The 5 Habits of Highly Successful Badasses
I don’t quite know how it happened, but somewhere along the line, my personality mellowed out.
As a teenager, I fought against my parents, against my society and most importantly against myself.
Now, I’m just a wobbly pudding of a person with little fire and even less fight. Somewhere along the way, I became obsessed with being a well-rounded healthy person with healthy habits and healthy views who drinks a healthy amount of alcohol and a healthy amount of bullshit and who sacrifices a healthy amount of passion, a healthy amount of values and has a healthy amount of bad habits.
I’ve spent my days wailing to the internet and my boyfriend about my unhappiness and dissatisfaction — too healthy to realize what was really wrong.
I want to be the main character. I want to be the hero. I want to be the badass.
I took a dive into the world of Badasses to find out how I lost my way.
1. Be a low-key social justice hero
“I don’t have friends. I have family.” — Dom Toretto
Some people think that biker gangs are a place where hate, violence, and crime congregate, but I call bullshit.
Every single biker I’ve met — however, tattooed or leather clad — has been kind and possess a moral compass so strong it rocks people to their core. Have you even seen this video where a biker gang protects abused children? What about this video where a biker saves a suicidal woman? Still not convinced? What about mosh pit participants saving girls in the middle of a crush?
Badasses tend to be the outsiders, so we think they don’t care about anything but themselves. But they do care, and they care with a passion that healthy, normal people struggle to understand.
2. Go against the grain, fuck what everyone else thinks
“Life’s no piece of cake, mind you, but the recipe’s my own to fool with.” — Haruki Murakami
Ooo, a swear word!
Badasses don’t have time to care about your aversion to swear words. They operate outside of the realm of “You should do it like this because I said so.”
That doesn’t mean a Badass is impervious to outside criticism, often they’ll spend days deliberating on an important decision, but they won’t bow to social pressures.
3. Fight your inner demons every single day — win or lose
“We all have inner demons to fight, we call these demons, fear and hatred and anger. If you do not conquer them then a life of one hundred years is a tragedy. If you do, then a life of a single day can be a triumph.” — Yip Man (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story)
Everyone’s got demons. Just around the corner, those demons lie in wait, ready to bash your feeble happy emotions with nail bats. A Badass knows that they cannot win every fight, but they can damn well try. It’s walking around that corner, not without fear, not without hatred, not without anger, but with courage that makes a Badass so special.
I’m sure you’ve heard all about being consistent, and a successful Badass consistently fights their demons.
4. Dress like you are going to war
“I refuse to be sick — I’m wearing Valentino for crying out loud.” — Devil Wears Prada
A Badass uses their image to make a statement to the world. Confidence doesn’t just happen by accident, it’s a decision that you make every single day and your clothes are a part of that.
Back when I was a waitress at a five-star seafood restaurant, my Badass friend would say to me, “Come, it’s almost time, let’s go put on out war paint.” She was talking about makeup. Our war paint got me through the tough times and the easy times with an evergreen smile on my face.
5. Have a gritty backstory
“All men have limits. They learn what they are and learn not to exceed them. I ignore mine.” — Batman
Everyone is troubled by their innermost pain and suffering. A Badass doesn’t let their past define who they are and they don’t let it get them down. Grit is one of the most powerful predictors of success and all Basasses have overcome or are overcoming a difficult past.
If you are knocked down, get back up and keep going.
Want to be a successful Badass?
Yeah, me too, so I’m reconnecting with my teenager self and working towards these Badass traits. My first point of call is dressing right. One forgets how powerful and protective the right armour can be.
Were you thinking of connecting to your Badassness? Which trait are you going to tackle first? Or are you going to boot camp and doing everything at once?
