Innovator and blogger
I tend to love the business, psychology and philosophy sections of Exclusive Books, but it recently hit me that I was reading almost predominately books written by males. So, in the middle of 2020, I vowed to make an effort to read more books by female authors
Chief Innovation Officer: Tencent Africa
‘Be yourself; everyone else is already taken’
– Oscar Wilde
Who is the coolest person you know? Is it someone with a great sneaker collection? Perhaps it is someone who orders a whisky on the rocks? Maybe it is the lady with the intellectual glasses sipping a chai latté reading a book?
The truth is, these are all cool, but there is even more to it. Could cool be in the eye of the beholder? Does it change as you get older? Is rhyming even cool?
Being who you are is genuinely cool. Congruency is the ultimate goal. But some human traits are cool for the future.
- Being adaptable − Being adaptable means you can adjust to environments fluidly. This increases your ability to respond to change. We live in a time of excessive change. Technological change, economic change and social change abound. Being adaptable takes away the emotional element of change and makes you see change as positive and filled with potential. This is the most significant shift one can make, and being cool under pressure is, well, cool.
- Being curious − Curiosity is critical to growth. Curiosity enhances creativity and used strategically, will transform how we see the world and people. Interest allows us to see creative solutions and make wiser choices. Curious people love to learn, and we live in a time of great information. This is the easiest time in human history to acquire knowledge. Interested people are a delight to be around. They do cool and exciting things, know exciting facts, and the more you are around them, the more you learn.
- Living in the now − Living in the past is a curse. Looking backwards adds very little value. Knowing that history is done and shapes where we are is one thing, but it is simply knowledge to be drawn on, not to be focused on. Cool people live for the now. They identify the past as a trap and the present as, well, a present. Having a view of the future with plans, dreams and hopes is excellent, but being present in the moment is the authentic human experience because that is where life truly happens. To truly engage other human beings and create meaningful connections, we need to silence our inner voices and be fully present. Walking away from a conversation with a fully present friend or a colleague can leave you invigorated.
Being a cool human
None of the cool factors is about technology or clothing − it is all based on being human and amplifying the things that define us as humans. If you are struggling with your cool factor, don’t be too hard on yourself. Instead, just focus on the things that make being human cool!
