Be Yourself
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008Be Yourself
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” -Confucius
“Be yourself” is a pretty cliche statement, but its value cannot be diminished despite the frequency of its use. Authenticity has been on a lot of minds lately and personality is even a new P in marketing (according to author Rohit Bhargava). In this new era of the web and with the evolution of the open source paradigm, those with personality, humanity, and authenticity will likely succeed. The skin of protection and privacy is disappearing, word spreads quicker, and brands sour faster than the milk in your fridge.
The platform now exists for personality. You can paint a digital picture of yourself (positive or negative) and over time, leave digital footprints and snapshots of yourself along the cyber-highway. Personality will always serve you well so make sure you’re giving people an impression of who you are as a person.
Now that we’ve established that the platform exists and the time is right for making an impression, why exactly should you make a personable impression? Why be yourself in order to be useful? Because being yourself creates an aura of authenticity and helps you come off as genuine. The more genuine you appear, the more people will trust you. The more people trust you, the more use you can provide to them (and the more value you can create).
People can spot spammers and scammers. Sure, if you are yourself, some may not like you, but that’s the risk you take. Unless you’re truly a jerk who provides no value to the world (I’m going to assume you’re not), chances are you’re going to increase your success rate with your social efforts by being yourself.
As a resident of Tinsel Town, I can attest to the fact that there are a lot of fake people in the world. And it’s easy to spot them, they are the name-droppers, the flashers, the ones that brag and carry on about themselves. Don’t go too far. Be yourself.
Lastly, we all admire what we perceive as original. Original thought, original people, original looks. Originality is sexy. The thing is, you don’t have to be original to be perceived as original. And you don’t have to be original to be yourself. Be yourself and chances are, original thought will come as a byproduct. And you’ll be respected as a result. Remember, the more social capital and credibility you have, the more power you have and therefore the more useful you can be.


