What Does Enthusiasm Mean?
You ever met that one person who had all the credentials…
But was annoying as hell?
- Poor body language.
- Pompous tone.
- And low energy.
The poor attitude killed this person’s credentials.
To hell with those degrees!
On the flip side, you ever met that person with high energy?
Not the weird kind of energy where the person doesn’t shut up.
More like the guy who had the energy under control.
This person was not super qualified with credentials.
Yet, there was respect for this fellow.
Enthusiasm goes a long way.
Especially in the world of communication skills.
Have tamed energy & the sky becomes the limit.
What Does Enthusiasm Mean?
Enthusiasm is the natural outpouring of energy.
That’s the sentence-long definition of it.
But breaking it into only 1 sentence is surface level.
I’m sure you have a question….
‘And what does natural energy mean… buddy?’
Great question.
Natural is something that is not forced.
It’s effortless because it’s more so a way of being rather than thinking.
If I ask you what you ate a week ago for breakfast…
- This will require thinking.
If I ask you where you are right now…
- This will not require thinking.
Cognitive faculties are turned down.
The answer is borderline common sense.
Not borderline.
IT IS COMMON SENSE.
That’s a natural response.
And that’s the natural outpouring that enthusiasm should embody.
To Fake or Not to Fake Enthusiasm?
It’s hard to get someone to be enthusiastic.
And it’s harder to just tell someone to do it.
Telling someone to bring up their energy & then tame that energy…
Is like telling someone who doesn’t know how to swim, to leave the shallow side of the pool for the DEEP side.
There is a roadblock.
And the body will find it difficult to proceed.
Enthusiasm can be faked in bursts.
No one is always doing something that they want to do.
That’s the game of the world we operate in.
Forcing enthusiasm is a skill.
And can be pulled off occasionally.
However, faking it long-term?
Absolutely not in my book.
‘Why not?’
Because enthusiasm should be a compass.
And it should be a sign to look deeper.
What Enthusiastic People have in Common
This may seem like a strange observation.
However, the observation has been noticed too many times not to say.
‘What is it?’
Enthusiastic people feel like they know something that you don’t know.
These people have something that they obtained.
And a part of them feels a little guilty…
While feeling joyous at the same time.
Let’s say there is a writer who found his dream career.
He loves reading comic books.
He also writes comic books.
To add to this, he has 1000 people who consistently buy from him every year.
One member of the audience is like:
‘My friend, you are such a talented writer! Thanks for all your hard work.’
This is when the enthusiasm from the writer kicks in.
Because for him, it is not work AT ALL.
It’s pure play.
This is a secret that he is aware of.
Every now and then, he shares this secret for someone who will eagerly heed it.
Yet time and time again, this advice goes unnoticed.
- Find something that feels like play.
The writer still has this enthusiasm because he still KNOWS it.
This information, no matter how small it may seem, is coveted.
And it sparks extra life in him.
How to Build Natural Enthusiasm
In the world of emotions…everything is connected.
It’s better to picture a spider web rather than a bunch of distinct labels.
It’s better to see the entire container of french fries rather than each individual fry.
Picture emotions in gradients.
With dark emotions like fear being all the way to the bottom.
And with the light emotions like joy being all the way to the top.
Now you see all the color gradients in the middle?
‘Yea.’
Embrace all of it.
Storytelling is one of the few fields where a person will get paid for making you cry.
“Did that filmmaker just make me cry? Get that man an Oscar!”
It’s because, with the storytelling paradigm, all emotions are leverage.
Not just one french fry over the other.
All emotions are leverage for more creativity, better ideas & more enthusiasm.
Avoid Personalizing
For a person to take a leap in embracing all of their emotions… does not happen overnight.
It’s a lifelong process.
And the result of this process?
Look closer…
The enthusiasm of a person serves as an invisible armor.
A bulletproof vest.
Normally when we see someone smiling, the mirror neurons in our brain feel good too.
There is a cross reflection of endorphins.
This happy person is making us happy, even when we should be furious with them.
To avoid personalizing is not easy.
The most enthusiastic person came onto this planet crying & being thin-skinned.
However, by embracing each of the emotions in the gradient.
Happy, anger, sexual, depressed, confused, etc…
They were able to avoid personalizing.
It becomes a game.
‘And how do I embrace all the emotions?’
- By simply making yourself aware when you are feeling an emotion that causes sensations in the body.
No other steps are needed.
Make yourself aware.
And go about your day…
Enthusiasm is a Potion
Everyone wins when you are enthusiastic.
It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Raw energy is a great gift.
It’s pure potential that’s waiting to be turned into whatever you can imagine.
Energy goes past caffeine.
It’s also about fuel.
Behind the most successful, least successful, arrogant, kind individuals was a deciding factor…
‘Which was?’
How they decided to use their energy.
I mentioned earlier that the enthusiastic person embraces ALL parts of the spectrum, right?
‘Correct, you mentioned that.’
And what is one of the moments that causes the darkest emotion?
‘Hm..Idk.’
Think…
‘Dying?’
Yes, that’s a good answer.
No one lives forever.
When the mind registers that, enthusiasm does not feel like something that needs to be forced.
It seems like something which is a high ROI act.
I told you.
The broad range of emotions becomes a playpen when the broad range of emotions are acknowledged.
Rather than brushed under the rug.
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– ArmaniTalks 
