From a Teen’s Perspective: My favorite “life hack”
I’ve never really found a “life hack” that stuck with me. It seems like everyday I watch videos of influencers telling me about the best technique to eat or sleep or exercise or do anything like a normal human being. That is, until I saw a short video with a single phrase outlined in front of a hazy red background.
It read: “Channel the person who’s best at what you’re doing.” As I kept scrolling to the next dopamine hit of content, the quote slipped from my thoughts but stowed away in the back of my mind.
The next week, I decided to call the manager of a local store to ask for a job. However, despite being a journalist who regularly approaches strangers to ask for quotes, I had a hard time working up the nerve. I was afraid of embarrassing myself or facing the most dreadful fate of all — a long, awkward pause followed by my attempt to fill it with mindless jabbering.
I guess the butterflies in my stomach fluttered up to my brain and rustled the quote out of hiding, for it came to me as an opportunity to ease my misgivings about “life hacks” and give this one a shot. So I thought of my cousin Chase, the most confident person I know. He would never back down from a silly little phone call. He would dial the store’s number without hesitation and speak to the manager with conviction and charm.
“Channel Chase,” I told myself. Instead of putting myself in his shoes, I put him in my shoes.
I spoke confidently, and whenever self-doubt began to creep in, I reminded myself that I had the necessary skill and strength — because Chase has that skill and strength. The call went well and I landed a second conversation down the road.
Maybe this strategy really does work, I thought. In the following weeks, I have channeled other people I look up to in various parts of my life and found similar success. Now, it feels like I have a whole team of people at my side, lending me real-time support in everything I do.
It’s easy to avoid tasks that aren’t in your wheelhouse, but using this new life hack has taught me that you can essentially “outsource” others’ strengths so you feel prepared for a wider range of situations. The key is not to try to “become” another person — you have your own unique gifts that can also serve as positive examples to others. Instead, it helps to recognize and emulate what makes someone so deft at handling certain endeavors. (Hint: it’s often just about having the right attitude).
So the next time you do something outside your comfort zone, think about the people in your life who excel in that area and try to envision what they would do in your place. This shift in mindset — while seemingly simple on the surface — can boost your confidence, promote success, and help you build the same mental muscles that allow your role models to accomplish certain tasks so easily.
Got any topics you want me to cover? Email dylanclarklanier@gmail.com with your requests!
Dylan Lanier is a senior at Menlo-Atherton High School; his column appears weekly.
Stock image by Freepik
