Being your own “hype man” means being unapologetic about what you want, cheering for yourself and creating the momentum you need to pursue your dream life.
A “hype man” is a term commonly used in the music and entertainment industry to refer to an individual, often a performer or a member of a group, whose primary role is to generate excitement and energy within the audience during a live performance.
The hype man’s main responsibilities typically include:
Energizing the Crowd: A hype man’s primary role is to engage the audience and get them excited about the performance. They use their enthusiasm, gestures, and vocal cues to encourage the crowd to participate, dance, and show support for the main performer or group.
Backing Vocals: In addition to their crowd-pleasing duties, a hype man may provide backing vocals during a live performance. They often assist the lead vocalist by singing or rapping certain lines, adding emphasis or depth to the music.
Interaction: Hype men often interact with the audience, urging them to clap, cheer, sing along, or respond to specific cues. This interaction helps create a more immersive and enjoyable live experience.
Maintaining Energy: Throughout a performance, the hype man ensures that the energy level remains high. They keep the audience engaged, even during slower or less intense parts of the show.
Ad-Libs and Freestyling: Hype men are known for their improvisational skills. They may provide ad-libs, shoutouts, or freestyle verses to keep the crowd entertained and engaged.
Hype men are commonly seen in various music genres, including hip-hop, rap, electronic dance music (EDM), and rock.
They play a crucial role in live performances, helping to create an electrifying atmosphere and enhancing the overall concert experience for the audience.
Becoming a hype man is all about exuding enthusiasm, charisma, and energy to engage and excite the audience during live performances.
As a woman, becoming your own “hype man” is a valuable skill that can boost your confidence, motivation, and self-esteem.
Whether you’re preparing for a presentation, an important meeting, or simply aiming to maintain a positive mindset, here are some strategies to become your source of motivation and encouragement.
Fake it ‘Till You Make It
Think of this as a qualifying round to becoming your own hype man. It requires that you pretend that you really are a badass.
Fake it till you make it is about pretending that you know that you are enough or worthy or that you deserve to be in the room or have a seat at the table.
Even if you feel terrible, ugly or utterly useless—find the courage to just pretend that you don’t and act accordingly.
Ask yourself: how would someone who believes they deserve (x, y, z) act and then behave as such.
Approach this like a game, like playacting or trying out a costume. Simply embodying this role will help you explore your own confidence and potential.
Positive Affirmations
If embodying the role and “faking it” just isn’t your jam you can attempt to find confidence and strength through positive affirmations.
This is because being your own hype man can happen through tons of different techniques—be visual, unorthodox and embrace creative ideas such as posters, signs, screensavers or mantras that acknowledge and affirm your values. This comes out of the ‘seeing is believing’ concept.
Curate Your Circle
One of the points made in the career book, The Memo is that in order to uplevel your career, it’s important to curate your circle. In the book, author Minda Harts calls it building out your “Top 8” or your career board of directors.
Take inventory of your circle. Are they hype enough? The fastest way to face-plant your hype man mentality is to be around people who are not serving you.
Toxic people, Debbie-downers, or those who do not want the best for themselves and by extension, do not want the best for you.
Being your own hype man is to cultivate friendships and mentorships with people who support you, people who see your potential and what you have to offer and therefore want to see you manifest that potential. If you don’t currently have people like that in your life or circle, seek them out.
Identify Your Talents and Passion
Being your own hype man requires passion and energy. Identify what ignites you, what is interesting or meaningful to you (or at least doesn’t bore you out of your mind) and channel your hype in that direction.
For example, if you’re trying to be your own health and wellness hype man and torturing yourself into doing weight-lifting and sprints, find a different fitness activity that you enjoy or at least don’t hate.
This will make the actual task of hyping yourself towards your goal easier. It allows the hype man activity to be fluid and organic process when your heart and mind are engaged.
Treat Yourself Like Someone You Want to Help
This is the true mission of being your own hype man—to treat yourself as you would somebody you are attempting to help or mentor. Try to appraise yourself objectively. What feedback or advice would you give yourself? What moves would you instruct yourself to make?
Frequently answering these questions for yourself is a motivational practice that encourages you to be strategic, self-aware and personally encouraging.
See Setbacks as Opportunities
Being your own hype man and treating yourself as someone you want to help can be as simple as switching up your perspective. Instead of labelling missteps, shortcomings or personal insecurities as failures—find ways to recognize the value in these experiences.
Landing a job and then realizing you dislike or are not good at the position is not actually a setback, because you discovered more about yourself and what you don’t want to do.
Approaching your life decisions from this standpoint is one way to be your own hype man; it prevents you from spiralling into negative thought patterns and forces you to re-frame weaknesses or failures as opportunities.
Unleash Yourself
These tips and ideas are simply a jumping-off point to finding and igniting your hype man stride. Experiment. Try incorporating these practices into your daily thought patterns and routines.
But do so with the full knowledge that all the HYPE—all the badassery, momentum and shine you need to succeed—can not be found externally, but internally. It already exists within you. Being your own hype man is about unleashing what is already inside you. How do you hype yourself up?
Conclusion
Remember that being your own hype man isn’t about being overly confident or dismissive of challenges. It’s about maintaining a positive and motivated mindset that supports your personal and professional growth.
By consistently practicing these strategies, you can become your greatest source of encouragement and motivation, helping you navigate life’s ups and downs with confidence and resilience.