Defining Yourself and your thoughts

Any one that has invested in the time for weight lifting knows that there is a difference in building muscle mass and muscle definition. One of the most used muscles in the entire human body is the brain. The education system and the internet have been used to expand the mind and build mass but it is through human interaction that we further define our thought muscles. Learn what is valuable information and what is purely whimsical thoughts. Now that is not to say that whimsical cannot become valuable but sometimes it needs to under go scrutiny and refinement before it gains value. This is very similar to a concept that I heard recently of branding yourself. The idea of thinking of a single person as a brand is not a new concept but thinking that anyone can be a brand and not just celebrities is kind of mind blowing. Most people that I have met thus far are content with being cogs in the machine; relying on the larger cogs movements for their own perpetuation.

People come into work at 9 wind themselves up until 5 and then leave for home to pursue their own goals and self satisfactions. While at work they mesh in to the rest, not standing out and wondering why they aren’t being noticed. The answer to that is, they are not in the right field or company that will push them to a stronger set of skills that in return will evolve their career.

Meeting new people helps open opportunities in knowledge and the different possibilities in careers that are available. As stated earlier, a person can do what ever they want to grow their knowledge and name but, it is not until they start bouncing their ideas and self off of others will their personal brand grow. As any born prior to 1990 will remember, before social media and the growth of the internet, most brands only reached a few miles beyond the state limits if lucky. After social media became the norm, brands reached enough acknowledgement that they could grow into a large success.

The next time that any of you choose to go grow your brain or your personal brand, go to a networking meeting where you will make leaps and bounds.

Finishing STRONG

As soon as the elevator door closes an opportunity opens

In marketing and in business when you start to learn to perform or sell a service or a product, one of the first things you learn to sell if you self. I am talking about the elevator, the ability to wow someone in 30 to 60. So, lets say you wow, them you have their attention, you are a golden god in their eyes but, what do you do now. What do you want in return? This is a question that I have come across recently in my experience. I can generally be a humble personality and content with what I have. I don’t usually ask for much but, in trying to learn more about business and become more ambitious, I have to think about what is too much.

There are a few options that come to mind: ask for their business on the spot, ask for a more formal interview, or ask to send in your resume and hope that they remember your name and face. The final options seems too humble and it has too high of a risk factor because lets face it, some people don’t have the best of memories. So that leaves the first two choices. The first choice is a very direct choice and it is consistent on that you gave the greatest pitch of your life and that the employer is highly wow’d by your performance. The second choice says that you have caught their attention and they are interested in hearing more about what you have to say and what you can offer their business.

In the end it is each persons own business as to the choice they make or if they see any other choice not listed her. The only think that is important is that you take the risk.

Swagger in the Office

We all know that person in the office that people look up to and respect, whether we know them personally or because they are mentioned in the grapevine of the water cooler. That person who walks with purpose and people know that they are going places. In my office it is the people in sales that are always just a little extra groomed even when there is not a client in the office. Maybe, it is because if you feel confident then you will sound confident on the phone (there are success techniques that state that and they do work) Everyone should have swagger when they walk in the office, they should feel their best and know that they have purpose to accomplish.

Maintaing a little black book….of ideas

In a single day a person can have thousands of thoughts ranging from what they will eat later in the day to what did you just do a second ago. For a business professional or even a person working temporarily in a retail store until they hit it big, it is important to carry a cheap little book that can be picked up at a convenience store. (I carry a moleskine book) You never know when you are going to have a good idea or will want to expand upon an old idea. The other day I was going through some old drawing books and notebooks, remembering all the ideas that were in my head over the years. Trends come and go over the years, so if you start planning an idea now, you will be ahead of the game. When was the last time you went through old papers and found something you forgot about?

Dawning A Suit as a Cape

I have mentioned in an earlier post that you can compare the change in costumes with in comics to coming of age stories. The idea that a super hero can start out as a side-kick but once he goes solo, he chooses to take on a new look. What about real life? What does a “suit mean in real life? In the sitcom show “How I Met Your Mother”. Neil Patrick Harris’s character, Barnie, has coined the phrase “Suit Up!”. The phrase is thrown around jokingly most of the time just before a crazy adventure or when Barnie is trying to get Ted out of the dumps.

For some, the idea of a suit can be connected with corporate greed, being a sellout, being a politician, or just being super facial. Some of those can be true but many people at the end of the day can trade in their suits for something more casual. Many people during the afternoon rush out are jumping out of their clothes during the drive home–loosening their ties, pulling out their earings, returning to a average citizens. There is a lot of negative connotations amongst certain populations in the US, to having to wear a suit to work everyday. Although it is no different than some professions that have to wear costumes to work or chefs in a restaurant wearing all white (I don’t know what that particular piece of clothing is called). Many comic book characters and fictional characters start off as either side kicks, heroes, anti-heroes, villains, henchman, or another corner of the spectrum and later on in the story start to move to another side. The same can be said for professionals that start off as idealists and become weathered or corrupted by society. But like any good story through struggles, they find their way back, better than before. The recent film Ides of March staring George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Phillip Seaymore Hoffman, and Paul Giamatti (an all star cast in my opinion), was a character study on Ryan Gosling’s character Stephen Myers. In the film Myers started off as a hero and soon became an anti-hero through the corruption of others. This is prety normal in American Capitalism which teaches us to take care of ourselves and our careers first. Many other movies have portrayed different protagonists who wear suits as their armor or mask. “Up in the Air” and “The Godfather” are two excellent examples, a lot can be said about both movies (whole essays on their own).

On the other side of the spectrum, people who wear suits to fight for justice and truth exist. The most famous example of a person who fights evil while wearing a suit is Bruce Wayne, yes he is known more for his crime fighting abilities while he is Batman but, during the day he runs a corporate empire. I recently watched a Michael J. Fox movie “Secret of My Success” where is goes to New York City to get a job. At the beginning of the movie you see him wearing farm clothes than in the next scene he is wearing a suit. Although he quickly gets side tracked in the usual 80s high jinks, he just as quickly regains his footing and saves the company he is working for by getting rid of his corrupt boss.

A suit can be a tool of the trade, one that does have a lot of rules set by society on how it should be worn and cared for but, like many things if you care for something it will last you a long time (or that is what I am told, I’m still 24 so it will be a bit before I can personally confirm that one).

Like many costume characters some people dawn a suit and tie for a reason. It is not only because it is the next logical step in a career. Some people do go into the corporate world or professional world in order to better themselves and live a different life than the way they have grown up. Many people go to college in order to do so and others are naturally talented. Working in business for only a short time now, I have found companies hold a lot of people from different backgrounds.

A suit makes a man or person become more than they were capable of being as an ordinary person for better or for worse.

“You know a conjurer get…

You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet 

Learning to dress yourself

One of the first steps towards learning to be independent when we are young is learning how to dress ourselves without the help of our parents. In fact as a society we force people to dress themselves with the insults from other children, “it looks like your mother dressed you.” Now this “insult” mainly refers to children wanting others to dress in a more modern fashion or in a more appropriate manner that fits the situation at hand.

American society or maybe just east coast society, has a dress code for everything. What to wear casually, what to wear in the woods, what to wear when with friends, and what to wear just in case the situation changes. Although there are many subcultures that create there own rules for what to wear, society will still judge.

I am not here to talk about each situation and how different people approach them. What I wish to discuss in depth over a period of time, are the rules of fashion with age. Mainly how people change the way they dress from the time they get a white color job and wish to climb the corporate ladder. Saying goodbye to t-shirts and slacks in order to dawning a suite as their cape.

The best example that I can give is DC Comic, superheroes. If you look at Robin, Dick Gracen to be exact, for the longest time he was Batman’s side kick. Most people recognize him with the tights and yellow cape. As the series progress though, he chose to become a new hero, Night Wing. When he changed his objective he also changed his outfit in order to no longer be associated as just a side kick. This is true in the corporate environment. You may get a job as a means to just pay the bills and you start as someones assistant or in the corporate pool. Once you have decided though that you want more out of life and no longer wish to be seen as just another face, you start to dress differently, work harder, and distinguish yourself.It is process that can take a day, week, or months as you learn new dress standards and new morning routines.