How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life

by Lilly Singh

A Bawse understands that there are many things in life you have no control over and it is inefficient to become frustrated by that reality.

Not being able to control people and situations doesn’t make you powerless; it just means you have to exercise your power in a different way. If you can’t control people, then control your reaction to them. If you can’t control a situation, then prepare for it.

when people do or say hurtful things to you, there’s a chance they may actually be upset about something else in their life.

sometimes when you hear other opinions you’ll feel pressured to change your own. Before you enter into situations in which you will be confronted with a lot of opinions, make sure you strongly believe your own.

Your happiness is stronger than fear.

From now on start asking yourself WHY you feel a certain way, WHAT made you perform a certain action, and HOW you could do things differently.

The lesson being: don’t give away all your secrets or reveal all your vulnerabilities. Don’t trick yourself into believing that you are obligated to share everything with everyone. It’s up to you to decide what to reveal and when.

You have to seek out situations that make you uncomfortable and then throw yourself into them.

“THINK OF DISCOMFORT AS CURRENCY–IT’S THE PRICE YOU PAY TO LEARN SOME PRETTY CRUCIAL THINGS.

Remember, on the path to success, fear and discomfort are only speed bumps. Don’t make them dead ends.

Get Uncomfortable What are three things you know you need to do in order to succeed, but find absolutely terrifying?

Emotions can cloud your judgment and reduce productivity.

“WHEN YOU NEED TO GET YOUR HUSTLE ON, BE DRIVEN BY GOALS, NOT EMOTIONS.

Make every struggle count and remember that experience will always be a silver lining.

When it comes to getting work done and having the opportunity to learn lessons, don’t let your emotions rob you.

Overthinking is a natural enemy of efficiency because it prevents us from getting things done. A Bawse should know when to take the time to think something through and when to simply make a quick decision.

Humans have a tendency to overcomplicate simple things because we overthink them. But if you take a step back and remember your priorities, it becomes easier to make a decision.

If you’re making mistakes, you’re making the necessary moves to figuring it all out.

If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not taking any steps toward accomplishing a goal. Mistakes. Are. Cool.

The goal is to recognize our mistakes, learn from them, and try to prevent them in the future.

Taking ownership of a mistake is like attending a class—it’s the only way you’ll learn something from it.

Bawse does not use defense mechanisms to get out of cleaning up a mess they made.

When you make mistakes, call yourself out honestly. Honesty is the new black.

Once you honestly identify the cause of your mistake, come up with a solution.

Once you learn how to take ownership, call yourself out honestly, and find solutions, you can learn to apologize efficiently, in a meaningful way.

When it comes to understanding our behavior and why we do the things we do, I believe each of us has a minimum of three layers.

The top layer consists of how we explain ourselves and our actions to other people.

The middle layer consists of how we explain our actions to ourselves.

This layer is a bit heavier and deeper, and oftentimes you can’t see it from the outside

Finally, we reach the bottom layer, which consists of the deeply rooted reasons we actu...

Addressing your inner issues not only is a liberating experience but also allows you to begin creating meaningful solutions.

If you have to get something done, there are several ways you can set goals for yourself. One way is to create a schedule and try completing a task by a certain time.

Once you set a goal, it’s important to reward yourself when you hit it. A reward can be a break in between tasks

I guess it takes some self-control to implement self-control. One way of getting around this issue is by putting your reward in the hands of someone else.

For example, I don’t swear. I don’t think anything is wrong with swearing—in fact, I thoroughly enjoy it when other people do it—but I just prefer not to.

I don't swear as well and don't like to hear other people swearing as well (I hate the f word and mf word to be specific).

You don’t have to suddenly decide to change something in your life to exercise self-control, but you can set challenges for yourself.

Think of a habit you’d like to break and give yourself mini training sessions.

This is about challenging yourself to control something that has become a habit. The more you do this, the better you’ll be at exhibiting self-control in other areas of your life,

When you like what you do, you’re motivated to keep doing it. In other words, a very basic way of having self-control is to do something you like.

Behind every successful person is a relentless work ethic, the ability to block out distractions, and a well-defined six-pack of self-control.

There is a switch within all of us that we can flick from SURVIVE to CONQUER. Even though we need to survive sometimes, we shouldn’t get too comfortable in our life jackets.

Don’t just try to pass your classes; try to ace them. Don’t just aim to pay your bills; save enough to travel. I don’t want you to write a script just to see a movie get made; I want you to win an Oscar. That’s the difference between settling like a survivor and conquering like a Bawse.

But love shouldn’t just be reserved for other people. First and foremost, you must learn to love yourself. It’s only when you love yourself that you can truly love others.

When you don’t love yourself, you will project your insecurities and internal issues onto others, preventing you from ever genuinely seeing them for who they are.

Loving yourself means you care about yourself. And someone who is well taken care of is more likely to be happy, healthy, and productive.

When we’re dealing with difficult situations we tend to think about how our actions will affect others. If I make this decision, how will my mom feel? How will my husband feel? How will it affect my brother? Will anyone be mad? It’s great to consider other people’s feelings, but don’t forget that you’re also a person who deserves to be considered. It’s essential for you to stop and think about how something makes YOU feel. Then you can make a decision based on EVERYONE you love. That’s the difference between being selfish and loving yourself.

Like any other relationship, the one you have with yourself takes time and effort.

You will not work hard for yourself if you don’t love yourself. You will not fulfill your dreams if you dislike the person who dreamed them. If you want to be a Bawse, give yourself a hug and mean it.

List five things you love about yourself. And don’t be superficial—no hair, eyes, or legs BS! Get real with yourself.

The key to hustling hard is to pause. You can only work relentlessly on something if you ENJOY doing it.