Build Interesting Conversation: Do Something - Anything!

You have a high school reunion coming up.

No, it's a big party and you want to impress the boss!

...Or you're going some place where you know you'll run into your ex.

What do you talk about? What have you done with your life? That's the question. There are little things you can do in your daily life to be awesome, but you need to do some big things too. So here's the meat and potatoes post.

Let me give you a short list of some of the things I've done:

1. Recorded 2 music albums (in 4 years)
2. Lived in 4 different countries (including the US)
3. Written and published 3 books (in 2 years)
4. Worked my way to management (in less than 1 year)
5. Been married twice (once in the Himalayas, and once in Santa Barbara - same guy!)

That's the short list, but it's by no means exhaustive. Each one of those points has a whole slew of associated stories. Most people won't do all those things, and frankly, it's kind of ridiculous. No, actually it's absolutely insane. If you did half those things you'd have more than enough stories to impress anyone you wanted to. If you did any one of those things, it would be enough to impress people.

And that's my point.

You need to go out and live in order to be impressive. You have to try things in order to be awesome. Figure out something you love, and jump into it with both feet. Being an expert in something is a way to impressing people. If you decided to learn about drinking songs from seventeenth century England and that was your thing, let me tell you, that would be a party. I would want to know all about it and I guarantee drinking with you would be a good time.

That's the long game. The short game is to take small risks in your free time. For example, go to a festival. Find out the interesting places in your town or area and visit them. Sit in on an open mic night at a pub or coffeehouse (there are always good stories even if you're not performing!). Take a class! The first time you do something like this it will be uncomfortable. Like most things, the more you go on these mini adventures, the easier it will become. Plus, every time you do, you'll build up your interesting quotient.

The more things you do, the easier it will be to talk to your boss, your ex, or that annoying over achiever from high school. With a body of adventures and knowledge, it's a lot easier to be impressively awesome.