Overnight Success 5 – Belief Systems

You know, I have this fancy bio that people read when I have speaking gigs, and I kind of hate it. I mean, I guess I have to have it so the people think I'm someone they should listen to (and the promoters think they should bring me in to speak), but it kind of makes me ill to hear them read it. Not quite sure what to do about that. I guess as long as it still makes me ill, then that's a good start. ;)

You know, Chris - I thought I was all that and a bag of chips.

Then I went to BlogWorld. I was dished a dose of instant humility, and it was probably the healthiest gift I could have ever gotten.
Seeing such great people (great in personality - not necessarily uber-popular tweeters) helped me realize that it's about knowing the other people in your community and connecting rather than name-dropping or slogan-slinging.

Once I realized that, just by my activity on Facebook and Twitter I already see a great difference. More interactions of higher quality, and I actually enjoy talking to people - not just counting numbers getting higher! It's a great relief.

Thanks, Chris!

Done! But it helps nobody know who I am.
This is great to hear form someone the web community look up to, and has reason to by into the hype.

Chris - well said. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. And just because there are people along the route cheering you on and yelling "great job", that doesn't mean you've finished the race. Thanks for the continued inspiration, and keep plugging away. We are all better for it.

I love these series Chris.
It's interesting, for years now I've been pushing/teaching some of these values in your overnight success series over to my children. Our upbringing and values can guide us latter on in life and even in our business.

I'll try not to curse, then. : )

You're awesome Chris.

When I made my debut at The Sydney Opera House I woke up the next morning tosome of the best reviews of my life. While I ran around the hotel room screaming with glee, my agent sagely warned me - "If you believe the good reviews then you have to believe the bad." Stick to your course. And make sure you have a strong enough intention behind whatever it is that you do to get you through regardless of the hype or the trolls....

I have a feeling your agent did you a big favor that day. I would've done what you did. But she or he is right. : )

I think we've got to take a small amount of time to enjoy the small successes, but not let it go to our heads, because there's a lot more race to be run. So Natalie- Congratulations! And enjoy the moment! But realize that you got there with hard work and more hard work will take you to the next goal, building success upon success.
And that's the real secret- success is not one destination, one step, but multiple steps, the journey as a whole. And that's also what keeps you going if things get tough- time to dust yourself off and get back in the game.

Thanks Chris. It is valuable lesson, as is the rest of your Overnight Success series I just now discovered.

It is always good to stay grounded and let your work speak for itself. I rather put that 'polish' on the collaborative projects I work on, as that is where the spotlight belongs, not on myself. Or as you say, others that are doing amazing work.

Thanks again.

Cheers,
Louis

If I may expand on that perception a bit, I'd offer that there are times on the road to being an overnight success that listening to the hype and the fanfare has merit. Chris, you may be speaking to yourself in this post, and to others who've experienced the wave of success that can make a person feel bigger than he or she really is. On the other hand, many people working their way up have no idea of their own capacity for greatness. They may even fear it. Hearing affirmations may be just the breath of wind their sails are waiting for. Then, as Tweetamar said (love the "thought I was all that and a bag of chips" line) it becomes about balancing feedback with humility and the desire to do the right things for the right reason. Filter what the masses have to say about you. Apply worthy constructive criticism to your inner self-improvement file. Tuck away words of gratitude and praise to reinforce all that is well within you; and then just keep doing the work--being the best channel for things that are good--that's the mark of an overnight success that will stand the test of time and the hallmark of character that is consistent and balanced.

Taking strength from outside is a risky proposition, as there aren't always going to be raving fans for your hardest work. That said, it's always nice to hear good words. : )

True! The first step to inner peace (second, actually, but that's life according to Mimi and this is your blog!) is sufficiency. My comment was designed to remind us that there are people who have a very hard time accepting praise, and self-deprecation becomes their mantra. So for those in that category who read your blog, hearing the legendary Chris Brogan say not to believe the great things (aka hype) people say might be coming from a level of adulation processing to which they can only dream of aspiring.

Maybe it's just all about self-awareness..hearing it all while avoiding the trap of comparisons to others or glory basking. Then, regardless of who notices your efforts or what their comments may be, you can do your own happy dance and say, "Wow! I've come a long way in 10 years!"...or one, five or 20. That sense of sufficiency enables you to truly celebrate others' success as well. It is that "belief system" and personal grounding that enables you to do what you advise...say thank you, don't get caught up in the spotlight, keep working your butt off and mostly...to use every opportunity to lift up others. You do a great job of that, Chris! Invisible Children has been a favorite cause in our house for years. Now, thanks to your shout outs, we have new good causes to investigate.

chris -- im really enjoying this series. it's spot on in it's life application. well done!

Powerful stuff here man. Direct and compelling. And true. We're all guilty of it, and we all need to step back as often as possible and keep it real. No matter what you build, it can come down in an instant. Pats on the back are great, but nothing beats actual work :)

Why are you trying to gain readers by coat tailing on the overnight success video craze? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLbiFyCE050

Please if you are going to copy this classic video at least dance to it.


m

Chris

Loving this as one of the most frustrating things as a reader of blogs is the name dropping or the riding of the coat tails. Not many know me and I am working hard to make some noise so there is no hype to believe.

Name dropping is nothing more than self proclaimed power that you are someone and are important. Using someone's else's hard work to better yourself I believe is the fastest way to lose ground and destroy any chance of being friends. Think the person whose name you are throwing around has any trust in you? That is how I see it.

Always entertaining and full of good stuff!

Suz

Great Series. Great Message.
There are many people in the trenches doing powerful, consistent, much less visible work-- without a camera, website or a blog. Their names aren't mentioned anywhere, their faces aren't known. At Twitter these people would be known as @only serving others, @humility, @what-can-I-do. Of course, you wouldn't find these people at Twitter-they're not tweeting they're doing.

Luckily, you helped out with your thoughtful comment.

Well said. It's important, throughout everything, to remain grounded. The minute you have your head in the clouds, you lose track of what's REALLY going on around you.

I guess it is hard not to read good stuff about yourself and feel you are great or doing a good job but I can see your point. I have no reason to think I am great by any means. I am a small time blogger just trying to learn and make it in the social media world one day. I do get turned off when I see people who are very success act like jerks and think they are bigger then the world. Thanks for sharing.

I must be destined for success, because I'm riddled with self doubt LOL. Very good points though. On a technical note, what camera are you using? It looks really good!

The camera is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3k and it is my BABY. It turns out lots of journalists (especially field types) use these, I'm told. I got it from a magazine article about a guy who was on the world beat.

As for self-doubt, I'm going to have to think on this.

We need to focus on what we can control and the only thing we can control is ourselves.
Too many people forget that

Doug

Well said, Doug. : )

Chris,

Loving the series and the underlying theme. It's motivating and a great reminder to keep moving forward.

Thank you!
GlendaM

Hi Chris,

Ok. I. Am. Nothing.

Kidding. I understand. Sometimes, I can get pretty wrapped up in myself, and really start believing that I am all that.

I am just a human being trying to show up and do the best I can, a day at a time.

The Franchise King
Joel Libava

Hey Chris,

I'm always up for another thought-provoking series. ;)

I'm comfortable with others who have learned of my successes and professional achievements -- every one of them earned through hard work and dedicated effort, just like what you are doing now. I'm equally comfortable with folks knowing of my failures since I worked just as hard (sometimes harder) on them too.

Other people's opinions of my work/me have little effect because I'm not out there seeking their "approval". I do listen to and read all feedback to continuously improve where needed. It makes me happy to be recognized by others as a person of tremendous depth and character (the latter being rare and undervalued these days).

As for hype, it's really just another's opinion shaped more from who they are and where they are coming from than where you are at.

At the end of the day, it's not how much you've achieved, what you've done, or how far you have come, it's about what you have made of your own potential and the opportunities to use and develop it to the max for your benefit and that of others.

Just my two cents.

Linda M. Lopeke
The SMARTSTART Coach

Learning to say thank you without letting it go to your head. Now that can be tough. It takes a lot of strength of character to simply say thank you when others are heaping praise on you.

Doug

When you buy your own press, you're dead in the water. I read a bunch of the comments here and while it was said in jest by one of the visitors, I don't think self doubt keeps you humble. It actually does the opposite because there's always a striving to be the top banana which intrinsically has one stuck in ego.
I agree with you Chris that you just have to do the work. Stick to your own benchmarks of success and depth as a person. We fall into a trap of being defined by what others think of us, trying to impress to keep up with the Jones' - instead of just coming from the gut of our intuition as human beings without looking to see - who's noticed.

Most of us don't have enough press to buy in to, Chris!

Chris- Thanks again for the insight.... You described exactly a MAJOR flaw in my "sub-conscience" mind, that I am working on intently to SQUASH! Which is, I get few MAJOR wins in my business, and I have taken the "I am too cool" approach, and everytime I do that my sales Drop, my attitued SUCKS, and people "feel it"... Thanks for sharing... You have helped reinforce what I already know.. "DONT BELIEVE MY HYPE!"

Blessings..
Brian-
http://www.johnstonsearch.com/about.php

Great series. I'm looking forward to seeing what you cover next. Sometimes it is hard to avoid name dropping though. Your friend, Flavor Flav, might agree.

Thanks for drilling the point home, Chris. My CEO, Mike McDerment, reminds the team of this all the time. We may have a really good month, getting the cover of a major magazine, and he says, "Congratulate yourselves, now put it away. We have work to do." Or something like that. You get my drift ; )

Chris, very well said and so TRUE. I have learn that very quickly in my younger hockey years. Our coach would punish us if we ever trash the other teams. His analogy was, if you raise your competition, you are showing respect towards the other teams and you will get the same in return. So, we had to say to the media, that the other team played very well and gave us a really hard time. They where very fast and well organized. These days, I wish it would still be like that because, now we hear, "We kick their butts, we trash them, lets kick their a..." and that is being used on TV as well.

Also, like I say to my students, you can be a skater(skateboarder) and very good at it. But the attitude that some use doesn't correlate with how good you actually are.

Great. Thanks

Right on Chris. That cuts to the heart of the jumbled online mess that has "experts" and "gurus" claiming proprietary knowlege and "inside secrets' to success!

I enjoy hearing your commentary and considering your insights. Thanks!

Chris,

Thank you for a series of compelling, honestly laid out, simply put helps. I'm new to your site but loving EVERY single bit of it. Particularly this video tidbit on humility. Would that every person who has ever been or is at the top watched and listened. This is the very key to continued success. I'm fully on board with your efforts. Thank you and best wishes for your continued effort and success!

Kim

Well spoken, Chris.
Very strong message, that happens to be true BTW. :-)
No matter the level of success, we should never take anything for granted or forget where we've come from. No on likes the person that shines the light upon themselves, being and staying humble is what it's all about.

This is a very good series, thanks.

Being thankful for the hype is a big deal as well - don't get me wrong, I don't mean as a gloating measure, but as a tool. Anyone with a message relies heavily on getting the message out - which is what kype is best at. While it may be a bad idea to ride the wave personally and in doing so kill your own message, using the personal hype as a tool to get the message bigger better faster stronger WIDER - that's an excellent use for hype that will exist with, or without your personal interferance, right?

I agree! Pride always comes before the fall. You will always go further with humility (this is why I believe you are so successful!). Looking forward to see what is next in this series!

Hmmm...Interesting, but I was wondering whether it was shot in your bedroom and whether that was a bit cheesy...so my attention wandered...

Hotel room. I'm in a hotel about every 2 days.

Ok, that makes sense :-)

I love the Overnight Success series that you doing. I love the short concise thoughts. It gives me something to think about and then I know you'll be back in a couple of days to challenge my thinking again. Thanks and please keep it up!

When you say "10 years of hard work," part of me cringes. But part of me recognizes that there is work that only seems hard in retrospect, but when you're in the midst of it, it's enjoyable and goes by fast. I'm reminded of that as I sit here waiting for my shipment of the book "Flow". Ten years of that? Nowhere near as daunting.

Hey, Chris. I liked the video and the mesaage but I think it might have been mis-titled. Either that or I get caught up in expectations of what "belief systems" means. Yeah, I agree you should believe your own press and hype.

To me, though, belief systems goes beyond simple humility. It involved believing whether or not you can achieve what you want to achieve. The flip side to being to arrogant and believing the hype is being too self deprecating and not having enough faith in one's own ability to accomplish or achieve personal goals and aspirations.

That's a little long winded. Just sayin'

best.post.ever.

On word. BOOM! This video really speaks to me... I have been in radio the past ten years -- i have a simple approach -- be humble. The compliments are great but won't put food on your table.... busting your ass will.

Hi Chris, I just want to say that your message sounds convincing as how you deliver it. What stuck to me was that I should be true to my vision and energy and not believe the hype. This is a terrific series!

Excellent message, Chris. It still boils down to "givers and takers". The givers tend to be the humble types, the ones who understand that adding value to their job, their company, their family and friends, or their planet makes them more successful in the long run.

Thanks Chris - keep them coming. I'm sharing this with my author friends, Logan & Noah Miller. I think this would really speak to them.

Thesis will give a ton of functionality without having to alter any code

so the people think I'm someone they should listen to (and the promoters think they should bring me in to speak), but it kind of makes me ill to hear them read it. Not quite sure what to do about that.Twitter I already see a great difference. More interactions of higher quality