David Koren

Enthusiasm Is Everything

This is one of those things that I just assume everybody knows, but every so often I realize that very few people actually practice this. So either they don't know it, or they don't act like they know it. In any case, hopefully this can serve as a little reminder.

Your enthusiasm for what you do is the most important attribute you have. It's more important, in most cases, than your actual ability. Your enthusiasm is actually what gets you laid. And by "laid," I mean, gets you the job you want, gets you that new client, gets people to pay attention to you, gets people to give a shit.

So why do most people act they don't care about anything? I really don't know. Most people just seem to wander around doing what they do, like nobody is watching, like nobody cares. Everybody is watching all the time and everybody is taking note of what you do and what you care about.

I've met a lot of successful people. The thing that links them all is that they have a really good idea what they want, and that they go after it, totally, nonstop, with all the passion and enthusiasm they can muster.

The people who aren't successful either don't know what they want or they don't take any actions to get what they want. Why not? Again, I'm not sure... fear? uncertainly? confusion? playing it too cool? waiting for something to happen? depression? feeling like a victim? living in an imagined alternate reality?

I can't possibly count the number of times I've met somebody at a party or a social event or an industry event or through an introduction or at a conference, and we hit it off, and really seem to like each other and want to work together on something in some capacity... but they never followed up. I usually try to follow up immediately with people I meet, even if it's, "Hey, great to meet you. Let's stay in touch!" Too often silence is the response. I used to think, "Wow, maybe I was too enthusiastic." But now I think, "Wow, I guess they really weren't all that interested." And I move on, and forget about them, and the great conversation we had. It's over.

If you want something, define what it is as clearly as you possibly can. Have a picture of it in your mind. And, when you meet ANYONE who can help you get there, in any way, be enthusiastic. Let your passion come through. It's palpable. People respond to it. People will want to help you. People like being around people who are passionate about something.

If you want something, take action immediately. There is no reason to wait. If you want to meet someone, reach out to them. If somebody emails you, and you want to have a relationship, whether it's personal or for business or romantic or whatever, write back write away. The longer you wait, the less interested you seem, and the person you're corresponding with will lose interest. Now I'm not advocating writing back in 10 seconds, but that's probably ok in most cases. A day is fine. Two days is probably fine. More than that and you look like you either don't care or like you've been in the hospital.

I can imagine a few murmurs in my head... "But, what if I was on vacation? What if I was away for the weekend?" When people tell me they couldn't write to me because they were on vacation I think, "Well, that's great you had a nice vacation. I'm sorry to hear that your vacation was more important than whatever we were talking about." It's fine, really. But it indicates your priorities. It says, "This is less important than other stuff I'm doing." Which never feels good to hear.

But what if I'm not really all that enthusiastic about what I'm doing? Well, you have two choices: (1) do something else, because you're doing the wrong thing, and you should be doing something you care about, or (2) fake it. If you want people to respond to you, act like whatever you're talking about, whatever you're doing, is important, and interesting, and what you want to be doing. Otherwise you look like you're wasted your time, and everyone else's.

Of course, you can't fake it forever. Why would you want to? It's no fun faking it. But sometimes you need to put a smile on when you don't feel like it. Sometimes you need to push yourself. That's ok.

And it's ok not to push yourself, too. It's ok to just sit there, and wait for life to come to you, and wait for opportunity to appear. But when opportunity finally shows up, and you shrug, it's probably going to keep moving.

Optimist or Pessimist?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the (pessimistic) attitude that things are always getting worse... What's interesting to me is that there are people around who hold the opposite (optimistic) view, and believe that things are getting better... So what's true? Who's right? It's like arguing about the Bible. You can totally find evidence that all of human civilization is on a long (or quick) slide into the crapper. You can also find evidence that we're better than ever, that we're actually at a point where we're about to stop killing ourselves willy-nilly and destroying the planet we live on.

So, which is really true? Personally, I think they're BOTH true. Things are, paradoxically, better AND worse than ever. And getting better AND worse all the time.

And what happens next? Who knows? But I bet it won't be boring...