Admit it … You want to be more than you are. Everyone does. We all believe that there is a greater day ahead for us.
Even the icons of business, entertainment and professional sports – with all the stature they have amassed – seek to advance their brand. Like you (albeit on a much higher plane), they desire to be seen as more savvy in the world of business … more philanthropic to the needs of others … more influential in their communities.
What drives us every day
We all really do hope to be known as being something a little more special than we are today. In essence, this is what drives us day after day.
A greater brand starts with a vision
The reality is that you can be more than you are. It all starts in your head and begins with a vision of what you want to be.
Consider the case of the Hunchback Persian Prince. It was his destiny to one day be king. He was so tragically deformed, however that many in the kingdom could barely stand to think of the day when the deformed Prince would assume the throne. Though rumors of these feelings troubled the Prince, it did not deter him.
One day the Prince made an odd decree. He ordered the royal sculptor to carve his statue out of white marble. Rather than have the statue look as the he did, however, the Prince ordered the sculptor to chisel the shimmering stone into a figure that looked exactly as he would look if he had no deformity.
Chisel a perfect likeness
When the sculpture was finished, the Prince placed the beautiful effigy in the center of the palace. Then every day – every single day – that Prince would approach the statue, take off his shirt and try to bend his back straight up against the back of his statue.
Then one day he overheard some palace aid remark to another that it seemed the Prince was standing straighter. This fired the Prince’s enthusiasm. He continued his daily ritual and worked even harder to bend his back straight up against the back of the white marble likeness of himself.
Then one day – an ordinary day of approaching the statue, taking off his shirt and bending upward – he was thrilled when his warm shoulders made contact with the cold marble. He now resembled the statue he ordered constructed.
One day reality meets vision
Your life is much like that of the Hunchback Persian Prince. Your life today is riddled with imperfection and deformities relative to where you want to take it.
Take a lesson from the Prince. Metaphorically carve a statue of yourself – envision how you want to be seen or draft a description of this greater you. Then almost religiously compare yourself to this image, while at the same time working to become it. Like the Hunchback Persian Prince, one day you will experience of the thrill of having your reality meeting up with the brand you envisioned.
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.
