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[thrive_drop_caps color=’blue’ style=’1′] In this episode I discuss a very important topic – being you. It turns out that one of the hardest things to do is to be yourself, because we are constantly trying to shape our thoughts and get influenced by others’ views, opinions and actions. It also turns out that when we truly take time to focus on ourselves, we start to suddenly feel better, smarter, more productive and fulfilled. I share 10 tools to help you tap into your true potential. [/thrive_drop_caps]
I remember the days I slogged for crazy long hours at work for a hefty pay. And that got me a good name amongst my customers and colleagues. But ever since starting this podcast and the blog, I became well-known beyond the circles of my colleagues and family. People I never knew started to follow me. I was invited for interviews. I was on the newspapers. And that’s the best thing that ever happened to me.
Just Being Yourself
Today on the episode I want to talk about the benefits of BEING YOU. And by saying that what I mean is to embrace your uniqueness and putting yourself to better use – do what you are truly meant to be doing. You might even ask yourself “What’s so unique about me?” or “How can I make a difference?”. I’m going to tell you exactly why you can and how in this episode. So make sure you put on your seat belts and stay with me right till the end.
You know, sometime last year I wrote down my thoughts about staying focused in a highly distracted world. And when I started to look around, it did dawn upon me that I was perhaps adding to the noise too. In fact, we all do.
When I started Season 2 of the podcast, the one thing I wanted to do was to try and have conversations that help us reflect. I was hoping to have conversations with guests on subjects that was important for us, for our families, careers and perhaps life itself. And I’m happy to have had some really important conversations with guests.
That conversation with John Sanei about what he discovered about himself as he went from being a multimillionaire to being bankrupt, the one with John Lee Dumas about becoming a person of value, or the one with Vithya Visvendra about how she reinvented herself after being hit with depression…or that one with documentary filmmaker Ram Devineni about how he made award-winning films while he was working a full-time job. Every single conversation was deep and impactful and thanks for sending me those emails letting me know how much they impacted you.
And now that we are 28 episodes into the season, I wanted to take a moment so I can talk to you…perhaps have a conversation after you finish listening to this episode.
Being You.
You’ve heard this. It’s the Think Different campaign that Apple did used back in 1997 in response to IBM’s ‘Think’ campaign. In that advertisement Apple showed images of prominent thinkers of all time like Albert Einstein, Richard Branson, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and others in an attempt to show people who stood an example for Apple’s campaign slogan.
But what Apple didn’t say in that advertisement is that a lot of us watching this advertisement also identified ourselves with the slogan. We all think different. And that’s what makes us unique.
I worked my bottom-off for some of the biggest companies that a lot of people dreamt and made a lot of money along with other things like patents, awards and such. Everyone I know called me lucky. But deep inside I knew there was so much more that I could do.
Focusing on myself changed my life.
It was not until I started this podcast and a blog, that things started to change. It was scary at first. Speaking into a microphone and hearing my own voice, writing emails to people I never knew to invite them as guests, putting the recordings out for people to listen, all of this was very scary.
And for the first time in my life, did I start to truly explore and grow my interests, connect with complete strangers, and learnt so much about the internet, marketing, relationship building, social media, personal branding and so much more. Me being myself even attracted opportunities – I got invited to give talks, conduct workshops and consult with big companies.
In my manifesto that I published last year I talk about a simple idea of Being You….and also share 10 tools to help you do that. I must remind you that this manifesto is available for download at designyourthinking.com/getmanifesto… and you don’t have to give your email address or phone number to do that.
10 Tools to 10x Your Career and Life by Being You
- The Four Pillars
- Being Mindful
- Finding Your Why
- Get Closer to Your Dreams Every Day
- Measure Your Success
- Let Serendipity Happen
- Always Be Learning
- Connect with People
- Be Found
- Do Now
Join the Newsletter
I wanted to take a minute to tell you about my newsletter. If you happen to be running a business, or just getting started, I want to invite you to signup for my newsletter. Every week I share resources, stories and conversations so we can exchange notes as we build our businesses. So if you are a business owner, entrepreneur or solopreneur, or whichever way you identify yourself, do signup for the newsletter at designyourthinking.com/newsletter.
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Special thanks to Mike Barrow for taking time to join me this week!
