Me: “What are we doing today?”
Student: “Trigonometry, I think. Sine, cosine, tangent. That stuff.”
Me: “Trigonometry! Awesome! Sine me up!”
Student: Oh my God. I can’t believe he just said that.
I was not always so enthusiastic or willing to make such terrible jokes. When I was younger, I tried very hard to be “cool.” I understood cool to mean, among other things, nonchalant, aloof, and not easily impressed.
But I’m not naturally those things. That’s not who I am. I’m excitable, earnest, and easily amused. I’m goofy. I make random noises and dance like an idiot … all the time. (Just ask my partner.)
And you know what?
I’m much happier now that I don’t try to be cool.
Now, you might be thinking, Chris, you’re preaching to the choir here. I stopped trying to be cool a long time ago.
Great! But ask yourself this: When you’re hosting or attending a social gathering, do you try to seem classy? At work meetings, do you strive to appear professional?
If so, you’re doing basically the same thing as a high school sophomore trying to fit in by appearing cool.
Am I saying you should show up to dinner parties in sweatpants? Should you lounge around disrespectfully at work?
Of course not.
What I’m saying is you should stop altering your personality in those settings. Be yourself. After all, they invited you; they hired you. So you don’t need to act like somebody else.
Want to be classy? Be kind. Volunteer to do the dishes or take out the garbage. People won’t remember you for being fancy, but they will remember you for being kind.
Want to be professional? Continuously work toward mastery of your profession. Use your signature strengths. Be helpful to your clients and coworkers. Focus on doing work that matters.
And, as always, don’t be afraid to be weird.