Four life lessons I learned from Chris Brown's dancing

I wouldn't call myself a Chris Brown fan.  I don't own any of his music and haven't seen him perform live.  Other than the stuff I hear about him on the news, I don't really know that much about him.  But, I will say that he's taught me some valuable life lessons just by watching a brief one minute and a half video of him doing "the Dougle."  Let me show you what I'm talking about. Watch it once in its entirety then we will break it out lesson by lesson.



Lesson 1: Don't worry about what other people are doing
The video opens with Chris Brown casually doing the Dougie. Suddenly he stops at the 12 second mark and turns around to the group of people behind him who are idly standing around.  None of them are engaged in anything special other than people watching.  Chris immediately returns to doing what he loves to do. Sometimes we hold ourselves back from being who we are because others are around.  Chris teaches us to do the opposite.  As a matter of fact, if you watch closely, you'll notice that once he turns back around, he starts dancing even more intensely than before.

Lesson 2: Stand Out from the Crowd
What do you notice when you watch the video?  One thing that's glaringly obvious is the stark constrast between Chris and everyone around him.  It's probably late in the evening and pretty much everyone in the club wore the standard uniform of black clothing.  I'm sure Chris is aware of that so he decided to do something a little different.  When we were children, we were taught that different = bad.  We got picked on if we looked or acted different from everyone else.  We carry that way of thinking into adulthood and quickly try to conform into our environment.  We wear jeans everyday because everyone else is doing it.  We buy what's in style. We mold ourselves in a way that allows us to fit in.  Chris teaches us that standing out doesn't have to mean doing something totally outlandish.  Just a simple white tee and khakis when everyone else is wearing all black sets him aside from the others.  Notice whenever we do something out of the ordinary, people notice.  Even if it's something simple like wearing a pop of color. Wearing a dress when everyone is rocking jeans, not only feels good, but gives us a boost of confidence as well.

Lesson 3: Go All Out
Based on what I observed in the video, this doesn't look like a paid performance.  Chris isn't singing, or even dancing to his own song.  He just simply enjoying himself.  Yet, he's dancing like nobody's watching.  Meaning he's going all out without any worries.  Check out the guys behind him. Some are standing completely still, some are bobbing their heads.  You can tell that guy directly to the left of him with the shades on wants to dance too, but he's too self conscious to do so. Instead he carefully folds his hands and bops to music.  Meanwhile Chris is doing the most.  He doesn't have a lot of space to work with yet his dancing is captivating.   He's teaching us not to hold anything back. When we are doing something, anything, give it everything we have.

Lesson 4: Have Fun!
What else do you notice about Chris?  Check out his face.  While he's dancing in front of these eager fans, he's all smiles.  He's not giving us the "I'm a serious dancer face."  He's just having fun.  Not taking himself too seriously.  Sometimes when we do something, we put a ton of pressure on ourselves to be perfect.  Meanwhile we miss opportunities to just enjoy the experience.  When was the last time you had fun in front of a group of people?  Life is short. The more we enjoy it, the more memorable we become.  Even if Chris Brown wasn't "Chris Brown," I'm sure all those ladies would pay attention to him if he behaved the same way.  People are attracted to others who are enjoying life and themselves.  Since today is Monday, try going throughout your workday with an attitude of I'm going to have a blast today.  Smile, have fun, and show off a little.  You'll notice that others will relate to you differently than they have before.