An
author I once represented told me: “You
don’t need to get anyone’s permission to be successful.”
This
is simple but profound. He was clearly
saying if you see an opportunity, go for it.
Heck, don’t wait for an opportunity to appear -- create one. You don’t have
to depend on anyone else or get approval to be a writer, an entrepreneur, or a
leader. Just become whom you really want
to be. Act as if you already have
arrived and behave the way a successful person would.
I
saw, in a small way, how this could play out.
Authors need to see themselves as the expert, as an authority, as the person
uniquely positioned and qualified to discuss the things they talk on. Once they acknowledge to themselves that they
are worthy of being a media personality they will rise to the occasion.
The
other day I impersonated a cop, well, not intentionally.
I
had gotten off the train from my home to Grand Central Station. I was waiting to meet a friend and took up residence
by an abandoned police booth. Normally a
cop sits there. I was leaning on the booth, resting my newspapers on top of
it. I guess by proximity and association,
people saw me as a cop, as an authoritative figure in the know.
No
less than three different people came up to me in a two-minute time period,
asking for train and restaurant directions.
I moved on, afraid I’d soon be given reports of crime that required
things I didn’t have -- like a badge and gun!
But
this little incident showed me that once people assume you are in a position of
power or knowledge, they will come to you and treat you as if you are someone
else. Why can’t authors do that? No, not play a cop or steal someone’s
identity, but to wake up, get dressed and look yourself squarely in the mirror
and see a savvy writer, an expert, a personality? Just be it – and they will come.
Writers
all too often assume not a strong, confident persona, but instead an
insecure, weak, and wimpy version of whom they really can be. You need to just assume a new role, a new you
– and people will treat you differently – and as a result, you’ll respond in
kind, in character.
This
may be self-help 101, to become the person you want to be. In this case it doesn’t require you to do or
know anything more than what you already do or know. But it demands that you speak, walk, and present
yourself as if you are a somebody. And
why not? You ae a somebody!
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2016
2016 Book Marketing & Book Publicity Toolkit
