#926 Who's Words Define You?

Your personality was and is developed by words.  Thomas Cooley, a former Michigan supreme court justice famously said, “I’m not who you think I am; I’m not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am” Which is to say that Mr. Cooley subscribed to the idea that one ingests the worlds words about them to self-identify.  With no disrespect to this very learned man, I’m not having any of it.

There may have been a time when the words of the world penetrated my sense of self and imposed on my psyche, convincing me that I wasn’t as smart as her, as capable as him or that I was better than them.  But to quote an even brighter man, Socrates:

“The unexamined life is not worth living”

He didn’t say, “The unexamined life, by the hordes of uninformed people who’d like nothing better than to take shots at you to build their self-esteem, is not worth living.”

I’ve spent a lot of time in guided introspection to define myself by my own words and live by them.

I alone take responsibility for the moments I live up to those words, and for the moments I fail to, but they’re my words.

Don’t let the world define you.  Don’t be who you think they think you are.  Create words that define you and live by them.

Authenticity (with tact) always wins because even in a loss, integrity is a win.

Own Your Sales Gene…