So, I got on this “Prince Naseem 2024” kick a while back. Don’t ask me why. Maybe it was the endless grey of spreadsheets, or just feeling like everything these days is so… predictable. I thought, hey, remember that guy? The unpredictability, the sheer nerve. Maybe there’s something there I could, you know, use.
My grand plan wasn’t to start flipping into boardrooms, mind you. Nothing that daft. It was more of an internal thing. I started by digging out some old footage. Not just the flashy knockouts everyone remembers, but the entrances, the weird interviews, even the moments between rounds. It was a deep dive, alright. I spent a good few evenings just… watching. Trying to figure out what made it all tick, beyond the obvious talent.
- First, I really looked at the confidence. Was it all show, or did he genuinely believe every bit of it?
- Then, the actual boxing. The weird angles, the hands down stuff. How much was skill, how much was just pure audacity getting him through?
- And I tried to see it from a 2024 lens. Would that fly today? With all the instant analysis and social media picking everything apart?
My little “practice” then moved to, well, trying to inject a tiny bit of that… let’s call it “Naseem energy” into my own dull routine. I had this presentation coming up, you see. The kind that usually puts everyone to sleep. I thought, okay, I won’t do a flip, but maybe I can be a bit more… flamboyant? A bit more unexpected in my delivery?
Well, that was an interesting experiment. Let’s just say my attempt at a “surprise” opening remark landed with a thud. Not even a confused thud, just a flat, awkward silence. My “unpredictable” slide transition? Caused more confusion than excitement. It turns out, being Prince Naseem is a full-time job, and probably requires being Prince Naseem to begin with. My big takeaway? Some things are just inimitable. And maybe my spreadsheet-filled life doesn’t need that kind of spice after all. Or, if it does, I’m not the guy to deliver it like he did. It was a bit of a letdown, honestly. I was hoping for some kind of revelation, but mostly I just felt a bit foolish.
So, why do I even bother sharing this, right?
Because this whole experience reminded me of something from way back. Years ago, I worked at this small startup. We had this boss, a real ideas guy, always chasing the next big thing. He’d read a book or see a documentary and suddenly, we’d all have to pivot our entire strategy. One week it was “radical candor,” the next it was “agile everything,” then it was “growth hacking” by trying the most outlandish marketing stunts you could imagine. He was trying to be this disruptive, unpredictable force, kind of like how I was trying to channel Naseem.
And you know what? It was mostly chaos. We’d launch half-baked ideas, alienate our few customers, and burn out the team. He had the enthusiasm, sure, but not the underlying genius or the context to make it work. He was trying to wear a costume that didn’t fit. Seeing my little Naseem experiment flop, it just brought all that back. It made me realize that authenticity, even if it’s a bit boring, is probably better than forced theatrics. That boss, by the way, his company folded after about two years of those antics. We were all trying to be something we weren’t, just because he saw someone else succeed at it. Some folks are originals, and the rest of us? Well, we’re better off finding our own, less dramatic, way to get things done. That’s what my little 2024 Naseem deep dive really hammered home for me. It wasn’t about boxing at all in the end.
