Welcome to episode #109 of the Morning Upgrade Podcast. In this week’s episode I spoke with Noor Kidwai, a comedian and podcaster.
Top Talking Points
- Tips for handling anxiety and converting your anxiety into excitement.
- How and why to insert comedy into everyday conversation.
- The benefits of listening and paying attention to other people.
Resources & Links
Connect With Noor at Instagram or NoorKidwai.com
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Episode Transcript
Announcer
Welcome to the Morning Upgrade podcast with Ryan Cote, where we feature casual conversations with entrepreneurs about personal development and growth.
Ryan
Noor, welcome to the Morning Upgrade podcast. How are you? How are you?
Noor
I’m doing alright, Ryan. Thanks for having me, man.
Ryan
I’m excited. I was on your podcast now you’re on my podcast. So it’s a circle of life here.
Noor
True that. True that.
Ryan
So let’s kick it off with you telling everyone you know who you are and what you do for a living and then give us a big win happening in your life right now.
Noor
My name is Noor Kidwai, I’m a comedian, and yeah, a big win right now is, like, well, I guess I’m living out in Toronto; I moved back here right after, like, the kind of pandemic ended, which are like the lock downs and restrictions ended, which was a little bit later up in Canada. But yeah, a big win right now is like I had a goal when I moved back to Toronto. Once all these restrictions were done. To star in a show and get a role, I wanted to have a weekly show. And honestly, I did it. And I had it going, and like now, I got a weekly show here in Toronto where I can practice my comedy and just keep getting better at it.
Ryan
With the first show back, were there butterflies? Remember, there are always butterflies. I don’t know. But were you nervous? A little bit?
Noor
Ah, no, not really, like I was, like, lucky enough to like kind of perform a lot throughout the pandemic. I always went to like places with the least restrictions a lot. But like Toronto, kind of the big city were in like in Canada, especially icon need to be here for opportunities and stuff. But no, I don’t know if I’m; the butterflies aren’t that big these days. It’s more butterflies when I have like a really big show that I’m kind of nervous about, right?
Ryan
And when you have those butterflies in nervousness, how do you get yourself in a good mental state before you step on stage?
Noor
Oh man, for the last, like, probably 15 years is how long I’ve been doing this, I’ve been practicing a lot of like breathing exercises. So I’m really good at slowing down my breathing. And just being able to calm the anxiety, if the anxiety starts coming up. And like another tip I actually tell a lot of people, especially young comedians are like, anxiety is so close to excitement. So it’s like you can really like switch anxiety over to excitement, but you get enough to kind of tell your body like, hey, instead of being anxious, hey, I’m excited, I’m excited. And like, if you kind of use your breathing to kind of slow down your breathing, and then like kind of change it to the excitement, you can really do that. And like excitements a lot of better emotion to go on stage.
Ryan
It’s funny you say that because I was actually going to say that because the optimized program I’m going through, one of the tips they give you for dealing with anxiety or nervousness is it’s very similar to saying to feel excited. So it sounds kind of like, oh, you’re trying to trick yourself, but actually does work, you know, combined with deep breathing. Yeah, that’s a good recipe. I found it to work.
Noor
No, it’s, it’s honestly something I live by. And yeah, like, over the years, I’ve just gotten really good at, like slowing down my breath when I really need to. And sometimes I do like box breathing, which is like you breathe for four seconds, like, inhale, hold it for four seconds, and exhale for four seconds, and then hold that for four seconds. And, like, it’s just a natural way to slow down your breathing, slow down your heart rate, and just like get yourself calm and ready to do whatever you need to do.
Ryan
And for everyone listening, you know, you might not be going on stage to do comedy, but we all are in situations where nerves come into play, whether it’s a big presentation or public speaking or social event or something like that. So this the breathing and, you know, reminding yourself that the nervousness is very similar to the excitement and just reframing it. It’s very, very, very helpful. All right. Now I know you’re big into a morning routine. So help us understand what your mornings look like.
Noor
Well, my big morning routine right now is what’s called the morning pages. So basically, every day when I wake up, I like to usually slam back a glass of water. And then I go straight to my journal. And I just do I write three pages. So it’s like a big journal where you write three pages; it probably takes me anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. And it’s just like a free writing exercise. But I do that every single morning. And yeah, like honestly, it’s for an artist, I think, or anybody who’s in a creative field. I think this is just so important because it really just gets your mind focused on, like, just getting that output out in the morning. And that it like gets your creative juices just flowing like this works or even like people who are not right or their edits, like does any kind of creative field. It really gets your creative juices flowing, and it turns into a little bit of a meditation for me too. Because first thing in the morning, I just give my complete focus to this routine. And, yeah, it also likes it gets me to, like, kind of learn about myself. Because when you’re journaling, I know you like journaling a lot. So I know, you probably know this, like when you start journaling, the more you Journal, the more you kind of find out about yourself, about your day, about what you need to do in your life are both things that you’re kind of missing out on, or things that you’re doing well on. And yeah, so honestly, this morning routine thing, I’ve been doing it for over a year now. And I’ve like this has been the one-morning routine I’ve been able to stick to that’s how I know it’s just really powerful. Because I just haven’t missed the day. I’ve tried a lot of other morning routines with meditation or breathwork or stuff like that first thing in the morning. And I just was never ever able to stick to it. But this one that was like, bam, every day I do it. And it’s just helped my writing so much. Because later on in the day, when I have to sit down and start writing my jokes or writing for any kind of another project I’m doing, it just comes out a lot easier. And it’s just so much easier for me to focus on my work just because I did that first thing in the morning. So you’re kind of training your mind that, hey, this is what you do. So it just really helps.
Ryan
I’m glad you’re sharing this because some of the feedback I get on the morning routines is that some are so daunting, especially my guests that have like two or three-hour morning routines and have yet to find what works best for them. So not knocking the routines at all. But what I’m saying is that if you’re someone that wants to start a morning routine, but you’re just you just don’t know, if you’re ready for the longer routine, your routine perfect, literally all you have to do is get up, grab a piece of paper and just start writing. And so I like that it’s a very simple, straightforward routine that, and you’re right, I think journaling is a really big deal. I don’t write a whole full page; I have like a little small snippet on my cards, where I’ll write down my intentions for the day and my affirmations. So you’re basically grabbing a page, and you’re just letting your thoughts flow for, for how long? How long does this go for?
Noor
Well, I do three pages. So it’s three pages every day. And then that’s that. And it usually takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to write out those three pages. But yeah, it’s just like, you just let it flow and like, yeah, I got it out of this book called The artist’s way. And it’s like a really good book for anybody who’s in any kind of creative field, and I think it would even help people in the business world as well if you’re in a business world where you want to be a little bit more creative. But this is such a good exercise to get your creative juices flowing. And yeah, then like one thing, like a lot of people notice when they do this exercise is like once you get to like the page and the half in the morning pages, once you get to like right about a page and a half, that’s when you start getting some juicy stuff coming out of your unconscious in there. You know, like, some really deep stuff sometimes comes out of those morning pages, and you really learn about yourself and like what you want in life and get the direction of the life, you’re going to such a good way to kind of like setting a compass on like where you’re going in your life every morning.
Ryan
I was actually gonna ask you want to just why three pages, not one page; I think you just answered it because it takes time to get things going. It’s like starting a car in the dead of winter in New Jersey takes a little while for that engine to get warm and going.
Noor
Exactly, because, like, you’ll notice your first page sometimes, even when you feel like you don’t have anything to write, that first page is just like, you just kind of have to push through it. And then once you get to the second page, you’re just kind of flowing it, and then it becomes a lot easier. So that first page kind of gets through the junk kind of stuff.
Ryan
Okay, one more question on this. And I’m sticking to your morning routine a little more than usual because I feel like this is a very doable morning routine for everyone listening. And so for anyone that is listening, that’s kind of on the fence about a morning routine. I feel like this is going to speak to them. So I’ve got one more question for you on this one. Do you ever go back to the journal Do you read your previous entries and just kind of just go skim through them?
Noor
Yeah, sometimes, as I wait, like, usually I wait like four or five months before I do that. But yeah, when you, when I have like actually done that, sometimes it’s kind of interesting because sometimes you see like old fears that you had that you’re working on that you’re like, Oh, I actually did really well. And then other times you just see patterns where you’re like, I keep kind of coming back to the same like issues or problems or habits, let’s just say bad habits sometimes. And when you see those, it is like you become a lot more aware of them, and it becomes a lot easier to kind of work through them.
Ryan
Okay, so I’ve got a question about being funny. I read a book once. Not too long ago, I listened to it. And I can’t remember the name of it. But the author was trying to convince the readers to inject humor. It was sort of like a business books or sales business relationship. Building. And he was arguing that humor is important in any conversation. Sales are just regular conversations. And so he was giving tips, like, what do you? What tips do you have? I do like to ask for my tips on the show. What tip or tips do you have for being funny in everyday conversation?
Noor
Like, I think there’s like two like tips like one, you have to find a way that does kind of be natural, you know, like, that’s, I think that’s like just the big thing is like being able to feel a little bit more natural and calm and your own body because then that then you can actually let like funny flow through that. But then another tip I would say is like you have to, like, be able to like listen to people and be aware of your surroundings, because you’re not going to find anything funny. If you’re not present if you’re not paying attention to like the surroundings around you or the people around you like, how are you going to tell them a joke that they’re going to laugh at if you don’t even know who they really are or what they respond to? So like, I think, and even in business and in comedy, I noticed a lot like the people who are who like can make it the farthest are usually very present. They’re very in the moment, and they listen to people like I do a lot of cricket shows where Russell Peters was doing the shows like 20 years ago and just killing it. And I got a lot of people to remember that too. And like they always say like, oh, Russell Peters always remembered my name, every time he came down here, you all would listen to me, and he always like, actually, like, tried to listen and hear what I had to say. And that made them love them a lot more. And then it also makes him able to make deeper jokes with people because they’re actually, like, more engaged with him.
Ryan
We just said being present, being aware, and making people feel special. I just thought the other day, like in restaurants I go to regularly, I should know the waiter or waitress his name, but I don’t because I don’t ask about I don’t ask her name cause I don’t want to come across as a weirdo like, Hey, what’s your name, you know, but maybe I’m being me, that’s the wrong move and hear what you’re talking about.
Noor
It’s definitely the wrong move. And, like, I kind of like came into that a little bit later in my comedy career. Because sometimes I do the same club, like, I’ll do the same comedy clubs, like once a year sometimes. And I’ll go back there next year. And there’s still some of the same staff and stuff. And it’s like, I remember back in the day, I used to go back, and I’m like, Oh, shit, like, I don’t remember any of these guys’ names or anything. And that’s just like, you know, it’s just kind of unprofessional. And it’s like, you know, they kind of remember you usually because you’re like, I’m on stage every night kind of thing. So, like, I remember, I started working on that, like, remember people’s names, pay attention to them. And when I started doing that, my comedy also took off a lot more because I became a person who pays attention just to the world a lot more. And when I did that, like then, I started seeing a lot more different patterns and a deeper way that I can make funnier jokes from it. And I honestly think for business, that’s such a huge thing too, because, like, if you’re in a company, and you start to pay attention to stuff, the more you pay attention, you’re going to start seeing patterns, and different things more than other people. And that’s going to be able to, you know, you’re going to be able to benefit from that in whatever way.
Ryan
I think it is being interested in people. That’s like one of the number one rapport-building habits is, don’t try to make them interested in you; just be authentically interested in them. And that will naturally build rapport because people, like we said before, like to be listened to, you know. So I’ve got one last question for you, Noor. You just seem so laid back. And I like comedy, like you know, that you’re in the world of comedy. And it’s such a creative art and such something that people I couldn’t imagine getting up on stage. But I’m just curious, like through your lens, what the meaning of life is from, from all your experiences where you’re at now and in your world, like what’s the meaning of life?
Noor
You know, like, and you’ve been on my podcast, like my podcast is called God Yea or Nay? This is the kind of question I kind of ask like, a lot of people and explore in my life a lot. Honestly, one big thing about life, I think, is like, there has to be some sort of self-transformation. We have to change in some sort of way. I think that’s a part of, like, the meaning of life is like finding some sort of like self-transformation ourselves to kind of reach our highest self. And I think we’re all on different kind of ends of the like, in different stages, let’s just say, so it’s like not to be like, oh, like, everybody has to have their own likes, or everyone has to reach some same level at the end of their life is like no, I just think there has to be some sort of movement in the way you’re becoming like more realized Self Realized in your life and transform We’re written that way because I don’t lie, I think that’s kind of like a little bit the meaning in life is to try to find that.
Ryan
Love that. It’s like, to me, like the personal growth gap that I had my lead talks about and some others, you know, where you’re the version 1.0, and you’re trying to get to version 2.0, whatever that looks like for you. And that in-between part is the gap, and how do you close that gap? And that’s through, like, your pages and meditation and other things. So perfect. Thanks, Noor. Yeah, so where should we send people who want to hear your comedy or learn more about you? Where should we send them?
Noor
If you want, Instagram is at Noor Kidwai. That’s N-O-O-R-K-I-D-W-A-I. And if you like, talking about stuff like transformation, self-transformation, my podcast is God Yea or Nay? And yeah, I had I’ve had you on there a few episodes ago. And just Yeah, I had a lot of cool guests from different fields, and my whole tagline is grow, transform, become. And that’s kind of like, that’s kind of how I look at life a lot. And that’s the kind of subjects I’m interested in.
Ryan
Perfect. Thanks again.
Noor
Thanks, buddy.
Announcer
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