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.
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.
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!
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.”