It’s terrifying waking up in the morning and realizing you’re BALLS deep in the real world.

^^ 5:01 Every Day

For those who are still receiving their schooling or are too old to remember, post graduate life is kind of like being college kid. WITH MONEY. New friend Danny and I were sharing a laugh about this at lunch the other day. Regardless, it’s safe to say my road post-graduation looks like this if you rotated it 270 degrees and threw up on it. I’m also a huge hypocrite because I’ve seen this chart so many times throughout my Entrepreneurship classes at Miami and was a huge hater.

“That won’t be me.” I said. “I have my act together!” I said. Truth be told: no one has their act together. EVERYBODY is faking it.

You know what always gets you through the murkiness of transition? Good people. This week’s post is all about making sure someone finds you when you die. And BEFORE you start to smell.

Here are 6 social lessons I’ve learned from tailspinning my way into adulthood:

Find Someone Who Keeps You Real

^^ I promise pants were involved.

When you start a new chapter of your life it’s extremely important to check in with the one person or group of people who make sure you don’t pull an Amanda Bynes. #BreakTheRULES alum, Jeff Stagnaro and I still get breakfast once a week to make sure neither one of us is taking a dirt nap. Aside from getting into the Word a little bit, it’s great to meet up with someone who knows almost everything about you and can ask you those hard questions. Finding your Jeff will make sure you are growing both professionally and spiritually, which is super important. Even if you have so much testosterone you don’t know what to do with it all.

Be So Bold You Feel Weird About It

^^ Keeping it business professional

Ever want to do something but think you’ll put others off because you’re being too bold or forward? You should probably do it. I met one of new buddies by sending him a LinkedIn message with my phone number saying “let’s hang.” I can’t tell you how close I was to not doing it. Say YES to all invitations and pursue people. It makes them feel good.

Introverts Aren’t THAT weird

^^ Probably an Introvert

When I first rolled up to work nearly two months ago I was paralyzed in fear. There were so many INTROVERTS. My coworkers quietly kept to themselves and they were super freaked out when I would dance up to their desk and ask them personal questions. Who do introverts think they are? FREAKS.  You just have to creep up less like a freight truck and more like a lion. You don’t want to spook them. Some of my best friends at the office are of the introverted persuasion, we may have different social needs but that doesn’t mean they’re not the best. To my fellow extroverts out there: cool your jets and after a few, natural exposures, even the most closeted of extroverts will shotgun a beer with you in the break room. I’m not an alcoholic.

Be Comfortable Doing Things By Yourself

^^ Me swinging by myself… it was great.

You know what sucks? Doing things by yourself. Being too scared to be awkward that you don’t engage with other people thus hiding in your apartment. Go to a meetup and bomb your way into a conversation. Join your church’s youth group. They have to like you, they’re Christians.

“Old” People Rock
^^ At work. That’s me in the back.

After spending much of my professional career in the startup scene I was slightly weirded out when I discovered I was the youngest person at my office. I didn’t quite feel like I was working in a nursing home… but it is intimidating being a 22 year old in a sea of thirtysomethings. You could look at this situation as an excuse to not engage with your coworkers because you seemingly have nothing in common OR you could take advantage of their wealth of professional and personal knowledge. I found that some of my best learning in my post-grad life came from the life lessons of my more experienced coworkers.

Steal Other People’s Friends and then turn them against each other

^^ You’re mine now.

Have a friend in town? Grab dinner with them and ask them to invite 20 of their closest friends. Use this opportunity to be a social whore and acquire everybody’s numbers, get added to their Facebook groups, and invite yourself to their lake houses. If their they’re friends with your bestie, you must have something in common, right? Worse comes to worse you can spread rumors about your mutual friend and ruin a once blossoming friendship to cover your own insecurities. We’ve all done it. It’s fine.

Wow those were some HOT tips. I need to go hose myself off. Keep it real. Meet someone new. Make them regret it.

This Week’s Jaekle Jam:

SHE’S BAaaAaaAack. This jam made me want to be bolder.

Cheers,

Christian