How to Be Interesting

After a brief night's rest, I'm thinking that it's easy to sit back and criticize. And in the words of Jack Handy, that's what I like about it. It's easy.

But then, I keep thinking. And the thinking that I think is this: I can do a way better list, and I can do it with up to 40% less Internet douchebaggery.

Mr. Davies's list consists of driving yourself to become interesting through aggressive documentation, primarily on the Internet. But if you start empty, you don't become interesting through the power of broadcasting.

The gig starts inside, with a change of intent. Nobody ever puts that on their cute little lists: Step 1, Be Ready to Alter Your Mind and Spirit to Be, in Effect, a Different Person.

Let's assume you've passed that milestone.

How to Be Interesting
A list of 10 things, by Jefftyjeffjeff

1. Visit another country. The more you travel, the more interesting you become. It's like a natural law.
2. Learn to play half a dozen songs on a musical instrument. If you want to get good, then go ahead. But learn half a dozen pop or rock songs from anywhere in the last couple of decades, and you're set.
3. Find someone you think is interesting and ask lots of dumb questions about them.
4. Okay, fine, blog if you must. It forces you to create.
5. Make something. This is a another good one from Russel. Just make something with your hands.
6. Do something you're bad at. This is a catch-all category. Although as a general rule, it's better to work to your strengths and outsource your weaknesses, you get more interesting as a result of forcing yourself to be terrible.
7. Volunteer for something. I recommend Habitat for Humanity because there's probably one near you, and in all my years of free labor, I've seen no other charity where it is so easy to see that what you're doing is directly, immediately helping someone else.
8. Be silent on a regular basis. Unexpected things happen when you keep your yap shut.
9. Be part of a community. Find a group and embed yourself. This is harder than it sounds, I know, but do it anyway.
10. Find or create outputs. Several of them. Most of this list is designed to funnel interesting things into you, but to finish the job, you need someone to think you're interesting. Find an audience and play to them.