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  Ten Ways to Be More You
  This week we tackled some pretty hefty concepts: who we trust, how we impress and who impresses us, how we participate in social networks, new potential for relationships, and adding value.
  In all of those instances, the answer is to be more you.
  Take a look. Trust is something that depends on your credibility, which is the results of your actions and how others perceive you through them. This in turn determines how we impress, while our own filters dictate who impresses us.
  Your philosophy for participation in social networks may read similar to that of another, yet without you, it doesn't come to life quite the same way. Relationships are built and dissolve on the basis of that expression.
  The times when you add most value are those when you're not even trying. In other words, when you're being more who you are. True for individuals as it is for companies -- we are loved and hated for much the same reason: the expression and experience of us.
  You may want to be liked by everyone, choose the middle road. I say stop caring so much about what other people think, and start spending more time becoming who you want to be. There are tremendous advantages to that.
  Do Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Mark Cuban, to name three, lose sleep over what others think? I'm thinking they spend most of their time focusing on who they want to be and what they want to do with that.
  Here are ten ways to be more you:
  (1.) When you look to others, be in learning mode, see them as teachers, and not as competitors. Also remember that we judge others by their actions, while we judge ourselves on our intentions.
  (2.) You become what you tend to focus on, so focus on forward leaning and productive thoughts. The greatest sin is that of not believing in yourself.
  (3.) Use language deliberately. Words are very powerful and you can either marshal them to align with your efforts, or choose to make them work against you and undermine your confidence.
  (4.) What you intend to do, one day, do now. Do and fail rather than never doing. Fear is our greatest friend and best ally. Be more afraid of missing out, than you are of failing.
  (5.) Empathize, sympathize as necessary without dramatizing. Drama wants lots of space for itself and you end up playing second fiddle. That also counts for the drama of others.
  (6.) Be clear on what you want and be honest on what you're willing to do to get it. It's no use having a dream when you take no steps to achieve it, including commitment.
  (7.) Give yourself plenty of room to get to where you want to go. Sometimes it's not a direct route. Stay determined on choosing the direction and persist.
  (8.) Be irresistible to yourself. Be noticed and notice things that are just you. Accept them and you will find that others will accept you more readily.
  (9.) Live in the present. This is the most difficult for many, including me. Everyone's so busy making plans, that living in the moment is lost.
  (10.) Use your passion. It's your best way of becoming yourself and being in flow with work and life.
  ***
  These innocent-looking ten seem simple to do. I'm sure you have many more. The secret with any ten tips or kinds of advice is that they be used as reminders. The answers are in you already. Success, however you define it, is but an expression of existing joy.
  It's the same conversation companies need to have. Looking for talent starts inside. Who have you overlooked? What agendas and disconnects between your values and your behaviors exist? How can you start looking at dynamics through a new lens?
  Marketing is but a symptom of a larger cause. Good or bad, the more marketing is detached from the real self of a brand product or service, the less it's a genuine expression, the more viscerally we object to it. Authenticity still stands apart and breaks through the noise -- because it connects.