Since 2009, I've had the words All-Around Nice Guy emblazened in bold on my homepage. It may seem like superfluous act of personal branding, however, it's actually something that is keeping me up at night more and more.
It was during my high-school obsession with Boy Meets World that I made the decision to mold being an All-Around Nice Guy into my core. Cory Matthews was an "All-Around Nice Guy", and he seemed pretty fufilled and happy in his life.
Especially over the past few days, I've been reflecting deeply upon on whether or not that descriptor is objectively accurate of me anymore.
There is a group of people who may be reading this and be throughly confused. I put on my best "nice guy" in certain facets of my life. Someone who sees me walk down the street, go to the grocery store, or order food at a restaurant wouldn't see an upleasant or angry person.
Over the past three years, I've gone full throttle in thrusting myself into high stakes scenarios that are emotionally charged (I need to write about that later). I have overworked myself, pushed the limits, and pushed myself and others to their edge.
In these endeavors, there has been a small group of people that I've been unpleasant and hostile towards. These are people whom have (and still) mean a lot to me. These are people of whom I've spent a lot of time with. I've let my frustrations make me neglectful, inhospitable, or combative. These people would laugh should I try to explain to them how I'm an "All-Around Nice Guy".
I don't really have any major revelation or resolution for this. All I can say is that it's really bothering me that I'm moving farther away from something that was once so habitual.
Anyways...I've thought about it a lot, and I decided to leave the All-Around Nice Guy label on my website. Even if it's only there to remind me of what I strive to be. And to the people that know me, please hold me accountable to it.