Are you an exciting person?

Think of your friend who is the life of the party. What is that unique trait that makes him/her tick and why is that he/she is most sought after person is the question worth pondering about. If you were to do a detailed analysis a startling truth would emerge.

That individual is the most popular as he/she is the most exciting person to be around. An exciting person is able to stir up or bring out our instinctive feelings and is able to stimulate us. That encouragement or motivation is often something that we all miss. Resultantly we crave for the company of people who can motivate us.

As spending powers have increased, people are willing to shellout more money on trying out exotic dishes. Sushi and Fugu or Puffer fish eating has become an exciting activity. For the uninitiated Fugu fish is a deadly Japanese fish.

The restaurant preparation of Fugu is strictly controlled by law in Japan and several other countries, and only chefs who have qualified after three or more years of rigorous training are allowed to prepare the fish. Domestic preparation by untrained chefs has lead to occasional deaths.

The Fugu fish’s blood and body organs are more poisonous than cyanide. The Fugu fish dish makers are extremely skilled and trained to remove even the minutest traces of Fugu poison. Obviously they get paid very well and there are very few Fugu fish experts in the world.

So what is so exciting and death defying in eating a Fugu dish? There is a definite amount of risk. Even the minutest traces of blood or traces of body parts eaten could lead to instant death! Lesson: Excel at something that is valued, unique and treasured.

Employees of Disneyland: Travel to USA is incomplete without a mandatory visit to the Niagara Falls and a visit to the world famous Disneyland. My family was very excited about the Disney world trip that we had undertaken in the year 2008. The entry ticket to the Las Vegas Disneyland was a whopping US $ 100 per person (Rs 6,700/-) for a day.

Eateries in the Disney Park are very expensive and visitors get their own home packed lunch. We were partaking lunch in the parking area and just behind us were three huge trash cans. I saw three Disneyland employees; two young men and a woman approach the trash cans and hesitate.

I could sense the dilemma in their faces. Should they just wait (they could pick their noses, appear to be bored, or busily text or chat on their cell phones) or just do their job and say “to hell with the visitors” and be oblivious of our presence.

They are entitled to do their job and not be bothered about any other thing. What they ended doing stunned us. I still get goose bumps when I remember what transpired.

All three springy and bright as beans Disney employees took out drumming sticks and started rhythmically drumming the trash cans. They were providing us with accompanying music as we ate! They kept drumming as long as we ate.

That was the most enjoyable and exiting meal that I have eaten in my entire life. Those three Disney employees taught me a lesson that I can never forget. Make the day of every visitor so exciting that he/she would never forget it in a life time.

Disney perfectly understood that for many visitors a visit to a Disney land park was a once in a life time event and it strove to make the visit as memorable and exciting as possible. Lesson: Do everything that is possible to make someone else’s life a little better and more exciting.

So far so good, how do develop that exciting personality and be the person whose arrival every one waits for.

1.Get outside your zone of comfort: Most of us tend to stay within our zones of comfort and never venture out. It is critically important to challenge ourselves. Challenging ourselves would not only be rewarding but might bring out facets of our personality hither to unknown. The best way to get out of zone of comfort is to try and become an over sized stuffed carton figure who is employed outside a toy store or a super market.

These stuffed toy figures entice customers to come into the store. Once inside a dress, one can become a cartoon figure like a Mickey Mouse. The individual identity is lost but it is quite liberating. Most people lose their inhibitions. The stares, the leering laughs, the insulting comments that some people make are more than compensated by the hugs, the warmth and the handshakes that the cartoon figure gets.

2.Do some unplanned, crazy and fun filled activities: exciting people tend to be unpredictable. Unpredictability is a trait that people love. What can be more exciting than do something that is not planned?‘Have wings, will fly’ should be the motto.

Go for an unplanned holiday or a sojourn. Try out bungee jumping or a long trek. Organise a get together of your school friends. Never let the monotony of daily life wear you down. Be the person who is bubbling with new ideas and implement those ideas. Never be afraid to try out new things. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

3.Pick up a new skill: Conquer your internal demons. If you fear something, take it head on. If you do not like public speaking, tackle that issue head on. Practice, practice and practice till you become an expert. Such a big expert that people actually queue up and pay to listen! That would really be a victory to cherish.

4.Be the person who can galvanize social gatherings: learn the tricks of engaging people. Can you organize small parties or conduct games? Can you perform some simple magic tricks or read hands. Are you good or organizing things and tying up the loose ends? If you can do these things you could be the person that everyone enquires about in a party or a social gathering.

5.Be kind: Do something nice for a friend or even a complete stranger. Pay for someone else tea or buya bus ticket for a complete stranger. Even better, feed someone. Leave a thank you note and appreciate the efforts of others.

6.Be curious about people. Ask people old or young, questions about their lives. Learn what other people do and what makes them successful. You might discover something intriguing about them and yourself. There could be something in their life that could be similar to yours. Unknowingly you might strike something big that might completely change your life.

7.Try to do something that you always wanted to do but were afraid to do or were told not to do so by others: In may cases we wanted to do something but were told not to do so by somebody else, for example by our parents or elders. If that somethingis what you always wanted to do – get that monkey off your shoulder. Do it.

Yes the new activity might be frightening, difficult and evenbothersome but it needs to be attempted. If you dream to be a writer there is no better time to start than now. Try it out. Learn how to write. Attend a workshop. Write, write and write. Slowly but steadily you would pick up that craft. There is nothing in this world thatcan’t be achieved if it is attempted with seriousness andwith a sense of purpose. Impossible is a word that is found in a fool’s dictionary.

8.Try to emulate someone who is successful but don’t be a copycat: We have often seen other successful people who are exciting and try to imitate them. That is a very big mistake. Each one of us will have to develop a unique area where we excel. Kapil Sharma the standup comedian has developed his own wonky style of humour laced with wittyone-liners. There can’t be another Kapil Sharma but there can be one unique you. The journey of self-discoveryis an eternalpursuit.

9.Dreaming and dreaming big: one needs to dream and dream big. Nothing in the world should stop you from dreaming. Dreams are enjoyable, exciting and yes very liberating. Don’t be afraid of your own dreams. Don’t allow random thoughts of negativityand lame excuses as to why those dreams can’t come true enter your head. Just dream your wildest dream.

And you deserve your dreams. Acceptingthe dream is the first step in trying to achieve it. You deserve your dream and it can be a reality. If you don’t stand up for your dreams then no one else will. Learn to stand up to your dreams. Dreams are what will not allow you to sleep at night. They can relentlessly drive a person on to a path of glory and success.

10.Taking action: Only dreaming is not going to help. You need to plunge into action to make the dreams come true. Action orientation is imperative. “Full on” as the phrase goes. Plunge into action. Give it all that you have. Not 100%but 120%.

Let everyone around you know that you are doing all that you can do be the person that you have always dreamt to be. If you have to be the gardener,be the best gardener in the world. People should identify you by your unique style. Javed Habib the hair Doctor became popular due to his unique way of looking at the business of hair styling.

By: Dr M Anil Ramesh
(The author is a Director-Academic, Siva Sivani Institute of Management, a premier B-School in Hyderabad. Send in your queries: [email protected] and [email protected])