In China, from approximately 900 AD until its abolishment in 1905, the Chinese government practiced a form of torture and ultimate death known “Death From A Thousand Cuts.”
Under this form of execution, the convicted person was not killed mercifully or quickly. Rather the villain is executed by using a knife to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period. While no one incision is tragic, collectively over time these hundreds of cuts spell doom for the condemned.
No one thing is significant
Often the term “Death From A Thousand Cuts” is used as a metaphor in politics to describe the political tactic of making gradual changes over time so that nobody notices. Or if someone notices, the change is so small that no one raises much of a protest – ultimately resulting in the complete loss of property, freedom, and rights.
Establishing your brand within your network is truly the reverse of this, however. You do not establish your brand in the same manner as you might hope to win the lottery – one day seizing upon the perfect combination of things, which leads to incredible financial and social wealth. You successfully establish a brand by consistently performing literally thousands of small and seemingly meaningless acts towards those around you.
Insignificant action upon meaningless acts over and over
You flash a big, happy smile thousands of times, even in some incredibly trying situations. You perform thousands of kind acts, some so small they are not worth mentioning. You exhibit reliability with unfailing consistency thousands of times.
No one smile, or no single kind act, or no individual demonstration of dependability has any significance in and of itself. Collectively, however, they have an immense power to transform you. One day, after all these seemingly tiny acts and actions, a brand emerges and becomes an almost indelible part of you.
Knowing that it takes hundreds upon hundreds of insignificant acts to breathe life into your brand, continually ask yourself, “What meaningless act are you doing today?”
Author:
Frank Agin is the founder and president of AmSpirit Business Connections. In addition, Frank is the author of Foundational Networking: Building Know, Like and Trust To Create A Lifetime of Extraordinary Success and the co-author of LinkedWorking: Generating Success on the World’s Largest Professional Networking Website and The Champion: Finding the Most Valuable Person in Your Network.
