A what!? Yes, be a beatnik. What I really mean is BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND BE BALANCED. The past few days I’ve been really “feeling” Jack Kerouac quotes. Through writing down a few of my favorites and sharing a few on Instagram and Twitter, I’ve come to learn more about The Beat Generation. This generation was a group of authors whose literature explored and influenced American culture in the post- WWII era. The bulk of these authors work was published and popularized throughout the 1950s. Central elements of the Beat culture are rejection of standard narrative values, the spiritual quest, exploration of American and Eastern religions, rejection of materialism and many more themes. ( Wikepedia and The Literature Network). Famous authors of this time are Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Neal Cassady.
“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to the trends and fads and popular opinion” – Jack Kerouac
This generation exemplified being bold, being brave and being balanced and shared their experiences through their writing. We (Millennials, Gen X’ers) are very similar – we might not be authors of published books, but our influences have impacted our culture and our world tremendously. Our words and opinions aren’t heard through pages in a book but through our thoughts in the social world.
I ask you, Be a Beatnik: be bold, be brave, be balanced.
BE BOLD
Stand out, as simple as that! Being bold means having confidence or taking risk. Being bold is letting go of your fears and going beyond what you know and undertaking adventures and creating even bigger dreams than the ones you already have. Take on a new challenge (both in your personal and professional life). Be imperfect. Go beyond your comfort zone.
For me, I’m being bold at this exact moment writing this post. I enjoy writing, it isn’t my strongest skill set, but the more I write the more experience I get it. Some of my posts aren’t perfect, because I know I’m not perfect. Every day I am still learning and gaining new knowledge and sharing these experiences with all the readers and followers, I think, shows vulnerability and boldness.
BE BRAVE
Being brave is about changing your mindset. You are your own superhero. Being brave and being bold could go hand and hand, however being brave just says it’s ok to be vulnerable and having those fears - just makes you human, it’s normal. Whatever that big dream is of yours – go for it and also know that failing is ok. You want to “fail forward” because again, no one is perfect and if the dream doesn’t work out, you know you tried, you put yourself out there, you didn’t quit and you allowed yourself to be brave. You allowed yourself to give that dream your all and maybe now you need to make some edits or tweak it a bit for it to succeed.
“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” Allen Ginsberg
I decided about a month ago to take my interest and passion for fitness and start studying to get my NASM Personal Training Certification. I’m scared s***less about it. I’m trying everyday of studying to not let my fears take over and let them tell me I’ll fail – I’ll fail the exam, I won’t be a good trainer or I won’t make it as a trainer. Instead, I’m turning all the negatives into positives because this is a big dream of mine and I know all my hard work and all the studying and practice will pay off. I might “fail forward” in the beginning but I’ll pick myself back up to make this dream happen. I am my own superhero!
BE BALANCED
Finding what you are passionate about is important to our generation. Take away finding your passion, your niche in your career and find what you are passionate about, like what you REALLY love and stick with it. Making you a priority is being balanced. Do you love to read, paint, build stuff, workout, be outside, write, take pictures, run, ski – whatever it is make doing it a priority, put yourself first.
I have a confession to make - most of my posts pop up in my head while I am hiking. Hiking is a huge passion of mine. An activity I make time for on the weekends to relax, decompress from the work week and just enjoy nature around me. It is while on my adventures I think back to my Monday to Friday and the experiences, opportunities, day to day tasks I encountered and how they can beneficial to The Niche Movement readers, followers and millennial/young professionals. While hiking, I am able to pretty much find balance and enjoyment in all things I love; spending time with my husband, being outside and in nature, photography and now writing.
Again, I say Be a Beatnik- Be bold, Be Brave and Be balanced. Your journey in your career is going to be windy at times and straight at times and windy again, but let your voice be heard, your dreams be big, your fears known and your passions explored.
"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules & they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them. Glorify or vilify them. The only thing you can't do is ignore them. BECAUSE THEY CHANGE THINGS! They push the human race forward & while some may see them as the CRAZY ONES, we see GENIUS. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can CHANGE THE WORLD, are the ONES WHO DO!!" -Jack Kerouac
Written by: Shaunna Murphy