Good Tuesday morning to you. It’s day two of our week about being different. We started off yesterday with a mention of Johnny Cash and his self-defining song, “Man In Black.” It’s a great song from a man who was a legend in the music industry. We will get to a few more songs by Johnny Cash later in the week; before we do I wanted to go back to the ‘70s with another legendary of Rock ‘n’ Roll song from a legendary band. It’s the age-old question we often ask on this blog.
Today I want to use the song and the great question “Who Are You?” Earlier, I decided to turn on the TV in my office to watch a show with a man in the food business who is different and because of this they have built a show around him. I’m talking about a guy with a show called Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Guy Fieri is one different kind of guy who has a great show about the road trips he takes to taste some of the most unusual foods.
So today we are going to use the song about being different in a positive way to make your life better. The song was part of the last album The Who made with drummer Keith Moon. I am not going to focus as much on the song as on the subject of using the fact that you are different.
In life, we are all different; that is what this week is about. Before you can build a life that you love, and maybe find a dream that is you, you first have to define who you are. Do you know who you are? If you were to enter one of those workshops or life enrichment seminars and they asked you who you were, could you answer the question?
When I ask that question of my clients, I usually first get answers about what they do for a living, what they watch on TV, what sports they played in high school, and what their major was in college. All of these things tell something about you but they do not define who you are. A few weeks ago I was at an event where my friend, J. Loren Norris, spoke. His question to us in the room was “who was he?” Many of us had answers about him, from what he did, to the type of person he was, to how helpful he was. The last person he posed the question to was his son, who was working the camera. He gave a great answer, telling us he was a dad.
There are many things you will be able to say you are in your time on this earth. You can’t let things define you that you do not want – like being known as dishonest in business. Instead, you want to let things be known about you like how you have always been a person who has heart and cares, like my friend Jessica Rector. She took that from the middle of her name where it says ICARE.
So you are different; there is not one other person like you on this earth. But what do you do with that different you? How do you help people with it? How do you let it define you? If you want to change who you are and build a new definition then it’s up to you to change it. I often quote a person I follow, Che Garman, and use her ideas in life. She speaks of affirmations. If you are not sure who you are and you want to redefine yourself, then you need to write an affirmation and start programming yourself with it.
When I went through a life enrichment seminar a few years back, I was able to write a new life defining affirmation that I told myself every day until I woke up and realized it was me. Then I changed it to grow to another and better place. My affirmation at that time was “I am singing and dancing in the rain, building a best life, no matter what I’m going through.” I learned to make the best of everything in my life because of that.
So today, if you do not know who you are, it’s time to release all those things that hold you back and write a defining affirmation to take you in a direction that is far past what you could dream of for yourself.
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dream, love what you do and those you share life with. Write down an affirmation about who you are or want to be that will take you to being the RockStar in your world.
