Being interesting is crucial for maintaining healthy relationships.
It makes people want to talk to you, it makes you exciting to interact with, and it drastically
increases how attractive you are to members of the opposite sex.
So how exactly do we become more interesting?
Well let's start off by looking at what makes people uninteresting.
There are two types of people in this category.
First you have what I like to call the Plain Jane's (honest, non-polarizing) – these
are people who want to fit in.
Which is a perfectly fine thing to do, but they often take it too far.
They often only talk and do things that are considered to be socially acceptable.
Things that won't make anyone think twice about them.
Their jokes are the same, they like to hang out in the same places, they watch the same
shows that everyone else is watching.
The reason they don't seem interesting is because they are non-polarizing.
Something that is polarizing will cause others to form an opinion about you.
For example if I openly said that I think Mexican food sucks there will be people who
agree with me and also those who disagree with me.
The reason extremely angry comments exist on certain Youtube channels that also seem
to have extremely loyal fans is because their content is polarizing.
Plain Jane's try their best to avoid polarizing statements and actions.
And because of this they fail to trigger any sort of emotion in the people they interact
with.
Without being polarizing it is impossible to be interesting.
How do we become more polarizing?
The best way to do so is to expose yourself to a wide variety of things.
Reading more books, watching movies and shows that aren't mainstream, listening to lectures
about subjects you don't necessarily agree with.
By exposing yourself to new ideas and the viewpoints of other people you will start
to form a combination of opinions and tastes that are unique to you.
This will naturally make you more polarizing.
The second group of people who are not interesting are what I like to call the Creeps.
Creeps are polarizing.
They say polarizing things, They have polarizing hobbies, and they like to do polarizing things
that set them apart from others.
However they hide their intentions.
When you do polarizing things people around you will often inquire about the action.
For example just the other day I forgot to lock my bathroom door and a friend of mine
walked in while I was using the toilet.
He quickly apologized, looked away, and left.
The thing is when I use the toilet I squat on top of the toilet instead of sitting on
the toilet like most people do.
This in itself is a very polarizing action.
It's pretty weird.
Afterwards my friend inquired about what I was doing in the bathroom.
If a creep was caught in this situation they would most likely try hide the fact that they
were doing something weird in the first place.
They'd say something along the lines of , “What?
I wasn't doing anything” or angrily say “You know...You should honestly knock before
you open a closed door”
When you prevent a full dialogue about your polarizing action people will automatically
assume there's a bad reason why you are hiding this information.
This is a human response.
The unknown is scary.
That's why we have an innate fear of the dark and of deep murky water.
This bad feeling is what makes you seem creepy.
Becoming more honest is something that some people struggle with.
And I think what helps is the internalization of the following concept.
The key thing to remember about lying is that the more you lie the easier it is for others
to find inconsistencies in your stories or actions.
Think of it like the hydra from the Hercules movie.
For every lie you create (for every head of the hydra you cut off) 3 more inconsistencies
are born (3 more heads pop up in it's place.
It's not hard for the average person to spot some inconsistencies in your stories after
just 2-3 lies.
And once they do all the trust you've built with them will go out the window.
You immediately get categorized as someone they can't trust, a potential enemy.
It's better to be polarizing and have others disagree with you on things than to be considered
to be someone who can't be trusted.
No one wants to associate themselves who might stab them in the back.
Alright - So to summarize what makes people uninteresting.
Plain Janes are non-polarizing but are honest about their actions.
Mainly because they do the same things as everyone else and have nothing to hide.
Creeps on the other hand are polarizing but hide their actions.
Here's the secret to becoming more interesting.
You have to be polarizing and honest about your actions at the same time.
When you are polarizing and honest you will say odd things that grabs people's attention
and the fact that you're confident enough in yourself to stand behind your odd views
creates a sense of mystery.
People will wonder why you do these things and also wonder about what other odd things
you do.
Let's go back to the example of my toilet habit.
My friend asked “what were you doing in the bathroom”
I responded by saying “oh, I always squat on top of the toilet”
I responded honestly to my friend who just encountered a very polarizing situation and
because of this a sense of mystery and interest is created.
His natural response is of course “wait...why”
Take a second and note how you feel about this situation as well.
Chances are, you also feel a bit interested in why I do this.
Why does Improvement Pill squat on top of toilets?
That's interest being cultivated right in front of you.
Polarizing and honest.
For those of you that are wondering why I squat on top of the toilet.
It's actually because you guys are not using the toilet properly.
See our ancestors have used a squatting stance to pass their stools for millions of years.
Our bodies are actually designed to pass waste in form.
Sitting on the toilet actually creates a sort of choke point making it much harder to get
the deed done.
So when you squat on top of the toilet you don't have to strain yourself at all.
Many hospitals actually use this form for some of their patients so that they can use
the bathroom more effectively.
Becoming more interesting is something any of us can do.
All you have to do is work on becoming more polarizing and practice being as honest as
possible about your opinions and actions.
This will naturally make you more interesting.
Speaking of how to be more interesting, this episode was brought to you with the help of
the guys at Brilliant.Org.
Brilliant is a polarizing and honest site where you can learn math, science, logic,
and other interesting subjects.
What's great about them is that they do not teach by merely stating facts or formulas
and making you memorize things.
Instead, they employ a teaching style that makes learning fun.
You are given intriguing questions that test your knowledge and fill in your gaps and misconceptions.
When you come across a gap in your knowledge they provide you with the correct answer as
well as an explanation as to why.
My favorite course right now is “The Joy Of Problem Solving”.
I'm a big believer that anyone who hopes to run a successful business one day needs to
have the ability to solve problems.
Because anyone who runs a business knows that obstacles are plenty and you need to have
an impeccable problem solving ability to make it.
If you want to become more polarizing and learn interesting things – then go to Brilliant.Org/ImprovementPill
to sign up for free.
The first 200 people who click on the link in the description below will get 20% off
their yearly plan.
So act fast guys.