You are an improviser.
- If you spoke to anyone today, you improvised.
- If you had to make a decision at work, you improvised.
- If you had to cope with a child, spouse or boss today, you improvised.
- If you answered your phone today, you improvised.
- If you are breathing … you are improvising!
All of life IS an improvisation.
And if you are one of the lucky ones, it will be a long beautiful one.
Every day you improvise.
And I’m here to tell you that:
#1 – You don’t need hours of fancy improv classes to become a badass improviser
AND
#2 – Improv has nothing to do with wit or comic ability.
There are however things good improvisers do to make them great on stage … and at life.
If I take all the lessons I learned at Second City, and summarize them into my all time faves, the below would be my game changers.
Each of these ideas you can use right now to make a difference, stand out, stay relevant and become so contagious we can’t get enough of you.
Are you ready to steal the traits of the world’s best improvisers?
Yes … AND ….
Let’s go:
- A good improviser is someone who is awake. Meaning you are always on your toes, ready to do something, give something back, be useful, press the buzzer and take action. Always.
- If there is a magical improv password, it’s YES! Understanding this words power is easy, using it every day is HARD. The world is so full of naysayers and “No” sayers … be the “YES” sayer and watch what adventures you find. Yes And allows every idea to be accepted and heard.
- We are trained to make mistakes. Sometimes they are big ones. And when we do, we either correct them or capitalize on them. This sort of freedom to not be so hard on yourself is a game changer.
- Improv is Tai Chi for your soul! It’s like a workout that helps you break down rigid patterns of thinking, doing and being. And the more you do it, the more you walk into what makes you afraid, the more badass you become and this is how you change your life.
- We learn to stop arguing. On the improv stage we must support, agree, accept and build upon ALL ideas. Period. You do this enough on stage and it starts to spill into your personal life, which makes you INSANELY awesome to be around and work with.
- It’s all about the moment. Not what happened yesterday, this morning, 5 minutes ago or tomorrow. Right now is all that matters. Working in tighter windows lets you off the hook to try and control every single thing in your life.
- We make Fear Our Homeboy. Confidence comes after you start crushing it. So trying to overcome fear is the wrong approach. There isn’t anything to fix these feelings. You will never outrun fear. Yet, you can handle fear so much better when you don’t give it authority. Remember, you’re the boss, not fear. Fighting fear just fuels it.
Bottom line … a bad ass life requires some planning AND some improvisation.
Yes, sometimes you need a script.
Things like positive habits, daily rituals, workouts are all good scripts and should be treasured.
Yet, life will bring you curve balls, questions, opportunities, problems … all to be solved in real time.
You will have to be nimble, think on your feet and trust yourself. This is when you will need to improvise.
Let the ideas above inspire you to think different. Be different. Steal them, use them, live then.
Then sit back and watch the world open it’s arms up to you and give you a huge hug.
Made with love.
