How I 8x My Productivity by Becoming a Pro Wrestler
The Cream Rises to the Top
I am a huge wrestling fan and have been my whole life. My dad to this day has one of the biggest marks I know. The definition of the “it’s still real to me dammit!” meme. Up till now, wrestling has just been a good source of escapism from the daily grind of the 8–5.
One day while watching wrestling with my friends I began to think about how the people I see on TV are just characters these people are playing. The confidence and the swagger are all possibly just an illusion, but a convincing one.
When the camera is off these wrestlers go back to being who they are. Some wrestling personas are just the person’s real personality turned to 11, but some personas are complete 180s from who they really are.
So I decided to create an alter ego (wrestling persona) for myself to see if it would improve my productivity at work.
The Characters We Play
Throughout our day we find ourselves in various situations and environments. Depending on what is going on we change our behaviors.
Like the words we use and the clothes we wear. I don’t talk to my co-workers like I talk to my friends.
Is that fake no it is just understanding that under certain situations it is in your best interest to adjust your character. Now I am not telling you to throw away your values and who you are as a person out the door to fit in, just know how to present your unique self in different ways.
Character Flaws
Stuff like vocabulary and the clothes we wear are easy things to change, but some traits are going to be on display no matter what.
Those traits are the fundamental parts of who you are as a person.
But we all have some traits about us that can be considered not ideal based on the situation.
I am a scatterbrained introvert who is a jack of all trades but a master of none. These traits are not ideal when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder.
So I need to present something more ideal.
Alter Ego (Wrestling Persona)
A lot of people have alter egos some extremely famous like Batman who goes by the alter ego of Bruce Wayne during the day.
Beyonce created the alter ego of Sasha Fierce because believe it or not Beyonce is very timid according to her. Well, when you’re putting on huge concerts in front of thousands of people timid is not the best trait to have.
Thus Sasha Fierce was born a strong confident character Beyonce would play when on stage.
For as weird as it sounds it worked.
I decided to give this a try, but I needed to make it my own. Wrestlers have personas that are cranked to 11 so to make it more personal to me I decided to give myself a wrestling persona.
I Am…..Jamieson Lewis
Now when it comes to productivity my wrestling persona is Jamieson Lewis. Jamieson which is my middle name sounds kind of fancy in my opinion and Lewis after my grandpa who exhibits the strength and charisma I want to express.
I even found a theme song to get me into my work gimmick.
As Jamieson Lewis I am hyperfocused on the task at hand, There is nothing I can’t learn and I bite at the bit for something to go wrong at work so I can flex my unmatched problem-solving skills.
I have a forever smirk on my face because “my belly just a lil big, heiny’s a lil big, but brother I’m bad and they know I’m bad”
10 points if you know who said that quote.
Now let me clarify I don’t walk around asking and telling people my name is Jamieson Lewis it is an internal thing.
The Holy 8x Grail
After internalizing this new alter ego at work I noticed a huge change in my productivity. Daily reports that I used to dread looking at I fly through with ease.
I used to sit back and hope that no issues came up because I didn’t want to deal with them. Now I actively look for things issues so I can jump ahead and knock it out.
This has drastically cut down on the time I needed during the day to do my job. I’ve gone from always playing catch up to waiting for something to come to me.
What’s Your Alter Ego?
If you want to try this out for yourself here are a few tips to help you get started.
- Identify the situations where your wrestling persona would come
- What is it about that situation that makes you feel you could do better?
- What traits do you need to show to excel in this situation?
- What are you trying to achieve by doing this?
- How do you mentally get into character?
- How do you get out of character?
I recommend paying close attention to the last one because you don’t want to lose yourself and become someone you are not. You just want to be able to flip the switch when off and on when needed.
Conclusion
Now let’s be honest, Is it reasonable to keep up an alter ego for the rest of your life? No, it isn’t but I hope that over time the best traits of me blend with the best traits of Jamieson Lewis to form a better overall me.
So if you’re looking for a way to kick yourself into a different gear then about creating an alter ego one that embodies what you want to be. My only advice is just don’t be a jerk about it.
PilaHuk
