Different From The Rest...

Have you ever purchased a brand new car, driven it off of the lot, and then noticed that seemingly ever other person in your city was driving the same exact car. Well, that may be an exaggeration. However, it does seem as if the minute you purchase or want to purchase something, you immediately begin to notice how many other people have already made the same purchase. For some this may make the purchase that much more appealing. You may think to yourself, if everyone else has it, it must be a great buy. For others, the idea of driving the same car as your neighbor from two houses down is not so appealing. You may feel like a copycat, unoriginal, and not like the trend setter you thought you were.

We have all heard that trends come and go, but in a world with more than ten different mainstream versions of essentially the same type of social networking, it has become increasingly more difficult to be an original anything. Most people do what most people do. In other words, people have began to only get involved in something when they hear that everyone else is doing it. It’s almost like high school. You know how we use to run home from school and beg our parents to buy us the jeans that the most popular girl or guy in school wore that day- in the hopes that we too could become the popular girl or guy in school.

Here’s the thing, if everyone else is driving it, wearing it, creating it, or leading the way with it, not only does the world not need you to do it, if you did it, I doubt if anyone would notice. That’s right, NO ONE WOULD NOTICE YOU.

If you want to get some notice- with your business, on your job, or even in your own home- you are going to have to do something different. What’s different about you is what sets you apart. What’s different about you is what will generate interest. What’s different about you may be exactly what the world needs.

We don’t another television reality star, social networking site, cell phone app, or the next Oprah. Learn to be an original in a world full of knock-offs!


To Blog…Nakeia


What makes you different form the rest? How can you use that difference to make money, impact your community, or influence the next generation?

Don't You Dare Compare

When you compare yourself to others, you limit yourself to their abilities.

Think about it. When you look at another person’s car, house, business, or family in admiration, your mind often shifts into wonder mode. You may wonder what that person does for a living. You may wonder how old he/she is and how long it took him/her to get it. You may even wonder what else that person may possess and what his/her bank account may state. Eventually, your mind will leave wonder mode and shift into why mode. You may ask yourself why don’t I drive a car like that, why is it taking me so long to get what I want, or why don’t I have a lot of money in the bank. Finally, after leaving wonder and why mode, your mind will probably spend the rest of the day in automatic replay mode. You will undoubtedly begin to replay all of the mistakes you have made over the years. You will think of the college you should have attended, the courses you should have taken, the state you should have moved to, and even the guy or girl you should have married.
While in automatic replay mode, you will begin to compare yourself to friends and co-workers, family members and even enemies. If you stay in this mode long enough, you may even visualize yourself living their lives, driving their cars, and spending their money. Your life now looks even worse than you thought.

What if you stop comparing yourself to others and start being inspired by them? What if the car you could buy from the money you made from your new business was a year or two newer than theirs? What if the inspiration you felt from the family you saw led you to create the family of your dreams?

You could be far more successful than the people you secretly envy if you simply stop comparing and start getting inspired.

Start by thinking of one person in or around your life that you have been comparing yourself to. Write down all of the things you admire about them--- their lifestyle and their possessions. Now simply tell yourself that you can have that…AND MORE. The AND MORE insert is very important because your talents, gifts, and vision may extend far beyond the other person’s reach.

Once you have you list, I want you to shift into wonder mode. Become amazed in admiration of what you could achieve, acquire, and reveal about yourself. Next, allow yourself to shift into why mode. Ask yourself why NOT me. There will be no good answer to that question because you CAN have everything you want in life if you doo what it takes to get it. Finally, settle into replay mode. Allow your mind to replay all of your dreams and goals that you have set and visualize yourself achieving them.

Since you were the one who set the limits; you have the ability to remove them. Do it today!

To Blog…Nakeia

Who inspires you? Do you compare yourself to others?

The Word NO

As I prepare to welcome our baby boy into the family, I can’t help but think of my baby girl. She just turned six years old last month, and my husband and I have been replaying her toddler days over and over in our minds. As we reminisce on all of her firsts--- her first smile, her first words, her first steps… we realize that we were in complete awe of her---and still are.

I remember the first time I told her NO. She was grabbing for my favorite earrings so I grabbed her hand and said NO. She looked at me as if I had two heads, and then went for the earrings again. That grab match went on for a few more seconds until I handed her one of her favorite toys to distract her from the lure of my favorite earrings.

Six years later, my baby girl still looks at me as if I have two heads when I tell her NO. I don’t know about you, but I do not like hearing the word NO either. When I make a request, I expect it to be granted. But as an adult, I realize that hearing the word NO has taught me much more than always hearing YES could have.

Joyce Spizer says something like… NO is a word you encounter on your path to YES.

Now when I first heard that phrase I thought to myself…what’s that suppose to mean. Then, after years of being an entrepreneur, I realized that life doesn’t have to end at NO. That is when the phrase… No is a word you encounter on your path to YES, started to make perfect sense to me. I have heard the word NO many times, but those NO’s made the one Yes I needed mean that much more. Hearing the word NO taught me patience, perseverance, and diligence. It has even forced me to miss a good opportunity only to stumble upon a great one.

I am somewhat of a realist. So, I understand that hearing the word NO is not a pleasant experience. There have been times when hearing a music executive say NO to a song I have poured my heart in soul into made me feel like a baby girl, hearing NO for the first time. And I sat there staring at that person as if he had two heads, I felt like storming out in tears. But instead, I just played another song and sometimes yet another, until I heard the word YES.

Patience, perseverance, and diligence are characteristics that you will never learn from always hearing YES. And if you have plans of being successful at anything, you are going to need them. However unpleasant the word NO can be, I want you to remember that life doesn’t have to end with that NO. All you need is one YES; and you will only hear it if you don’t give up!

To Blog…Nakeia

Do you just give up when someone tells you NO? What has hearing the word NO taught you?

Waiting On Perfect

You can plan it.

You can meet on it.

You can talk about it.

You can blog about it.

But...it will not get done until you do it.

This is not just a fact but it is a principle that I know ALL successful people come to realize early on.

There will never be the perfect time, perfect place, or perfect circumstance. When you really think about it, there always seems to be something that could be better.

You have a choice. You can sit, plan, prepare, research, and wait on perfect...or you can just start. You can start your book, start your blog, start your cupcake business, or start your marketing firm and watch your wonderful self create perfection right before your very own eyes.

Waiting on perfect will get you no where, but starting certainly will.

To Blog...Nakeia

Do you believe perfect exists? What could you start today?