How-about-being-the-next-you?

How about being the next you?

A couple of years ago, a client said to me “I want to be the next Walt Disney.”

At times, I’ve heard other names from other clients.

I want to be the next …

Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Oprah, Tony Robbins, Richard Branson, Steve Chandler, etc.

I must admit that I get really excited when I hear these aspirations. It means you are thinking big.

How-about-being-the-next-you?

It can be really great to have heroes — to emulate them.

Yet to emulate is to match by imitation.

And that leaves your uniqueness out of the equation.

A few years ago, a client of mine said to me “Ron, you are like the next Peter Drucker.” It was really flattering. Peter Drucker is a legend and certainly to mentioned in the same league with him is pretty cool.

Flattering, but ultimately unsatisfying.

I don’t want to be the next Peter Drucker.

And I don’t want you to be the next Steve Jobs, or Walt Disney, or your hero here ________.

Who do I want to be?

The next Ron Wilder.

And I’m much more interested in helping you create and be the NEXT YOU — and then expressing that through a wildly successful and profitable business.

Who is the next you?

I’m willing to bet that creating the next you will be a whole lot more exciting and terrifying.

AND ALIVE.

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2 Comments

  1. Thanks for this. Timely. I’ve been saying I want to be the Tom Peters for this age. I did intend to copy aspects of his business model and add my own touches. But the new Craig Mathews sounds even better.

    Hope you’re doing well!

  2. The story goes that a young African-American boy came to his parents and said, “I want to be the next Bill Cosby.”

    His wise parents said, “Why don’t you be the first Will Smith.”

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