Everyone has a gimmick.

Everyone has a gimmick.

Hey! I hope you were able to enjoy the long weekend.

If you find value in today’s newsletter, I’d appreciate you if you share it with a friend.

Now, let’s dig into it!

The Undertaker and The Rock. We all know them. Two of the most popular Professional Wrestlers ever whose names start with “The.” What if I told you, they’re not who they portray on television?

Mind-blowing, right?! The Undertaker is not a mortician turned zombie who then gains magical powers but ends up joining a bike gang which leads him to become an MMA cowboy.

And while The Rock’s career started off as a homage to his father and grandfather, both wrestlers before him, he would eventually turn up his charisma to 110% which not only made him one of the company’s top stars but launched him into the Hollywood stratosphere.

Throughout their wrestling careers, they both adopted numerous personas, each with unique characteristics, traits, and background story which was often reflected through their attire and presentation.

In the world of Professional Wrestling, that persona is called a gimmick. And although most of us have never stepped into the Squared Circle, we all have a gimmick. You can use your gimmick to aid yourself in working towards the life you’ve always wanted. it’s like niching down on yourself.

The most successful wrestlers completely embodied their gimmick, leveraging every aspect of it which had fans completely committed to their character.

But I don’t want to be World Champion.

Regardless of how you feel about spandex and bodyslams, you’re given a gimmick. You’re a parent, a child, a partner, a boss, etc. You say and do things according to this role which falls in line with what the gimmick defines.

Ideally, you’ve entered into most of those roles by choice, so you knew what the expectations were. You also know how much you’ll have to work to maintain the status quo and attain the level of success you desire.

But these gimmicks are born out of obligation or a need to sustain life. The expectations come with the role, you don’t have much control over them from the get-go. You know there’s a better way.

As an individual, you’re provided with the opportunity to choose your gimmick. The ideal life where you define every quality and trait you carry. The expectation you set for yourself is clear and allows you room to build the efficient life you desire and share it with whomever you please.

The benefits of living an efficient life carry over into the gimmicks you’re committed to. Manage work relationships better, balance the obligations in your life, and leverage your talents.

I used to take pride in the fact I was a successful store director. Our store beat budget, I was able to equip my team with carryover skills, and I had great rapport with customers. At the end of the day though, I didn’t have a sense of fulfillment.

It was always “I’m Matt, Store Director.” Never “I’m Matt. Yeah, I’m a Store Director but I’m also XYZ.”

I assigned all the value to the role I embodied at work, disregarding the fact I wanted more than that. The realization I was missing value in my personal life like what I had in my professional life was deafening.

The truth is you control how you define yourself. You decide what pursuits bring you joy and how to use your time to fulfill your purpose. Anything that adds value to your life can be had.

I realized I wanted to find fulfillment in other aspects of my life. But I know great people who find fulfillment in being successful in their work. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s their gimmick.

All of this goes beyond a title or a label, it’s the combination of traits, principles, and methods of execution which creates the ideal version of yourself. The key is to be open to growth and being uncomfortable.

Creating your gimmick.

A great way to create your gimmick is to picture, down to every detail, the version of yourself you want to be. Include qualities you want to embody, actions you want to take, and skills you want to master. And most importantly, purpose.

First, get it in writing.

This is more than a vision board you’re writing out. Where vision boards show you what you want, this will provide in detail what actions you’ll take, ways you’ll think, and what needs to be corrected.

My abridged version as an example:

I am a Copywriter: A creative, consistent writer who is inquisitive and adaptable in creating work that provides a fulfilling and abundant life.

I do in-depth research into the fields I write for and I craft copy that provides clear value for the customer and completely exceeds the needs of my client.

I spend four hours a day researching, drafting, and editing my copy while keeping in contact with my client through email about potential edits they may have.

I have experience maintaining a blog as a hobby. That provided me insight into my writing style and what I needed to change to be an efficient copywriter. Looking back at my blog, I learned I needed to shorten the way I write to ensure my copy is efficient and straight to the point.

If you want to say “I sit and write clean and clear code over the course of two hours which ensures the smooth functioning of my program while being able to be understood by other programmers” that works. If you need to be more detailed, go for it. This is your gimmick.

But everything you write needs to be a clear commitment you’re willing to make with this outline serving as a blueprint.

Take inventory.

Each quality and trait has tangible examples which you can reference. You need to know where your competency is with each aspect so you know what needs to be refined or started.

Let’s say you want to grow your socializing skills. More socializing means more talking. And more talking is something you probably don’t do if you’re looking to improve your socializing ability.

So we know two things: where your skills currently stand and where you want them to be.

What I did was list the quality/trait, followed by a description of it in action.

Inquisitive: Research about the product I’m writing about, competitors and what comparable product they offer, and look into the customers of my clients to understand which of their needs would be solved with my clients product.

Having an understanding of what you’re working towards and why will save you from wasting time on things which do not add value.

Research and execute.

This is a twofer and the most challenging part. Through trial and error, you determine what practices work best for you and what doesn’t.

What I struggled with when starting out as a copywriter was organizing my work tasks and my copywriting tasks. I implemented all the task managers, calendars, and note taking systems thinking it would increase my output.

It did not.

I now have a barebones system and I’ll add to it if the workload requires it. But building my efficiency with task management and organization was overrated at the time.

It highlights the customization you’re allowed when envisioning your gimmick. You start from the baseline determined when you took inventory of your skills, traits, and qualities.

The silver lining is that you’ll gain insight into knowing how your mind works which you can leverage in the future. It’s difficult for most people to see this through because it requires consistent work. But in actuality, you’re building habits and understanding how you approach challenges.

Those are three steps you can take when outlining the gimmick you’re striving to embody. Understanding the actions you take, as well as the feeling it takes to get there to sustain your envisioned life is the main priority.

But you have to be honest with yourself. Just because you’re living your amazing new life in your head, doesn’t mean it’s going to come as easily as you pictured it. Creating your gimmick gives you an outline of boxes to check as you work on becoming this best version of yourself by strengthening qualities and traits.

Bake it and you make it!

“Fake it til you make it” will only take you so far. You’re not going to fake your way into your dream job but you can navigate through social interactions and better understand how to be a more efficient conversationalist.

What you identify through building a gimmick are the exact qualities and traits you want to sharpen. Faking it is a journey of discovering what other people embody and mimicking it without knowing if it’s the most efficient thing for you

The sweet spot is finding the most efficient approach for you to develop yourself and repeat it so it becomes second nature.

The baking analogy is great because it perfectly represents what goes into living up to your gimmick: combining the correct ingredients and time for everything to come together.

Wrestlers change gimmicks but they learn how they best connect with crowds to generate the desired outcome whether it’s cheers or boos. The best ones will leverage the qualities and traits they developed to elicit a reaction from the crowd regardless if they’re a good or bad guy.

I know you may not want to pursue a world championship but there is an ideal life you want to live. What that ideal life looks like will change over time but if you have tools and skills in the form of qualities and traits, adapting will be much easier.

At the end of the day, you define yourself. I hope you found value that you can leverage to build the life you want.

Writing this brought me back to the Maya Angelou quote about people always remembering how you made them feel and not the things you did or said.

At the end of the day, aren’t we all just an embodiment of feelings?

-Matt