Corey’s Story Journey: Fierceness
November 30, 2009
My big take away from today was an attribute that I have recently labeled about myself as impatience, but that my story guide Annie Hart redirected this morning as fierceness.
As my business is growing and our authors and company are gaining more popularity, more and more people are contacting me to help them with their branding.
That has created a serious bottleneck for me, because it often translates into hours each week of free consultation, where I’m having to describe the reality of what it takes to make a brand successful to people who have rose colored glasses on about the process. Constantly being pulled away to have those conversations frustrates me, because I have so much work to do not only for our clients, but for our employees.
The lack of patience increases when I’m on the phone with someone who is looking at this industry from the idealistic perspective of a child. Hollywood has trained most people to believe that if you have a great idea, it’s worth a fortune.
I used to sit in on workshops where agents and managers and producers would tell writers to never pay anyone to help them with their careers. “Hollywood should be paying you.” But Hollywood opens its doors to only .00001% of those people. So what does everyone else do? In the eyes of those producers, agents and managers, they should spend their time trying to be part of that .00001%. THAT’S ABSURD!
Everyone has a story worth telling. Everyone has many stories worth telling. I am cursed with that knowledge. I am cursed with knowing that our storytelling process is life changing for the people who tell their stories. And yet, I have to decide who we’re going to work with. I have to turn people away from that opportunity if they come to me with those rose colored glasses on.
I felt bad about being impatient. But I feel good about being fierce. This world needs change and change does not happen until we choose to see the world for what it is. When we take off those rose glasses, we leave the realm of the idealistic child and we begin to play in the arena of the powerful adult who can impact others. So forgive me if I come across as impatient…what I’m really doing is pushing to find the bravest of people who will go to battle for their cause.
Annie’s note: This is a wonderful grounded perspective on business. It’s difficult to be caring for everyone’s story but realistic about what it will take at the same time. Corey is blazing a trail of fierce commitment to the genuine product.
![[Post to Twitter]](http://anniehart.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter.png){kind=icon}
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Dare to Stand Out in the Crowd
November 5, 2009
dare to stand out
As a wise sage (me) once said,
“If You Want to Be the Best, You’ve Got to Stand Out From the Rest.”
Let me ask you this - do you want to be liked or do you want to make a difference in the world? Do you want to be one of the crowd or do you want to stand out and be exceptional? Guess what? You can’t do both.
Nope. To stand out from the crowd you have to risk, dare to be unique, be vulnerable and feel alone at times. But what’s the alternative? To be bland, boring, average, mediocre, middle of the road and like all the rest? Again as that wise sage says, “If you want to be the best, you have to stand out from the rest!”
So if that’s what we want, why don’t we dare to stand out? To answer that I’ll have to tell you a little story about Mr. Lizard. Mr. Lizard loves lounging in the sun, sleeping, eating and chasing flies, but that’s about it. He’s not seeking to do big things in the world, change the status quo or be different than any of the other lizards right. No, he’s seeking to be the same and do the same. Same old, same old.
If I go up and grab Mr. Lizard by the tail, hang him over a cliff and ask him if he’d like to learn to fly - his wriggling, quivering body will shout NO with every ounce of his being!
Mr. Lizard does not want to learn to fly, ever. He likes to lounge. Only a fool would drop Mr. Lizard off that cliff and imagine that he will fly. He won’t. Mr. Lizard cannot fly because he does not have any wings and I don’t think he’s going to sprout them any time soon.
So that is our lizard brain. Stuck in it’s ways, likes to stay the same, fears change, is scared of flying and oh did I mention that it does not want us to stand out in the crowd? To a lizard being different means sure death. “Do not be different. Be the same.” That is the message of our lizard brain. Don’t be mad at Mr. Lizard. He evolved a long time ago.
In short Mr. Lizard illustrates why we don’t dare to stand out in the crowd and be different. We want to take risks but we don’t because it threatens our status quo. Whenever we fear change of any kind it’s because Mr. Lizard has got his finger on the control panel of our brain. So what should we do?
Let me tell you another story. Imagine that you have a beautiful baby parrot from the rain forest. Now take that baby parrot and try desperately to keep it on the ground. Use nice language and speak to it politely. Explain in great detail why it’s not in it’s best interests to fly and that it’s better to stay on the ground.
Is the parrot going to listen? No. He may hear your words but he’s not going to follow your directions because the instincts in his body are telling him to lift off into the skies. Oops, there he goes, just lost him. Well maybe he’ll be back.
The instincts of our higher brain, the one is the most evolved and sits on the top of our heads, is to soar. Our higher brain loves to dream, see the bigger picture and stand out from the crowd. The higher brain is comfortable with difference and in facts even seeks it out.
A flying creature like the parrot is not content to stay on the ground like all the herd animals. He likes to fly and soar above the rest. That’s our higher brain.
So when we’re stuck and unable to move forward with what we really want there is only one problem and only one solution. We’ve got to get Mr. Lizards little paw off the control panel and put our high flying parrot in charge instead.
How do we do that? Well one way is to be willing to tolerate the discomfort and fear of loss. Anytime you dare to to stand out in the crowd and be different, you are going to come across your fear of not being liked and not being part of the herd. Eeek! Mr. Lizard hates this part.
Be kind to him. He can’t help himself. Don’t try to shut him up and definitely don’t put him in a closet somewhere. He’ll die. Just let him rant a bit as you go ahead and move towards what you really want. And what you really want is to dare to stand out and make a difference in the world.
In other words, face the fear of your lizard brain. Know that it feels strong but it can be overridden. Mission, passion and personal desire for making a difference are much stronger than fear. Mr. Lizard may scream, but he will eventually come along. He’s a better solider than he is a the leader.
But you are a leader, leading the way for others in whatever you’re doing that. Know that when you dare to stand out in the crowd and be unique, you truly make a difference in the world.
Today follow that wise sage’s advice and “Dare To Stand Out.”
I’m Annie Hart and I help leaders and big thinkers to stand out in the crowd and make a difference in the world.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tribute, Why We Love Gary V.
July 4, 2009
Alright I know this photo is REALLY huge! But Gary Vaynerchuk is really BIG in the media right now, so it’s fitting.
So who is this Gary V and why do we love him? Well if you’re reading this blog post, then go back to the front page of my website and check out his video. You’ll see what I mean.
Gary V. dares to be real. How can you not love a guy who makes a video while sitting in his less than perfect office and lets his phone ring while he’s taping? We love that! He is daring to blow away all of the schmaltzy, picture-perfect, over-the-top business types who make you think that if you don’t look and act like everyone else, you’ll never make it in this world.
Well Gary V. does not act like everyone else and that’s exactly what we love about him. (Sigh of relief.) Enough already! Maybe we can finally stop pretending about who we are.
Gary V. is the real deal - bold, audacious and loud! Remember how many times we were told in Catholic school to be quiet? Well he is literally defying those nuns and many other rules as well.
How can you not love that? Listen, it’s not easy to be yourself in this world, especially the business world. I literally had someone tell me, not so long ago even, that if I didn’t wear navy blue pumps and a white blouse with 3/4 length sleeves, that I would never make it as a presenter. I’m not kidding, she really told me that!
Well folks, I don’t have any navy blue pumps. I have a pair of bright turquoise ones that are really cute. I also don’t own even one white blouse - neither short or long sleeved. Am I a failure? I don’t think so. I’m darned adorable when I tell stories in my colorful caftans and barefeet. Just kidding, I don’t have any caftans.
But when I present in front of people they get the real me, the real deal, not the schmaltzy made up version, well maybe just a little.
He Dares To Be Real
But you get the point. Gary V. dares to be real. I try to be real. Dare to be real yourself, everyday. It’s the wave of the future if you ask me.
Guru’s like Tony Robbins are relics of the past. In the future, success is only going to be possible if you have mussed up hair or something. To make it in my book, you have to give up the schmaltz!
Yay Gary V! Keep being loud, funny and real. And by the way, thanks for following me on Twitter. Like minded souls should stick together on this trail. It’s a rough world out there!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Video of the Week, Storytelling is the Game
June 28, 2009
According to branding guru Gary Vaynerchuck, storytelling is the name of the game. He believes it is the most underrated thing when it comes to business and yet it is everything when trying to convey emotion and attachment to your brand and in todays world. Gary says, “Folks, a press release is JUST not gonna CUT IT!
My thoughts exactly. I love this guy!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
-
Connect With Annie Hart
.png)
.png)