This Report Sounds Like Bragging–Sorry!

I’m going to apologize up front. This report is going to sound like bragging but what it really is, is sharing what my heart feels when someone reads one of my books and tells me they know someone who will benefit from reading it, too…

 

I’m writing LinkedIn profiles for 27 year old electrician. After several years of honing his skills as an apprentice and earning master electrician credentials, he decided in February to start his own electrical contracting business to serve commercial clients.

 

So I’ve been working with him to get the talking points I need to do right by him. My next project with him, after his LinkedIn profiles (one business, one personal) are finished, is to write the copy for his website. I’m looking forward to that.

 

First I need to tell you that, the more I learn about him, the better I like him and the more I respect him.

 

He was way too humble at first. And when I tried to get him to open up more, he apologized and confessed that he wasn’t much of a narcissist, so bragging on himself was hard for him. 

I laughed heartily at that! I relate totally!

 

I told him it doesn’t mean he’s a narcissist or bragging to send me a list of his accomplishments and vision for his new business.

 

I suggested, “Pretend you’re applying for a job. That’s what a LinkedIn business profile is, in essence. People expect to read in it why they should consider doing business with you. So don’t be modest. Tell them what you’ve done. Tell them your story.”

 

Then I suggested that he think about himself from the third person perspective (he, his, him instead of I, me, I’m) so he could get out of his own way and write about what’s remarkable in the way an objective-but-friendly reporter would craft a profile piece on him. I also sent him a comp PDF copy of Be Shamelessly Fearlessly YOU: How to Stop Hiding in Plain Sight.

 

He messaged me back, saying those two prompts had freed him up immediately.

 

What I got back about an hour later almost put me in tears.

 

This young man is an up-and-coming philanthropist of the first order. His vision for what he wants to do for others as the success of his business gives him the ability to do it is astonishing, touching, and seriously beneficial to others.

 

He wants to teach his craft to homeless people he meets in the downtown area of where he lives. He has a heart for them. He wants to help them get off the streets, get the help they need to get off drugs or alcohol if need be, and learn a craft that will make them a decent living so they can feel better about themselves and resume (or begin for the very first time in their lives) contributing to their loved ones and to the common good.

 

But what happened next was completely unexpected.

 

Halfway through reading my book, he messaged me saying, “You are a fantastic writer. I am learning so much. Would it be all right if I forward your book to my sister? She’s an incredible artist and she’s stuck. She should sell what she makes, but she doesn’t believe in herself, and it breaks my heart. She has too little self-confidence.”

 

So I said, “Sure! And I’ll attach Settle For Best: Satisfy the Winner You Were Born to Be“, too, because if the first book lights a fire inside her, she’ll want to know what do to to make it happen for her, and Settle will show her the steps that other up-by-the-bootstraps entrepreneurs use to succeed.”

 

So then he said, “Would you consider emailing her and sending them to her direct? I think they would be better received coming from you. You’re a successful writer. She needs to know someone who’s been where she is and succeeded.”

 

I said, “If you make the introduction, I’ll be happy to do that. But if she wants my personal story about how I evolved, with help, from wallflower to self-confident writing professional, I need to send her another of my books, too: DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal: A Harvest of Memories from the Fan Who Knew Him Best.”

 

So here I am, in contact with my client’s sister, who is hopeful, grateful and motivated to believe in herself and go for what she wants: bringing art to a hungry world that needs more light, more joy and more reason than ever to get up and face a new day every day. Art does that for people. I reminded her of that when I sent her the books.

 

She’s joining the ranks of people who aren’t waiting for someone to give her permission to shine. Instead of (or in addition to)  creating a lasting legacy for an employer, she’s going to focus on creating her own legacy.

 

Isn’t that cool?

 

I can’t imagine a better “book review” than that for any of my books!

Maybe my branding tagline should be “Changing lives for the better, one book at a time.”

 

 

Bragging isn’t natural to me, either. I prefer testimonials to bragging, by a landslide! When my clients brag about me, I survive it a whole lot better!

 

So I’ll end this with three printed thoughts that I keep close here in my office. They’re my daily (hourly) reminders.

 

“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.”

 

“What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?” George Eliot

 

POEM FOR LIFE (author unknown)

Whatever you give away today,

Or think, or say, or do,

Will multiply a hundredfold

And then return to you.

It may not come immediately

Or from the obvious source

But the law applies unfailingly

Through some invisible force.

 

If you speak about someone

A word of praise or two

It won’t be long ’til other folks

Will speak kind words of you.

Our thoughts are broadcasts of our souls

Not secrets in our brains

Kind thoughts bring us happiness

Petty thoughts, untold pain.

Giving works as surely as

Reflections in a mirror:

If hate you send, hate you get back,

But loving brings love nearer.

Remember as you start your day

And duty crowds your mind

That kindness comes so quickly back

To those who first are kind.

Let that thought and this one

Direct us through each day:

The only things we ever keep

Are the things we give away.