How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life(56)
OMG. Did I just write an entire paragraph about towels? MOM, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
FIVE WAYS to Create a Bawse Environment
CHOOSE A FACEBOOK, Twitter, and/or email password that is an affirmation or important reminder. Think about it—you write this password several times a day, so you might as well make it meaningful! Even when you’re in a rush, you’re giving your brain a subliminal message. Some examples: Workhardtoday or Staydetermined or Youdontneedaboyfriendbecauseyourecompletelyfinebyyourselfandifyoueverdoubtthatthenlistentosingleladies (okay, that last one might surpass the character limit).
IF YOU STRUGGLE with a certain thought or bad habit, write yourself notes and post them in places where you will constantly see them. My “Focus on what deserves your attention” sticky is meant to remind me NOT to reply to negative YouTube comments and thus is located on the screen of my iMac. If you’re not a morning person, put a note on your bathroom mirror that says “The morning is almost over! You’re going to have the best day.” If you often procrastinate by scrolling through Twitter, make your phone wallpaper something that says “Shouldn’t you be working right now?”
CHANGE YOUR RINGTONE and/or text tone to a song that makes you feel happy. It’s important to be as nerdy as possible here. For example, my text tone is Rue’s whistle from The Hunger Games. Yup, that’s right. You can go ahead and idolize me now.
FOLLOW CUTE PUPPIES on Instagram! Here are some good ones: @jiffpom, @beanzhart, and @marniethedog. And if for some reason you’re not fond of cute puppies (which, btw, is super weird and you should probably get checked out), then follow accounts of other things that make you happy, such as kittens, food, or babies. (Or may I suggest @iisuperwomanii?)
CERTAIN COLORS can make us feel certain emotions, and we can use this to our benefit. For example, this chapter is filled with images that have a yellow background, because yellow is said to evoke feelings of happiness and brightness—perfect for being a unicorn. Research colors when deciding on paint for your office or bedroom, your new notebook, or even the shirt you wear today.
Aside from minor things like towels (although, to be honest, they’re pretty major), sometimes you have to make bigger decisions in life to create a better environment for yourself. Moving from my hometown, Toronto, to a new place like L.A. was really terrifying, but I knew I had to do it for my personal and professional growth. You see, in Toronto I was always the busiest person in the bunch and no one really understood my career, not even my accountant! Trying to explain YouTube views during tax season was a lot of fun. I’m pretty sure he put my occupation as “owner of the Internet.” Although, I mean, heyyyyyyyy. Moving to L.A. put me in an environment where I constantly felt motivated to do more because everyone around me was blazing their own trail. In L.A., I’m surrounded by like-minded people who understand my career and I feed off their creative energy. The lack of frostbite and abundance of Chipotle locations are also huge pluses.
It is your job, solely yours, to create the best possible environment for yourself. It’s not your parents’ job, your boyfriend’s job, or your teacher’s job. It’s your life, your goals, your ambitions, and therefore your task. You are a product of your environment, so decide wisely what kind of factory you want to be built in.
And, most importantly, make sure you have colorful towels.
YOUR BRAIN is a sponge. A massive, extra-absorbent, weird-looking wrinkly sponge that you occasionally stab with a cotton swab. It takes in the information around you whether you want it to or not. It’s hungry for knowledge and stimulation, and so it gobbles up everything in sight, kind of like me at Chipotle. When we watch a movie, we’re feeding our brain a story depicted in visuals being acted out on a screen. When we read a book, we’re feeding our brain a story and allowing it to create its own visuals. When we meet new people, we feed our brains a new face, voice, and set of characteristics. And you know what they say: you are what you eat. So when you talk crap about people, guess what you’re feeding your brain? A nice big plate of crap with no fries on the side.
Isn’t it such a shame that we have this amazing piece of machinery inside our skulls that is capable of so many amazing things, but we often use it to gossip about other people? Thomas Edison’s brain invented the lightbulb, and so I find it disrespectful when we use our brains to talk about how we dislike what the Kardashians are wearing. What a waste of a miracle.
A Bawse recognizes the beautiful gift of the brain and doesn’t want to hurt it by feeding it junk. If you want to make a muscle stronger, what do you do? You work it. The brain is no different. Gossip has your brain sitting on the sofa drinking a six-pack of beer. You need to get it to do some jumping jacks.
My friend Humble and I recently decided that we’re going to spend twenty minutes each day discussing ideas. Ideas about everything and anything are allowed. Our conversations range from inventions we believe should exist to religion and the environment. I remember having my mind blown several times during each conversation because our opinions and ideas were so different and I was learning so many new things. For example, I said, “What do you think we can do to further save the planet?” and he replied, “I think it’s arrogant to think we can save a planet that gave life to us.” KA-BOOM! WHAT?! I’ve never even thought of that. This is amazing. My mind is racing with new ideas. What if …? How come …? BUT! This is so much better than talking about how “stupid” or “ugly” someone is.