How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life

by Lilly Singh

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.

“IF YOU CAN’T CONTROL PEOPLE, THEN CONTROL YOUR REACTION TO THEM. IF YOU CAN’T CONTROL A SITUATION, THEN PREPARE FOR IT.

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.

jerk, and that’s fair. Humans have emotions and they cannot always control them. The thing is, I am not suggesting

Heartache is never going to go away and every person will continue to experience it. Not learning anything from pain because you are too overwhelmed with emotion is inefficient, especially since you’ll continue to encounter pain in life.

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

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.

but if you deny the entire thing, who’s going to solve the issue? A Bawse does not use defense mechanisms to get out of cleaning up a mess they made.

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.

If you’re going to do it, do it the best you possibly can.

Inspiration fuels the hustle, and what better inspiration than enjoying the results of your hard work? Don’t cheat yourself by blazing through your life. Reflection is necessary and should be on your to-do list. Life is like one giant YouTube video: it’s

most of the obstacles we face are the ones we make up in our minds.

The only way to overcome FOMO is to recognize that the joy of accomplishing goals is much greater than the disappointment of missing out on a little fun.

So the next time you’re faced with FOMO (and I promise you, there will be a next time), ask yourself one question: “What will my future self thank me for doing today?” Once you answer that question, shut up, work hard, and go accomplish your goals.

tempting choice does not do anything to help you achieve your goals—it only divides your attention.

Life is one big negotiation. If I know one thing about bartering, it’s that you need to start high. That’s because you’re never going to get exactly what you want, so you better ask for more than you need. When you go for something you want, there are three possible outcomes: ideal, workable, and horrible.

if you can do something, there’s no need to say it.

If you’re trying to set yourself apart, you need to know what has already been done.

When you’re climbing the ladder, the heaviest piece of clothing you wear is often your pride.

In other words, if one opportunity will make or break your success, then your idea of success isn’t solid enough to begin with.

should approach important opportunities with nonchalance.

When you’re going through a rough patch and doubting your very existence, seeing Kelly from your social studies class on the beach with a martini and a hot boyfriend isn’t very helpful. That’s because we compare other people’s highlight reels to our blooper reel and accept that illusion as reality.

Bawse knows that there are many different pathways to every destination in life, and just because you’ve only been given one set of directions, that doesn’t mean ten other roads don’t all lead to the same place.

“I can tell you about the route I took, but I’m not familiar with the entire map.” I say that because I believe new paths can be created every

That’s how you should view the road map to success. It’s not a straight line, but a loopy, curvy maze that resembles one of those puzzles on the back of a cereal box.

Surrounding yourself with people who are more experienced and knowledgeable than you are is a great way to step outside your comfort zone and continue to learn and grow.

Being the dumbest person on your team doesn’t make you a stupid person; it means you’re smart enough to select people to work with that you can learn from. It also means checking your ego and being okay with the fact that you aren’t the best at something.

you are never too good to stop investing in yourself. We

Your best today may not be enough next year, so keep developing. Here are a few ways you can invest in yourself

If you say what you mean, you don’t need someone to edit your words. Your feelings are authentic to you and therefore don’t need revision. There’s great beauty in speaking

Communication should be relatively easy, but we often make things complicated by not saying what we mean. We convince ourselves that we need to sugarcoat things to such a degree that our actual message ends up buried in sprinkles.

Or we beat around the bush and people have to solve a puzzle to understand what we’re saying. I believe you can be both charming

“Say what you mean, but don’t say it mean.” Being

There’s always a way to be open and honest while also being respectful.

We’re so used to communicating at a surface level that we often underestimate the power of communicating on a deeper, more human

You are a product of your environment, so decide wisely what kind of factory you want to be built in.

Bawse recognizes the beautiful gift of the brain and doesn’t want to hurt it by feeding it junk.

“What do you think we can do to further save the planet?” and he replied, “I think it’s arrogant to think we can save a planet that gave life to us.” KA-BOOM! WHAT?!

Is it right to spend more time on the things we don’t like? Probably not. That’s why, if you’re going to talk about people, it only makes sense to talk about the things you like and want to incorporate into your own life.

Knowing that there will always be a bigger Bawse one rung above you is a great way to keep yourself grounded, no matter how high you climb. This

Piggyback rides are cute in pictures but not in real life. It’s important to know the difference between supporting people and giving them a free ride. Supporting people means encouraging them, providing them with advice, and maybe even giving them a boost to start.

If you stay true to your values only when things are going well, then those aren’t values; they’re hobbies.

It is so tempting to throw our values out the window when someone pushes our buttons, but our beliefs shouldn’t falter in heated situations.

We get angry and say things we don’t mean, or we convince ourselves that our actions are justified.

Your parents were patient with you when you were younger, so be patient with them now that they’re older.

figuring out your values actually matters. You’re not trying to solve for the value of x or y; instead, you’re trying to solve for a meaningful life.

“NOT BEING NICE IS LIKE POISONING YOURSELF WITH BAD VIBES.

You should treat niceness like a task on your daily to-do list and give it as much importance as everything else.

“People won’t always remember what you did or what you said, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel.”