Be Your Unique Self - Everyone Else Is Taken

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate." Ralph Marston

You have a perspective that is unique and valuable. No on else has your unique viewpoint! No one else has the same valuable insights that you have. Share the insights and energy that come from that perspective.

You have feelings and longings that flow from the core of who you are. Express those feelings and fulfill those longings in your own special way. The world is waiting to hear those feelings and longings. Don't deprive the world of that opportunity to learn because if you don't bring it to the world, the world will never see it!

There is great treasure in your authenticity. Your authenticity is what brings the world to your doorstep. There are beautiful possibilities that spring from the genuine person you are. Don't hide them, let us all share in those possibilities.

Through you, life experiences itself in a way that is unique and special. If you don't share it with the world, that unique and special experience dies with you, never to be shared. Don't cheat the world from your uniqueness!

Use this opportunity to make a difference in a way that only you can do.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate."

You Are Unique And Valuable

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate." Ralph Marston

You have a perspective that is unique and valuable. No on else has your unique viewpoint! No one else has the same valuable insights that you have. Share the insights and energy that come from that perspective.

You have feelings and longings that flow from the core of who you are. Express those feelings and fulfill those longings in your own special way. The world is waiting to hear those feelings and longings. Don't deprive the world of that opportunity to learn because if you don't bring it to the world, the world will never see it!

There is great treasure in your authenticity. Your authenticity is what brings the world to your doorstep. There are beautiful possibilities that spring from the genuine person you are. Don't hide them, let us all share in those possibilities.

Through you, life experiences itself in a way that is unique and special. If you don't share it with the world, that unique and special experience dies with you, never to be shared. Don't cheat the world from your uniqueness!

Use this opportunity to make a difference in a way that only you can do.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate."

Be You!

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate."~Ralph Marston

You have a perspective that is unique and valuable. No on else has your unique viewpoint! No one else has the same valuable insights that you have. Share the insights and energy that come from that perspective.

You have feelings and longings that flow from the core of who you are. Express those feelings and fulfill those longings in your own special way. The world is waiting to hear those feelings and longings. Don't deprive the world of that opportunity to learn.

There is great treasure in your authenticity. Your authenticity is what brings the world to your doorstep. There are beautiful possibilities that spring from the genuine person you are. Don't hide them, let us all share in those possibilities.

Through you, life experiences itself in a way that is unique and special. If you don't share it with the world, that unique and special experience dies with you, never to be shared. Don't cheat the world from your uniqueness!

Use this opportunity to make a difference in a way that only you can do.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate."

Be You! It's Your Most Important Job

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate." Ralph Marston

You have a perspective that is unique and valuable. No on else has your unique viewpoint!
No one else has the same valuable insights that you have.
Share the insights and energy that come from that perspective.

You have feelings and longings that flow from the core of who you are. Express those feelings and fulfill those longings in your own special way. The world is waiting to hear those feelings and longings. Don't deprive the world of that opportunity to learn.

There is great treasure in your authenticity. Your authenticity is what brings the world to your doorstep. There are beautiful possibilities that spring from the genuine person you are. Don't hide them, let us all share in those possibilities.

Through you, life experiences itself in a way that is unique and special. If you don't share it with the world, that unique and special experience dies with you, never to be shared. Don't cheat the world from your uniqueness!

Use this opportunity to make a difference in a way that only you can do.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!
"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate."

Your Most Important Job: Be You

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate."~Ralph Marston

You have a perspective that is unique and valuable. No on else has your unique viewpoint! No one else has the same valuable insights that you have. Share the insights and energy that come from that perspective.

You have feelings and longings that flow from the core of who you are. Express those feelings and fulfill those longings in your own special way. The world is waiting to hear those feelings and longings. Don't deprive the world of that opportunity to learn.

There is great treasure in your authenticity. Your authenticity is what brings the world to your doorstep. There are beautiful possibilities that spring from the genuine person you are. Don't hide them, let us all share in those possibilities.

Through you, life experiences itself in a way that is unique and special. If you don't share it with the world, that unique and special experience dies with you, never to be shared. Don't cheat the world from your uniqueness!

Use this opportunity to make a difference in a way that only you can do.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate."

Your Most Important Job: Be You!

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate." Ralph Marston

You have a perspective that is unique and valuable. No on else has your unique viewpoint! No one else has the same valuable insights that you have. Share the insights and energy that come from that perspective.

You have feelings and longings that flow from the core of who you are. Express those feelings and fulfill those longings in your own special way. The world is waiting to hear those feelings and longings. Don't deprive the world of that opportunity to learnfrom you because if you don't bring it to the world, the world will never see it!

There is great treasure in your authenticity. Your authenticity is what brings the world to your doorstep. There are beautiful possibilities that spring from the genuine person you are. Don't hide them, let us all share in those possibilities.

Through you, life experiences itself in a way that is unique and special. If you don't share it with the world, that unique and special experience dies with you, never to be shared. Don't cheat the world from your uniqueness!

Use this opportunity to make a difference in a way that only you can do.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Your most important job is to be you. There are contributions you can make, and gifts you have to give, that no one else can duplicate."

Be Irreplaceable!

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different."~Coco Chanel

Are you irreplaceable to your customers? Really? What is it that you give them that other people in your business can't give them? Think about that for a while...What do you provide that no one else can provide? Until you have figured that out, you will continue to be a commodity in everyone's eyes. Do you see the product that you sell as a commodity? That's too bad if you do...

You ask, 'How can I be irreplaceable?' Good question! Think about that for a while and I'm sure that you could come up with many ways that you could become irreplaceable. But start out with being authentic to who you are. Most people in business are "acting as business people," not being who they really are. Are you? Do you do things because that's what "business people" are supposed to do?

"When everyone thinks the same, no one is thinking." This applies to doing the same thing as well. Look at the car ads in the newspaper (for those of you younger readers, newspapers were sheet of paper printed on that would bring the news from yesterday to your house...)

You could just change the name of the dealership on the top of the ad and no one would know the difference! What a bunch of sheep! "When everybody thinks the same, no one is thinking."

Think about being irreplaceable. I guarantee you that if you think about being irreplaceable for one hour a day, for a week, you will develop so many good ideas at being irreplaceable that you could double your business in 6 months!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different."

Be Yourself

"Being yourself lets you operate out of your strengths."~Chris Widener

Who are you?
This is a question I ask everybody when I'm networking. I usually get and answer that sounds like this, "I'm a banker, I'm a mortgage broker, I'm a SEO specialist... I have to stop them and say "that's what you DO, I asked, WHO are you." Then I get a blank stare. Sometimes they are quick enough to come up with something. but most of the time, people can't tell me who they are. That's a sad story about our culture today, we've lost who we are and we're all just playing roles..."all the world's a stage..."

GET OFF THE STAGE, STOP PLAYING SOMEONE ON TV, BE YOURSELF!

People say to me "what if people won't like the real me?" How do you really know that they like you now? If you are on the stage, what's to say they aren't on the same stage. Maybe they're just acting like the like you now...

If you are not being authentic, you are giving away your strength and power. Are you operating out of your strengths? Why not?

"It's far better to be a first-rate version of yourself, than a second-rate version on someone else."

Be authentic be who YOU are. Just YOU.

"Being yourself lets you operate out of your strengths."

Your Attention

"Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do, give it to what you do or fail to do."~Buddha

Concentrate only on what you do, not others.

In today's society, we are so caught up with trying to "keep up with the Jones's." Why? Do we really need that fancy car, house, I phone? What is it about what others have that makes us want to have it as well. Are we missing out on something if we don't get it?

Be authentic, be who you are, not what others think you should be. Once you are authentic, you will know what you need to have and what you will want to have, not what you 'have' to have. Think about that for a while...

Do not give your attention to what others fail to do either. It is their failure, not yours to rejoice over or point out. We are all traveling different paths but are heading in the same direction.

If you do pay attention to what others are doing, do it in a way that uplifts and strengthens them. Do not do it in any other way.

"Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do, give it to what you do or fail to do."

Lead or Follow?

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back to the crowd."~James Crook

Are you willing to turn your back to the crowd? Are you willing to go at it alone? Why not? They say there is safety in numbers but are you being authentic, are you being yourself if, you know you should be leading but you're just following?

It's a scary place to be when you are leading, not for the faint of heart. But when you do lead, you get a feeling of exhilaration that really can't be duplicated. Has the fear of something kept you from leading? Next time that fear arises, feel the exhilaration that leading can give you and work right through that fear. Courage is not the absence of fear, but feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

A leader must turn his back to the crowd if he expects to lead. You can't lead by consensus (or by polls...) But a leader must also make sure that those he is leading, are continuing to follow him/her. If they will not follow, then the leader must change course so that they will follow.

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back to the crowd."

Trust

"Gaining trust is like filling a bucket one drop at a time."~Todd Duncan

"When you communicate in Trust, putting customers needs first and demonstrating a genuine desire to help, customers reply in Trust through positive responses- repeat sales and solid referrals. And remember, to retain fluency in any language you must not only master it, you must also use it regularly."

Are you using your trust regularly? Are you putting their needs first? Really? Even if it means that you don't get the business?

It may take us years to fill our "trust buckets" but only a few moments to drain it all out...

Remain authentic and your "trust bucket" will fill often. Go away from your authenticity and your "bucket" will start leaking...every time. Stay true to who you are

"Gaining trust is like filling a bucket one drop at a time."

Live in the Moment

"If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time, not tomorrow or next year. Today should always be our most wonderful day."~Thomas Dreier

Are you putting off enjoyment of life until you get......whatever? Why? Today is the only day that we have and tomorrow is promised to no one, yet we continue to put off our happiness until later. Why? Do you think that when you get that new car, then you will enjoy life more? Or that new house? Or all those other toys that we want? We Americans have been great at putting off happiness until we GET something. And then realizing that whatever it was, didn't bring us the happiness we wanted

Today should always be our most wonderful day! Live in the moment and be fully there. There's a great quote that says "Where ever you are, BE there." Most people are always looking back or looking ahead and are unable to be in the moment. If you are able to be completely in the moment, your life will change dramatically! Try it the next time you have a meeting. Be only there. Don't think about your next appointment, but be fully invested in the person you are meeting with. You'll be amazed at how much better the meeting will go and how you may be able to serve them in ways that you had no idea of...until you were present.

The Law of Authenticity says that "The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself." When you meet with people, give them that gift and your life will change for the better.

"If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time, not tomorrow or next year. Today should always be our most wonderful day."

Law of Authenticity

"The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself."~The Go-Giver

What does being Authentic mean? It means "not false, or copied, genuine, real."
What does Genuine mean? It means "is not counterfeit, free from pretense."
What does Real mean? "Actual rather than imaginary."

The Law of Authenticity works in all areas of your life. Business, family, all areas. You just don't become authentic when you are doing business, it is something that needs to be LIVED.

Authenticity not only improves your financial balance sheet, but it improves your life's balance sheet. How often do you think in terms of your Life's Balance Sheet?

Whatever it is that you sell, you can excel by adding value. Think about that. How can you add value to what you sell? Maybe you can add value by being a friend, showing that you care about someone, making people feel good about who they are?

At your next networking meeting, instead of asking people what they do for work, ask people "Who are you?" See what kinds of reactions you will get from them. Nobody asks about them, only what they can do for people. The old "What's in it for me" syndrome.

Like the book says, "What I'm here to sell you on is yourself." No mater what your training, no matter what your skills, You are your most important asset. People skills are required and the foundation of people skills is who you are. The most valuable thing you have to give to people is yourself. Want people skills? Then be a person. Be yourself. It's called Authenticity!

"The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself."

Is Your Dream Near-Fetched?

"Who wants a dream that's near-fetched?"
~Howard Schultz

Are your dreams limited, near-fetched? Why? Dreaming is for releasing your imagination and letting go wherever it wants to go. Most people when asked what their dreams are say something that they think the can accomplish, not some outrageous vision of a greater future for themselves.

Why is that? When we were kids, we thought that we could do anything we wanted, be anyone we wanted to be. What happened? "Life" happened. And well-meaning parents and teachers told us that we couldn't do what we wanted to do. Did this happen to you? What did you want to be when you were growing up? Are you close to it? Are you even in the same industry?

Learn to dream dreams that are far-fetched! That is what they are there for. Live on the edge and let go the conventional dream for real dreams. Dream like you were a kid again and you will become more authentic!

"Who wants a dream that's near-fetched?"

"Let your imagination release your imprisoned possibilities."~Robert H. Schuller

What possibilities are you still locking up? Why? What would happen if you just let them go and play out the way they were designed to?

Imagine those locked up possibilities as coming true. Could it happen? Would it happen? Can you make it happen?

By allowing those imprisoned possibilities to be free, you are becoming more authentic. You are becoming more you...more "you"nique. Those possibilities are who you were meant to be.

Don't allow fear to keep you from where you are supposed to be. There may be things holding you back from your "best you" but those are just things.

Become your "best you."

"Let your imagination release your imprisoned possibilities."

Who Are You?

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself."~Audrey Hepburn

Who are you? Really, who are you? Not what you do but what makes up who you are? In business are you authentic or are you playing the "business game?" Are you a second rate version of someone else? Why?

In this new economy, authenticity will be key to growing your business. So I ask again, Who are you? When I ask this question at networking events, people give me a blank stare and start to tell me what they do. We've been trained to say what we do, but nobody asks about the person.

People buy from people. They don't buy from companies, stores, online...they buy from people. People that they know, like and trust.

Think about the question again...Who are you? When you come up with a good answer, start telling everybody who you are. You will find that business will come flocking to you when you are authentic and you let everyone else see that authenticity.

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself."

False Knowledge

"Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance."
George Bernard Shaw

How do you KNOW that what you KNOW is TRUE? Experience? Someone you trust tells you? You read it in some book, magazine or blog?

Shaw says that "it is more dangerous than ignorance." Now, there's a statement to think about. False knowledge is worse than NO knowledge!! To me that means that we better know what we know and we better KNOW it to be true.

Deep down inside all of us, there's something that tells us what is true and what is not. Many people today have turned off that ability. If that is you, turn it back on. You KNOW when something is right and you also feel it when it is wrong.

In this New Economy, more and more people are going back to using that ability to decide who to hang around with, who to do business with and who to trust. We got away from that for a few decades, but people intuitively know that they need to use that ability more and more.

Here's the key: Be Authentic! Be who you were meant to be. When you are being authentic, you can tell someone that you don't know the answer. It's ok to not know. In fact, it's better than saying that you have the answer and making something up...

"Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance."

Leaving Tracks

"He who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints."~Joan Brannon

Are you leaving tracks or are you just following another's footsteps? Would you like to leave a legacy? Why or why not?

People who are authentic are the people that are blazing new trails, walking the "road less traveled." Are you authentic with your clients, prospects, friends, and family or are you just "playing" the roles dictated to you by society?

In this "New Economy," authenticity will be what wins the day and make life better for you. Look at every aspect of your life, are you being authentic?

It's real easy to follow someone, but it takes courage and a positive attitude to blaze your own trail. Can you do that or are you stuck into the mentality that says I must do what everyone else does?

Challenge yourself to blaze a new trail - today!

"He who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints."