If everybody says you’re nuts, you just might be onto something

Today is day 2,443.

And lately, I’ve been thinking…

My nametag (for some strange reason) has always seemed to invite negative comments, snide remarks, criticism, hatemail, angry people and even a few death threats!

I know. I don’t get it either. I’m trying to make the world friendlier for God’s sake!

That’s why I always remember what Albert Einstein said, “If at first your idea does not sound absurd, there is no hope for it.”

Still, I often wonder what prompts a stranger to react in such a way. Especially in response to an idea that’s clearly positive and friendly.

Ultimately, I’ve learned that when it comes to Haters, it usually says more about THEM than the person they hate.

What about you?

1. Ever had an idea people thought was crazy?
2. Ever been told to “tone down” your true self?
3. Ever felt completed rejected for doing nothing other than being yourself?

It sucks. Trust me, I’ve been there many, many times.

So, the challenge is twofold:

STEP 1: Shaking it off.
STEP 2: Figuring out WHY someone would respond to you in such a negative way.

The first step is easy.

It’s all about ATTITUDE.

You just brush the invisible dust off your shoulder and say what Tony Montana would say in the movie Scarface.

“Dass-OK-man!”

(In your best mobster accent, of course.)

Because anything that kills your enthusiasm is the enemy.

The second step requires a little more work.

It’s all about VALIDITY.

That is, deciding whether or not someone has the right to be so negative towards you.

In my experience, I’ve found seven common reasons why people are negative. NOTE: these don’t just apply to nametags – they apply to ANYBODY trying to make a name for himself.

1. Jealousy. Here’s an odd statistic: 99% of the criticism, hatemail and negative remarks I get for wearing a nametag are from MEN. Isn’t that interesting? Women rarely seem have an issue with it. Maybe because men, as a whole, are more insecure? I’m not sure. But every time I speak to a new group of people, the overwhelming audience response to why MEN are the only ones who respond so negatively is, “Nah, they’re just jealous.” (Ironically, the ONLY people who ever come up and rip my nametag off are WOMEN. Isn’t that weird?)

THINK ABOUT THIS: Why would someone be jealous of you?

2. Ignorance. Criticism always comes to those who stand out. And when humans don’t understand something (or someone), there’s a visceral response. That’s why ignorance creates fear: it’s a natural defense mechanism. People feel threatened and contaminated by something (or some-ONE) that they perceive as “different.” Now, this doesn’t mean ignorance is bad. Whereas stupidity is “not thinking,” ignorance is simply “not knowing.” You duty is to educate people.

THINK ABOUT THIS: What is it about you that people think is “different,” but later learn is actually UNIQUE?

3. Personal stuff. If someone has no parade of his own, he will try to rain on yours. This will make him feel better about himself. REMEMBER: for some people, their only source of getting up is by bringing others down. Don’t let ‘em get to ya.

THINK ABOUT THIS: Next time someone seems to have a MAJOR issue with something minor, ask him, “Why is this so important to you?”

4. Mirroring. In my favorite book, The War of Art, author Steven Pressfield explains, “When people see others living their authentic lives, it drives them crazy because they’re not living their own.” Yes, the world truly is a mirror. And often times, people simply project their own issues onto you.

THINK ABOUT THIS: Is this person’s criticism unjustifiable?

5. Losers. Seriously, if you have enough time in your day to go to someone’s website, get his email address, then send him a two-page letter telling them what a loser he is for wearing a nametag, you have WAY too much time on your hands. Besides, if I’m such a loser, and my idea is so dumb, then why did I make an entire career out of it? And why are you on my website anyway? Seems a little contradictory, if you ask me.

THINK ABOUT THIS: Is it possible that some people are, in fact, losers?

6. Fear. Some people are just too afraid to be themselves and venture out on their own. They know they can’t make it, so by sabotaging you, they selfishly fulfill the premise of, “If I can have it, nobody should!” Their goal is to use their doubts to reactivate your own, all for the sake of THEIR comfort, not yours.

THINK ABOUT THIS: When you work your butt off and become successful, people will be intimidated by your work ethic. Don’t sweat it. Don’t ever accept someone saying, “You’re making me look bad.” (Here is the complete list of 100 people not to listen to.)

7. Jerks. Some people are just mean to everybody. Period.

THINK ABOUT THIS: At least you’re nice!

NOTE: I am not suggesting you ignore all criticism.

Criticism is healthy. Finding out where you suck is a MUST if you want to make a name for yourself.

But don’t just sit there and take it like a punching bag.

Brush it off initially.
Validate it intelligently.
Act upon it appropriately.

And next time a Hater tries to bring you down, remember what my favorite author Julia Cameron says:

o In the history of the world, no statue has ever been set up in honor of a critic.
o A critic is a someone who knows the way but can’t drive the car
o When people are afraid of being artistically diminished themselves, they may never be able to do anything but diminish you.

After all, if everybody says you’re NUTS, you just might be onto something.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Why do YOU think people respond so negatively to others?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Share your reasons here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

Are you the luckiest person you know?

Watch Scott’s interview on 20/20!

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The World is a Mirror, Part 23

A is for ATTITUDE
B is for BREAK PATTERNS
C is for CONSISTENCY
D is for DISCIPLINE
E is for EVOLUTION
F is for FRIENDLINESS
G is for GOOD WITH NAMES
H is for HAPPINESS
I is for IDEAS
J is for JOY
K is for KNOWLEDGE
L is for LAUGHTER
M is for MUNDANE
N is for NAMETAGS
O is for OFF BUTTON
P is for PAINT YOURSELF INTO A (GOOD) CORNER
Q is for QUICK
R is for RUDE PEOPLE
S is for SERVICE
T is for TIME
U is for UNIQUE
V is for VALUE
W is for WEIRD

My name is Scott Ginsberg.

I’m weird.

Always have been. Always will be.

In fact, whenever someone tells me, “Dude, you’re weird!” I respond with, “Hey, thanks!”

See, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being weird.

Actually, I think there are a lot of things RIGHT with being weird.

I’ll explain why in a minute.

But first, a brief etymology lesson:

The word “weird” can be traced back to the Old English term “wyrd,” which means “fate, destiny.”

Cool.

However, the modern sense of the word derived from two sources:

1. The use of Weird Sisters for The Three Fates or “Norns” (in mythology), representing the goddesses who controlled human destiny.

2. People who were odd or frightening in appearance, first referenced in Macbeth, led to the adjective meaning of, “odd-looking, uncanny,” first recorded 1815.

So, 200 years later, what does it mean to be weird?

And when someone says, “That guy is SO weird!” or “She’s weird!” what message is that person really communicating?

Well, in my experience, criticism often says more about the critic than it does about the subject.

So, is it possible that when someone perceives a person as weird, is it simply because they don’t understand him?

Personally, I think weird is a scapegoat term. An excuse. A placeholder for ignorance. When people don’t understand someone, they just dismiss that person as “weird,” and that’s usually enough to validate their argument.

Think back to college. Or high school. Or even grade school.

Now, picture The Weird Kid.

Maybe it was the dude who wore all black.
Maybe it was the girl who was always reading Ayn Rand during recess.
Maybe it was the guy who wore crazy clothes and walked to school every day.

You called him weird because you didn’t understand him.

And you left it at that.

(Hey, I did it too. It’s human nature.)

But what if you added another step?

What if, instead of being judgmental, you were curious?

Here. Try this experiment:

1. Decide to find out the story is behind someone’s supposed “weirdness.”
2. Approach the person with a curious, (not judgmental) attitude.
3. Tell the person you find them interesting, or fascinating, and would like to learn more.

And most likely, they’ll take it as a compliment, and be happy to share with you.

Or they’ll wind up being a serial killer, take out their ice pick and stab you in the throat.

Just kidding.

(But you were thinking that, weren’t you?)

Look. Not all weird people are bad. And sure, there have been some major wack-jobs out there who gave being weird a bad rap.

But I think (the non-criminal) weird people are important to society, important to business, for several reasons:

Weird people challenge you.
Weird people make you think.
Weird people are often creative.
Weird people break your patterns.
Weird people encourage individuality.
Weird people are interesting and cool.
Weird people aren’t afraid to be themselves.
Weird people tend to have valuable perspectives.

But because we don’t “get them,” we dismiss them.

And I think every time that happens, we’re missing out.

“Nurture the nuts,” Tom Peters once said. “We all know that ‘weird’ can be good, if we don’t judge others through our lens. Being weird increases creativity if we allow it to flourish.”

Well put.

Also, I found this anonymous quotation, often quoted around the web: “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”

Fantastic.

So from now on, I encourage you to embrace weirdness.

That of other people. That of yourself.

Weirdness rules!

My name is Scott.

And I am weird.

Always have been. Always will be.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do you embrace weirdness?

LET SUGGEST THIS…
What’s the advantage of your weirdness?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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The World is a Mirror, Part 22

Went out to a fancy schmancy dinner the other night. Learned a great sales lesson from John, our excellent waiter.

“Our special this evening is pistachio encrusted red snapper, seared to perfection with a caramelized onion glaze, rice pilaf and two garlic butter crab claws.”

Good god. How could I NOT order that?

“Sold!” I said.

“Very good, Scott.”

As expected, the dish was amazing. Probably one of the best meals I’ve had all year.

Then I got the bill.

“Holy crap!” I exclaimed to my girlfriend. “You know how much that snapper was?”

“Thirty-five dollars.”

“Wow,” she said. “Did the waiter ever mention the price?”

“Hmm. I…I don’t think so. I guess the dish sounded so good when he told me about it that I didn’t even consider the price.”

“Yeah, but here’s the thing: would you have ordered the special if the waiter said how much it was?” she asked.

Interesting.

Honestly, I don’t think I would have. If John would have said, “Well our special tonight is thirty-five dollars. It’s pistachio encrusted…”

Um, no. I’ll just have the chicken sandwich.

By the time we returned home from dinner, I figured out the lesson: always sell value before price.

When you sell value first, price isn’t an issue.
When you sell value first, customers will gladly fork it over.
When you sell value first, you appeal to customers’ emotions, not their wallets.

Once the customer sees that you and your product are the perfect fit, price won’t matter.

It reminds me of what Marc LeBlanc says: Get the fist.

“The fist” means someone hears your pitch, your value proposition; then they slam their fist down on the table and said, “Man, we gotta get THAT!”

Always sell value before price. Get the fist.

Oh, and if you ever make it over to Charlie Gito’s, get the snapper.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you “get the fist”?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Share your best “value before price” story here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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The World is a Mirror, Part 21

For many years I thought the words “different” and “unique” meant the same thing.

I was wrong.

The word DIFFERENT comes from the Latin word differre, which means, “to stand out.”

The word UNIQUE comes the Latin word unicus, which means “the only one.”

Here’s an example.

Imagine there are two potential hires for your firm’s new IT Director. After the interviews are over, the HR Director reports back to you.

“The first guy was Seth. You would have loved him! He was so unique!”

“The second guy was Phil. Phil was … (sigh) … different.”

Who would you hire?

Exactly.

And there’s a reason I bring this up. See, it seems like most business books I read, most marketing interviews I watch and most entrepreneurs I meet make some mention of “the value of being different.”

No.

No, no, no, NO!

Different is the enemy of unique.

Focus your efforts on being:

o The ONLY one who __________.
o The ONLY company that _________.
o The ONLY organization that ________.

Because when you’re unique, when you’re the only one, you WILL stand out.

Here’s one more example.

January 14th, 2005. I receive the greatest piece of hate mail ever:

Dear Scott:

Let’s face it, buddy: the whole nametag thing is totally stupid. Come on. You’ve already written a book about it. So what’s next? Nothing! You have nowhere to go! You think you’re so unique. But there’s really nothing unique about wearing a nametag all the time. Anybody could’ve done that. And there’s nothing unique about your book. Anybody could’ve written that.

Ouch. That’s cold, man.

I wanted to shake it off.
I wanted to love the hater.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I stayed up all night re-reading that email in my head. Didn’t get a wink of sleep. And those four words kept chiming like church bells:

Anybody could’ve done that.
Anybody could’ve done that.
Anybody could’ve done that.

I never told anyone about that letter.

Maybe because I was ashamed.
Maybe because I didn’t know the answer.
Maybe because I was afraid that guy was right.

That all this time, I wasn’t really unique.

Either way, it didn’t resurface until about a year later.

I had just returned to St. Louis after a giving a speech in Orlando. My Dad and I sat down to dinner to talk about the growth of my business.

I mentioned the letter.

Then, in this almost eerie, yet proud tone that only a father could project, he said with a nod and a smile, “Scott, it’s not about the nametag.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not about the nametag,” he laughed.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, you’ve been at this thing going on seven years now. Think about everything that’s happened: the books, the speeches, the company you started, the change you’ve brought about to yours and hundreds of thousands of people’s lives; everything that’s evolved since the day you first stuck that nametag on your shirt. It’s pretty remarkable, doncha think!?”

“Yeah, I…I guess it is,” I nodded.

“You see Scott, the fact that you wear a nametag every day is, well, different,” he chuckled. “Because anybody could do that.”

“But what you’ve DONE with it, well, you’re the only one who could have pulled that off. And THAT is what makes you unique.”

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you different or unique?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Tell us why in 8 words or less.

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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The World is a Mirror, Part 20

Wanna know something weird?

Wearing a nametag all the time actually gets me better service.

In restaurants, bars, clubs, airplanes and hotels, I seem to get treated better than the average customer.

And I don’t even DO anything to deserve it!

I’m still not exactly sure why this happens. But after seven years of observations, here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. Reciprocity. Friendliness is contagious. That’s why it’s hard to give excellent service to someone who’s in a terrible mood. Of course, it works both ways, too. Thinking back to my days as a bartender, I remember purposely giving better service to patrons who were friendly. It’s just human nature.

Here’s the irony: after seven years of wearing a nametag to make OTHER people friendlier, I’ve actually become friendlier myself. “You cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening your own,” as the proverb states. So, since I started wearing a nametag 24-7, my increased friendliness has led to enhanced service.

2. Familiarity. Think Norm from Cheers. He was the epitome of a “regular.” A “regular” is someone whom the staff 1) remembers, and 2) sees often. So wearing a nametag all the time expedites my regular status. Whereas it might take the average customer five or six visits to a coffee shop before the staff recognizes him, my nametag speeds up the familiarity to about two or three visits. In the midst of hundreds of customers a day, I’m just easier to remember.

EXAMPLE: I went into my bank the other day to correct a mistake. During my ATM transaction, I accidentally withdrew $34,000 instead of $3,400. Woops! Usually, there’s nothing you can do about such an error. But when I came to the counter, Holly, the manager, told me not to worry about the accidental overdraft. “Don’t worry, Scott – I know you! I’ll run back and change the withdrawal amount so you’re not charged an overdraft fee.” Sweet.

3. Name. Several years ago, Starbucks began writing the names of their customers on the cups. My guess is, they did this for a few reasons. First, to organize the drinks on the counter so the barista wouldn’t get flustered. Secondly, to use the customer’s name in the transaction. Thirdly, to learn the names of the customers for future reference.

Now, since a person’s name is the single context of human memory most forgotten (says Freud, at least) wearing a nametag every day actually makes the barista’s job easier. Hence, better service.

4. Social Distance. The greatest power of a name is that it reduces the distance between people. Physically AND emotionally. See, when you know someone’s name, you’re immediately closer to that person. For example, let’s say (for some strange reason) you were in the mood to punch someone in the face. You came across two strangers who were similar in appearance, but noticed one of them was wearing a nametag that read, “Randy.” Which person are you more likely to punch in the face?

I know this example is completely ridiculous. (Then again, over the years I’ve had dozens of people try to beat me up for wearing a nametag, so perhaps my Ridiculous Meter is a bit skewed.) ANY way, the point I’m trying to make is: it’s easier to offer bad service to someone you don’t know. And conversely, it’s easier to offer good service to someone you DO know.

Ultimately, my goal in sharing these observations is NOT to offer tips on how to get better service.

I just think it’s interesting to switch the roles for once.

See, companies are obsessed with finding ways to provide better customer service. But they tend to focus on the characteristics of the staff, not the customers themselves.

Maybe a counterintuitive approach is necessary.

Maybe companies should FIRST consider the customer who already gets better service, see WHY that happens to him, and THEN apply those principles back to their staff.

Just an idea.

(FYI, this week happens to be the exception to this rule. My flight was cancelled, I got re-routed to Charlotte, rented an unneccesarily large SUV for $619 because that’s all they had left, drove all the way to Spartanburg and STILL didn’t get my luggage. Special thanks to the Kohl’s on Main Street for actually having stylish, affordable clothes that fit so I didn’t have to give my speech in cargo pants and a t-shirt. God I love Kohls.)

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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The World is a Mirror, Part 19

In light of the recent post, Confessions of a Lunch Whore…

I was eating at In & Out Burger in LA last week. My friend Dan and I came to the following conclusion: the more successful you become, the more you value every minute of your days.

Not that either of us are big shots or anything. Far from it.

Still, think of it this way.

Let’s say that once a week, you have a meeting, a lunch or coffee with a stranger or potential customer or a lead or who wants to pick your brain or chat or brainstorm ideas or get free advice.

As I mentioned in the other post, unless you think it’s absolutely worth it, be careful not to waste your (and their) time. You are a professional. Your time is valuable and, most importantly, billable. For example:

1 wasted lunch a week
90 minutes a week
6 hours a month
72 hours a year
9 full 8 hour days
2 weeks of work

It adds up, doesn’t it?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Is it possible to have too many meetings?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
What’s your policy on meeting with potential clients? Share it with us here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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The World is a Mirror, Part 18

This week I gave a talk to a group of business owners at the annual meeting of the National Potato Council. They were an awesome group!

As usual, towards the end I revealed several of the downsides to wearing a nametag.

This list included, but wasn’t limited to:

*Complete strangers making fun of me
*People starting fights with me
*Hate mail, prank phone calls and rude IM’s
*Stalkers
*Anonymous online death threats

The list continues to grow. It makes very little sense. And I’ve been trying to figure it out for years.

Who DOES this kind of stuff to someone whose intentions are clearly positive?

I’ll tell you who: someone who has issues of his own.

Anger. Aggression. Resentment. Fear. Ignorance. Insecurity. Jealousy. Weakness. Whatever you want to call it. These people are just plain rude! (90% of these people are men. Interesting.)

LESSON LEARNED: if someone acts rudely to you, it speaks more about him than it does about you.

A few other gems I’ve learned along the way are…

“Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.” (Eric Hoffer)

“Fear is the parent of cruelty.” (James Anthony Froude)

“Envy and resentment may be motives for bullying.” (Wikipedia)

“Aggression is directed to and often originates from outside stimuli, but has a very distinct internal character.” (Wikipedia)

“Some people learned their manners from sitcoms. They believe in the myth of the ‘funny rude’ person. These people are those self-appointed clowns who try to get a laugh at any price, and of course the easiest way to get laughs is to insult others. They haven’t yet discovered that the price of rude humor ranges from hurt feelings to divorce proceedings. On television, the victims of insults never get offended, never harbor hurt feelings — how conveniently lucky for the insulters. But in real life, psychology doesn’t work that way.” (J.E. Brown’s paper called Why Are People Rude?)

In the end, some people are just going to be rude to you. Even if it has nothing to do with you. Guess you just have to shake ’em off.

I just think it’s funny that a stranger (who clearly hates my guts) will take a half-hour out of his day to write me hate mail.

Who’s the crazy one now?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What motivates people to be rude?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Post your hypotheses here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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The World is a Mirror, Part 17

Think back to the year 2000.

Let’s say someone approached me and asked why I was wearing a nametag. On average, I would only have enough time to say something like this:

“I always wear a nametag to make people more friendlier and more approachable and because humans love to hear their own names more than any other word – and forget names more than any other context of human memory – a nametag increases approachability by making other people feel comfortable, thus creating a friendlier society.”

Seriously. I would actually say all that crap in one breath.

It usually took about 13 seconds. Which I later realized was WAY too long.

As a result, people would respond by:

a) Laughing
b) Thinking I was crazy
c) Walking away laughing, thinking I was crazy

Next.

Think back to 2002. If someone approached me and asked why I was wearing a nametag, I would only have enough time to say something like this:

“I always wear it to make people friendlier, more approachable and to help them remember my name.”

It usually took about 5 seconds. Which I later realized was STILL too long.

As a result, people would respond by asking:

a) “You’re not serious, are you?”
b) “Really? Does it work?”
c) “So, you really want everyone to know your name, huh?”

Hmm. Getting better.

Finally, let’s take it back to about 2003. The year I officially started my company.

Now, if someone approached me and asked why I was wearing a nametag, I would only have enough time to say something like this:

“I always wear it to make people friendlier.”

That’s it. 8 simple words. I always wear it to make people friendlier.

It reminds me of three things:

1) Seth Godin once said, “If you can’t state your position in 8 words or less, you don’t have a position.”

2) Someone else (not sure who) once said, “If you can’t write down your idea on the back of a business card, you don’t have an idea.”

3) One of my favorite movies, The Quick & The Dead.

Cliché, I know. You’re either quick, or you’re dead.

But here’s why I think that phrase isn’t as cliché as it used to be:

In 1974, a book called First Impressions was published. I bought it for a buck on Ebay. And according to the text, humans had 7 minutes to make a first impression.

Seven minutes.

In 2000, a book called How to Get People to Like You in 90 Seconds or Less was published.

90 seconds.

In February of 2006, I was interviewed for the WSJ about an article on first impressions. According to Jeff Zaslow’s research, humans NOW had 2 seconds to make a first impression.

2 seconds.

The Quick and the Dead?

Apparently so.

Dude. That’s scary.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How has the quickness of first impressions changed over the past 50 years?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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The World is a Mirror, Part 16

A while back someone from my audience asked, “But if you wear a nametag all the time, that means you have to, like, be nice to everyone!”

Well, technically, yes. But is that such a bad thing?

See, today is day 2,227. That’s like, seven years! And lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of “Painting Yourself into a (Good) Corner.”

According to the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, to “paint yourself into a corner,” means the following:

• To do something which puts you in a very difficult situation and limits the way that you can act
• To do something that takes away all of your choices

As you can see, this idiom is usually expressed in a negative light.

But does it have to be? Is painting yourself into a corner always bad?

I say no. And let me give you a few examples…

My girlfriend drives a pink car. It’s pretty much the sweetest ride you’ll see on the road.

Anyway, Jackie tells me that since she repainted her Tib, she’s actually become a better, more responsible driver.

“Well, yeah,” Jackie explained, “If I cut someone off, they’ll shake their fist at me and say, ‘Damn that girl in the pink car!’”

So, she’s painted herself into a good corner. And Lord knows we could always use more responsible drivers out there!

Tattoos are another great example.

Let’s say someone gets a peace sign inked across his ankle.

Don’t you think he’d be less likely to walk around getting into bar fights?

(FYI, if you haven’t had the chance to see the greatest tattoo in the world, brace yourself and look here.)

Another example: what if someone gets the word “hope” tattooed across her chest? Think she’d slump around all day with woe-is-me posture and depressed eyes?

Not likely. Or at least, not AS likely.

See, if you tattoo something on your body, that baby is for-ever. Plus, you wouldn’t have gotten inked unless you were: a) seriously committed to the message behind the ink, or b) really, really drunk one night in college.

And so, a tattoo paints someone into a good corner because if that person acts in a manner inconsistent with the message behind the tattoo, either he (or someone who sees the tattoo) will question his integrity.

Therefore, the solution to all of the world’s problems is simple: everyone should wear nametags and get tattoos.

Just kidding.

But methinks this IS a step in the right direction.

So, if our society wants to achieve higher levels of personal accountability, integrity, authenticity, blah blah blah, it would be wise for each person to find his or her own way of painting themselves into a good corner.

Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a pink car waiting outside to take me to breakfast.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you paint yourself into a good corner?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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The World is a Mirror, Part 15

A is for ATTITUDE
B is for BREAK PATTERNS
C is for CONSISTENCY
D is for DISCIPLINE
E QTis for EVOLUTION
F is for FRIENDLINESS
G is for GOOD WITH NAMES
H is for HAPPINESS
I is for IDEAS
J is for JOY
K is for KNOWLEDGE
L is for LAUGHTER
M is for MUNDANE
N is for NAMETAGS
O is for OFF BUTTON

Lately, many of my clients, audience members & readers have been asking, “Scott, what happens when you don’t feel like talking to people?”

Good question.

There are really two answers:

1) Yes, I certainly have those days where the last thing I want is some random dude coming up to me in the middle of Target saying, “Hey Scott, you got a memory problem or something?” However, it’s a rarity that I’m in such a foul mood that I can’t be friendly to a stranger. In fact, that’s one of the great things about wearing a nametag: it almost forces me to be in a good mood most of the time. And not in a fake way, but rather like “painting myself into a good corner.”

2) I don’t leave the house.

You think I’m kidding about the second answer, but I’m not.

See, Mr. Miyagi once said, “Best way to block punch = no be there.”

It’s what I call Pressing the Off Button. And in the past 2,221 days of wearing a nametag, I’ve learned to CHERISH my off button.

Whether it’s eating dinner alone (take that, Keith Ferrazzi!) taking a Friday off, turning off my cell phone, or just sitting at home playing the guitar all night, learning to press the off button is one of the most important skills I’ve learned.

And it IS a skill. I only know that because, for a few years, I couldn’t bring myself to press the off button! I was constantly at the behest of the Almighty Nametag. Always talking to people. Always working. At nights, on the weekends, even on vacation!

Then I learned I wasn’t alone. First by talking to other entrepreneurs with the same problem, then by researching the topic. For example, a recent article from MSNBC reported that the number of Americans who work during their vacations has nearly doubled in the last decade.

But it’s not just businesspeople: this goes for students, entrepreneurs, CEO’s, managers, parents, salespeople, and pretty much anyone else who has an incredibly demanding personal and/or professional schedule.

We must all learn how to press our Off Buttons, and to do so more often.

Which reminds me, I think there’s a SVU marathon on TV. Maybe I’ll just take the rest of the day off. What the hell. It’s a snow day anyway.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you press your Off Button?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Do it more.

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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Tag: the world is a mirror

If everybody says you’re nuts, you just might be onto something

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