidst a setback.

In other words, your wit and humor serve your growth mindset, your willingness to experiment and not worry about making mistakes.

What is this mindset stuff?

Carol Dweck is the author of “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” and has devoted herself to the study of what makes people successful and what factors play into that success. She says that mindsets are theories that we create about ourselves.?

Dweck’s work focuses on two mindsets: fixed and growth. The former is the belief that your qualities are unchangeable and that you’re more motivated to be right or perfect than to learn. There’s an emotional attachment to finding an outcome that puts you in the best light. The latter is the belief that your talents develop continuously. Being right is never the point but learning is.

You tend to be more successful if you have a growth mindset because you love to learn, don’t care about looking smart and aren’t emotionally attached to an outcome.?And, Badasses are successful because you have a sense of humor about whatever the outcome is. You embrace a spirit of play and joy, not chore and drudgery.

Humor in action.

If LeBron James can laugh about taking a shot to the face during warmups, we can find the humor in anything we face, too.

Take Joe Maddon's advice.

Your gift is couched within your humor. Take things with a light heart. Your work is important and you know that attaching too much weight to hit will suck the joy and spirit of play out of it. I love working with quick-witted leaders who can find humor, especially the absurd, in small and large moments.

Hungry for more conversation? I'm hosting a webinar on March 31 called "Hugging A Cactus" (humor!) where we'll explore some home truths and some tips for Modern Badasses.

And, yes, there's more! You can hit the subscribe button above and also subscribe to the Sixense Strategy?YouTube Channel?where I share past sessions of?Badass Bytes, my livestream, as well as the?LinkedIn Video Series.

Your Partner in Humor,

Parissa

P.S. I'd love to work with you, badass. Do any of the following options intrigue you? Let's?talk.

1. Uplevel Your Influence. My?Inconceivable Influence?group starts on June 7. Do you speak loudly to the people in power and yet you're not heard? Do you know you have the capacity to make a massive impact yet you struggle with channeling your awesome? Let's talk about how you can uplevel your influence to make possible out of the seemingly impossible.
2. What's Your?Vision??Sixense Vision is a half-day workshop designed just for you. We'll talk about what you seek, how you're well-positioned for it?and design a strategy?to help you get there. It also includes a?Hogan Assessment?and debrief.
3. Create Your?Next?Adventure.?My Modern Badass clients love working with me 1:1 because I am that advisor, objective thinking partner and strategist they crave as they're pondering their next audacious goal. The work can be complex?and?lonely. I get it because I've either been in those seats or next to those seats.