Who Influenced You?
My daughter begged me to take her to the big library downtown. Normally the 20 minute drive wouldn’t bother me, but going now would put us smack dab in the middle of rush hour traffic.
Of course rush hour traffic in Buffalo, NY is far different from rush hour traffic in say L.A., Chicago or Atlanta. But still, cause for pause.
But in the end, the look in her big brown eyes won out and in the car we went. Surprisingly, I got a good parking spot once we arrived.
Within minutes of entering the library I spotted Linda Ronstadt. (Another set of brown eyes I just can’t resist!)
There was her beautiful young face staring at me from the cover of her new autobiography, Simple Dreams.
I had no plans to pick up a book at this visit to the library, and autobiographies are usually not one of my favorite reads but since Linda and I had grown up together, I thought, what the heck.
(Of course when I say we “grew up together” I mean I first heard her music when I was growing up and now that we’re both 30 odd years older I still enjoy the sound of her voice – sadly I have never personally met this wonderful singer, but I always followed her career and thought her and California governor Jerry Brown made a good couple)
I’m not a “groupie” nor do I follow or enjoy any of the “celebrity” scene, but of all the rock and roll singers I always had a particular fascination with Linda Ronstadt’s style and personality.
But what does all this have to do with writing for wealth and YOU?
Here it is. YOU want to be remembered too.
Maybe you haven’t been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but you’re still great. You know stuff. You did stuff. You’re still doing stuff. Good stuff. Maybe great stuff. Stuff other people should know.
Maybe those other people are your kids? Maybe those other people are your prospects? Maybe those other people are your clients? Maybe your stuff would inspire young people you’ve never met, and never will?
Lee Iacocca inspired me when I was a shy young kid just out of college. He had just saved Chrysler from extinction and was super popular back then. For some odd reason I will never know, my mother, who was also not a great reader of autobiographies had a copy of “Iacocca, An Autobiography”. I was bored that summer and decided to see what all the fuss was about this car guy so I started reading the book.
And just one sentence in that book changed my life. I don’t remember the exact wording but the point he was making was, “You can have all the greatest ideas in the world but if you cannot communicate them to others, you’ll never get anywhere.”
Bam! My heart raced. That’s me Lee!
I knew I had tons of great ideas, but being so shy I couldn’t connect with anyone. I vowed right then to change and signed up for the Dale Carnegie public speaking program. By the end of the class I was an Award-winning public speaker, and am currently a Toastmaster’s member and love sharing my thoughts and ideas to help people.
One sentence, your thoughts, what you know and tell could change someone’s life forever. Will you deny them by staying silent?
You don’t have to be a famous celebrity to write, to influence, to share. You know stuff, unique stuff. Every bit of knowledge gets sifted down through all the layers of grey matter in your brain and it comes out different, with a slight twist from every other person on the planet.
One of the greatest comments I ever got on my Photoshop book was, “Your way of explaining things Bob does more for me than all the (Youtube) videos.”
“My way” of explaining things.
You might have just the right combination of words to influence somebody too. YOUR WAY of explaining things might just make sense to someone where no one else could.
Write.
Tell your story.
To Influence. To help.
To be remembered.
Leave a legacy. One day you’ll be gone, but if you’ll write down what you know, what you’ve learned, what you’ve loved, someday somebody you’ve never met can benefit from your actions now.
How’s that for immortality?
If you need help getting started, grab a copy of my book. It’s helped others, I’ll bet it can help you too. Or give a shout. You can have a printed book, YOUR BOOK completed in no time at all and it doesn’t have to take over your life. I’ll be glad to do all the heavy lifting for you.
“You and I travel to the beat of a different drum.” ~Linda Ronstadt.
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