These 2 Habits Can Make You a Formidable Person.
Whilst being formidable requires you to do a lot of things, there are two things I feel can bring you closer to being a force to be reckoned with.
It is early Sunday morning, and I am walking to the chapel with a group of four friends. We are arguing about something trivial; I am sure. But I cannot pinpoint the topic of discussion.
It is getting heated, attracting unwanted attention from nearby students.
But I can’t stop. I need to have the final say.
These boys don’t know what they are saying. I am very sure that my opinion is the right opinion.
Right as these thoughts are passing through my mind, our fourth friend joins us.
We all respect his opinion. Although most of us are doing better than he is, academically.
His take on subjects of discussion is usually the right take, in our heads.
And with the same ease with which the argument started, he ends our argument. Eloquently. In a few sentences.
He conveys his opinion so well that we all feel like we have actually come to the conclusion of the matter.
I feel like there nothing else that can be said to further the argument and more importantly my take on the argument.
Now, you might be wondering why I wrote this short story. Or not.
But I just wanted to show you my perspective of someone I thought (and still think tbh) to be a formidable person.
The story might not seem like such a big deal, but I respect my fourth friend so much and that is just one of many instances where he showed that he is a formidable person.
Even when I do much better than him academically, I still look up to him in a way. (Don’t tell him I said that though).
And there are many more people like that.
People who just seem to be a force to be reckoned with. By the way of their communication and thinking.
I was intrigued.
So, I tried to dig a little deeper to find out why, and I have found an answer of sorts. In my opinion though.
While things like mastery, doggedness and the likes definitely play a huge part in being formidable,
I feel the underlying habits that move you to the status of being formidable are the habits of reading and writing.
Simple I know. But if you know me by now, you will know that I always say (or write) that simple doesn’t imply easy.
Now, everyone can read and write. We do that at one point in our lives or the other.
It’s a staple piece of our lives.
But the difficulty arises when we try to consistently and consciously read and write.
This is when it transcends from something you just do to something that becomes a habit.
My fourth friend showed me something the other day, his notion app.
It was a lot but if there was anything I held unto after our discussion it was that he read and wrote a lot.
Every morning he wakes up by 4. To write.
He also reads a bunch of books, and this theme seems to be apparent in so many other people.
Barack Obama is an avid reader. Bill gates, you know bill gates right? the BILLIONAIRE? Yeah, he is also an avid reader. Even one of the greatest NBA players of all time, if not THE greatest NBA player of all time, Lebron James, is a writer and reader.
Great people like Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Theadore Roosevelt and the likes read and write. A lot.
So, there is definitely something in reading and writing.
The best way to leverage the habit of reading is by consciously looking to read things that are in line with what you want for yourself, where you want to be, what you are currently doing.
This will undoubtably improve you by a lot.
Even if you do not always read things in line with the things I mentioned above, as long as you read every day your thinking will improve.
You are exposed to different viewpoints and ideas that will challenge what you know,
your vocabulary will improve.
While reading helps to assimilate and gleam knowledge, writing helps to internalize it.
Writing also helps to arrange and organize one’s thoughts. You will become better at delivering your presentations, speaking publicly or just trying to convince your friends (Like my fourth friend).
You will always have a structure to the things you want to say, a kind of mind map.
I am saying this purely out of experience.
I have noticed that anytime I want to give a presentation, or speak publicly about something (which hasn’t happened so many times to be honest),
I always write down my points a few hours ahead, not whole sentences but bulletin points on things that I have read on the subject and things I would like to say.
Just that simple task prepares my mind for the task I am about to do. It makes it easier for me to go on stage, deliver my presentation without faltering so much, even with my terrible case of stage fright.
And you learn best by reading and writing.
You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself. — Stephen King.
I think it’s best to block out time in your day to read and write. After you wake up or just before you sleep.
It will go a long way.
You don’t have to always write groundbreaking discoveries, you can simply just journal. Write about what happened in your day.
It doesn’t have to be interesting or revolutionary.
Just write.
Like with every good habit, it takes dedication and sacrifice.
But I believe in us.
Till the next post.
If you agree with what I have said clap for me. (Pretty please).
And if you don’t agree, you want to add something or you want to correct something I have said. Leave me a comment.
