You’re like a big bear, man.

Who are you when you walk into the room?  When you really walk into the room -- the networking event, the dinner party, the sales meeting, the company picnic.  Who are you?  To differing degrees, we all have different versions of ourselves.  Speaking for myself -- mostly to avoid sounding like a psychology lecture I’m not qualified to give -- I adopt looser, more casual behaviors around close friends and at home with my family, and a more formal and professional demeanor when performing my work duties.

And as the boundaries between career and home and self blur, or even vanish altogether for me, I find an increasing need to project confidence.  To ask for what I want.  To be myself.  The 15-year old version of me would cringe if he saw who I’ve become.  From wallflower to aping Don Draper is a big jump.  To push shyness aside and reach for your slice of a larger world is exciting, fun.  A challenge.  We all need a cheerleader like Vince Vaughn is to Jon Favreau in this clip.

“When you go up to talk to her, man -- I don’t want you to be like the guy in the PG-13 everyone’s really hopin’ makes it happen.

“I want you to be like the guy in the rated R movie, you know?  The guy you’re not sure whether or not you like yet; you’re not sure where’s he’s coming from. You’re a bad man, you’re a bad man, you’re a bad man.  A bad man.”