Category Personal Growth
Accept yourself unconditionally
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
There are few events as devastating as the loss of employment. The damage done to a persons self-esteem, especially if the length of time without a job is extended, can be crippling. Try to remember that your future isn’t in a job; your future is within you.
I think that self-honesty is of critical importance. Once we’re able to divorce ourselves from the various illusions and obsessions that affect our decision making, we’re free to make choices that are based in reality. Until then we’re held hostage.
I’ll give you an example, when I was a young actor in New York I had to make a living between jobs. Actors in New York become waiters, right? That’s the archetype. Waiting on tables gives an actor an income, and scheduling flexibility. I decided I would get a job waiting on tables. Within a few days I found a job at a prestigious restaurant in Gramercy Park. By my third evening shift I was fired. I couldn’t believe it.
So I went out and found another job as a waiter. The same result. I was fired. I was a terrible waiter primarily because I didn’t really enjoy it. However I couldn’t accept that. I became obsessed with proving to myself that I could excel in the restaurant industry. I found another job, and again, the same result; I was fired.
I was fired from twenty restaurant jobs in ninety days before I was finally bludgeoned into accepting that I just wasn’t a good fit for the restaurant industry and that the restaurant industry would never be a good fit for a klutz like me.
Sometimes rejection is God’s protection. I found a career in acting which was not only a way of life but a way to life. In additon, the skills I learned as an actor prepared me for a career in sales. Do a self-inventory including asking yourself what you really want from life. I’ve found most people can tell me what they don’t want but fare able to define what they want.
We’re all inundated by messages from our family, friends, peers, and the media. It can get to be a little confusing.
Here are a few thoughts offered by Brian Tracy that may help to guide you towards clarity of mind and purpose. The journey begins with acceptance, and in particular, self-acceptance.
Remember, dire circumstances have the potential to reveal who you really are. The bad times in my life forced me to discover capacities, talents, and resources I didn’t know I had.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Personal Growth on March 19th, 2009
Did your excellence drive results or was it simply the boom cycle?
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
Since 2005, an increasing number of people, flush with cash and credit, went online to shop. E-commerce grew 25-29%, year after year; until last year. Now many marketers and merchants are coming to the realization that their growth was largely attributable to the rising waters of the internet. It was the boom cycle that drove revenue gains rather than any special in-house intelligence or talent.
Sorry folks, I know that’s hard to hear but the proof is in the taste of the pudding; many of the marketing decision makers who were flying high during the boom cycle have been replaced during this down cycle or have taken their inflated resumes elsewhere before they were discovered to be fakes, and frauds.
When you go to see a Doctor you’re trusting that the Doctor has kept up with the latest in his profession, and if it’s beyond his scope, the office will refer you to a professional trained in the area of your medical need. Doctors are seldom referred to as, “experts” but I see self-proclaimed marketing “experts” all over the fast changing, always evolving e-commerce terrain. How can this be?
Needless to say I believe there are only a few digital marketing experts, and furthermore, I think that the term “expert” will stunt one’s growth. On the web one should always be flexible, and willing to say; “I don’t know; we need to test”. It’s best to keep a beginners mind.
“A mind is like a parachute, it works best when it’s open.”
The Key Question for You to Ask
Why are you on the payroll? This is one of the most important questions you ever ask and answer, over and over again, throughout your career. Are you there to drive company growth or are you there to protect your turf? Are you there to earn you wings? Are you doing more than you have to, to the detriment of your employer, because, you believe you’re creating job security by positioning yourself as the High Priest of the marketing secret sauce when your really degrading your employer’s chances with inefficiencies?
Posted by Tom Polanski in Personal Growth on March 16th, 2009
The eBrand Media Four P’s of Persuasion
By Brian Tracy
eBrand Media believes there are four “Ps” that will enhance your ability to persuade others in both your work and personal life. They are power, positioning, performance, and politeness. And they are all based on perception.
Develop Personal Power
The first “P” is power. The more power and influence that a person perceives that you have, whether real or not, the more likely it is that that person will be persuaded by you to do the things you want them to do. For example, if you appear to be a senior executive, or a wealthy person, people will be much more likely to help you and serve you than they would be if you were perceived to be a lower level employee.
Shape Their Thinking About You
The second “P” is positioning. This refers to the way that other people think about you and talk about you when you are not there. Your positioning in the mind and heart of other people largely determines how open they are to being influenced by you.
In everything you do involving other people, you are shaping and influencing their perceptions of you and your positioning in their minds. Think about how you could change the things you say and do so that people think about you in such a way that they are more open to your requests and to helping you achieve your goals.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Personal Growth on February 27th, 2009
A few of my favorite quotes. Hope you like ‘em too!
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
I thought I’d post a few of my favorite quotes this morning, because they inspire me, spark my thinking in different directions, sum up a truth in a line or two, and finally, because I have to add fresh content to the blog, and don’t have the time to write today.
“This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish, little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and for as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it off to future generations.”
– George Bernard Shaw
“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who sought and found out how to serve.”
– Albert Schweitzer, Humanitarian
“A high standard of living will not lend itself to a high quality of life unless it is rooted in honesty.”
– Anonymous
“You make the world a better place by making yourself a better person.”
– Scott Sorrell
Posted by Tom Polanski in Personal Growth on February 9th, 2009
Those who are the most disciplined experience the greatest freedom
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
That seems paradoxical at first glance, doesn’t it? However the more you think about it, the more sense it’ll make. One example is exercise. Include some sort of physical activity into you day and studies indicate that there’s less chance of devastating illness, and that means, freedom from Doctors and Emergency Rooms. Another is meditation. I meditate everyday. This has resulted in a more focused, in the moment, and disciplined mind, which allows me to do my work in a more efficient manner with fewer mistakes and a lower level of frustration. That means I have remnant time and good cheer to apply elsewhere.
I could go on and on but I think you see what I mean. Go down your personal list, and I think you’ll find areas of your life where you could be more disciplined. Think it through, and you’ll identify benefits in improving your level of discipline in all areas.
I’ll bet there are quite a few “movers and shakers” in the financial industry who’re looking over their shoulders right now because they weren’t morally disciplined. Madoff is definitely not free.
In regards to your profession, Brian Tracey writes: Discipline yourself to do what you know you need to do to be the very best in your field. Perhaps the best definition of self discipline is this: “Self discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”
It is easy to do something when you feel like it. It’s when you don’t feel like it and you force yourself to do it anyway that you move your life and career onto the fast track.
What decisions do you need to make today in order to start moving toward the top of your field? Whatever it is, either to get in or get out, make a decision today and then get started. This single act alone can change the whole direction of your life.
There is a powerful seven step formula that you can use to set and achieve your goals for the rest of your life. Every single successful person uses this formula or some variation of this formula to achieve vastly more than the average person. And so can you. Here it is:
Posted by Tom Polanski in Personal Growth on January 23rd, 2009