The Swagger of Duke Nukem

to walk or strut with a defiant or insolent air.

to boast or brag noisily.

So, we took a look at confidence recently in The Mind of Lara Croft, and how it was different from arrogance.  Well, today we’re going to look at, for lack of a better term…swagger.  Duke Nukem isn’t just confident.  He also isn’t really arrogant either.  He acts with all the flamboyancy of arrogance, but he has the skills and abilities to back up this arrogance, so it’s really more of a…hyper-confidence.

You may have met people like this before in your life.  Actually, no, you probably haven’t, no one matches up to Duke Nukem.  No one.  But in all seriousness, look at how Duke deals with his everyday life.  Nothing gets to him, nothing.  He’s never shaken, or rattled, and he never gives any emotional or psychological ground to his foes.  He’s, quite frankly, not human.

Matching this same level of swagger would, most likely, make you seem aloof and untouchable to those around you.  However, the mindset of not letting anyone or anything mess with you is not necessarily a bad one to aim for.  Standing your ground and/or pushing back against everything that gets in your way is definitely a way of living.  Some may argue against the wisdom in it, but there are people that make it through life with this attitude.

If you’re looking to emulate this personification, you first need to convince yourself of the front you’re putting out.  You need to be confident in your abilities and skills, as well as your ability to utilize them under extreme pressure.  Part of this comes from being able to improvise when necessary.  Remember, you can basically put any kind of weapon, firearm, or explosive in Duke’s hand and he can demolish an alien army with is.  That’s resourcefulness that can’t be taught!

You also need to develop an extremely think skin.  You need to keep anything anyone could say or do from getting to you.  A great way to do this is to start trying out open mic nights at night clubs, comedy clubs, etc.  You will get all manner of reaction to things on stage.  If you want a fun waste of a few hours, go start chaining through comedian heckling videos on Youtube. Jimmy Carr is one of my favorites.  Dry, unshakeable british humor.

Also pretty much necessary is the ability to take a punch, physically.  Get down to a local MMA, boxing, or kickboxing gym, and get your ass kicked.  Seriously.  Getting actually hit and/or beat up on a regular basis does a lot to take out any fear of physical confrontation, and, by the same measure, will help build your confidence in those situations too.

Remember, though, we are not just talking normal confidence here.  This is swagger.  This is hyper-confidence.  Once you know you have the skills, you need to start believing that you are the shit, and acting like it, too.  This doesn’t even mean challenging every random person you see on everything they say and do.  Then you’re just an asshole.  No, you need to walk around and act with the arrogance of knowing you’re better than them, and that they’re not even worth your time.  Believe me, if you start thinking this enough, it will come out in your actions and deeds in everyday life.

Be prepared for the consequences, though, you won’t make many friends this way.  You might begin to notice a weird sort of follower, or fan effect.  People with low moral and self confidence tend to sort of naturally gravitate towards people with swagger.  Seriously!  The danger in this is, you need to realize they are attached to the front that you put out.  They are not necessarily actual friends of yours, the are more like followers.

If you do decide to walk this path, it’s your choice.  Duke Nukem is a larger-than-life character, and honestly, kind of an asshole.  He would be even more so in the real world.  But I’m here to help you become the character of your choosing, and if that choice is Duke Nukem, then dammit, I’m going to help you become Duke.

After I post this, I’m going to be doing up the weekly check-up on Jackie and myself with our yearly goals.  Tomorrow we’re going to have a bit of a “State of the Blog” post, with some cool news and plans for the future.  Until then, make sure to follow me on Twitter,  like the blog page on Facebook, hit up the Tumblr, and continue to be awesome!Dan “DaRatmastah” Wallace