Who Am I? Ask yourself that
question.
Oddly, in the Western world, many people you first meet socially ask what you do for a living. In some countries it is considered ill-mannered to ask such a personal question unless you are more than casual acquaintances. In America, it is almost the first thing that comes up in conversation. We are often defined by what we do, not who we are.
If I introduce myself and say that I am an author and publisher, right away, people make assumptions about me. They might be educated guesses and might even be accurate, or they might be totally wrong, but, people make assumptions every time they meet someone new. Right or wrong, lasting impressions are made in just a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds, and often those impressions set the mood for the duration of the relationship.
Oddly, in the Western world, many people you first meet socially ask what you do for a living. In some countries it is considered ill-mannered to ask such a personal question unless you are more than casual acquaintances. In America, it is almost the first thing that comes up in conversation. We are often defined by what we do, not who we are.
If I introduce myself and say that I am an author and publisher, right away, people make assumptions about me. They might be educated guesses and might even be accurate, or they might be totally wrong, but, people make assumptions every time they meet someone new. Right or wrong, lasting impressions are made in just a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds, and often those impressions set the mood for the duration of the relationship.
That's why it is so important that you are happy and confident. You see, whatever you do, if you are happy doing it, you will wear it on your face. You will speak about your work with passion. You will display enthusiasm and it is contagious.
When I go to work each day, I can predict that someone will say, "How are you doing?" in a very casual manner. I almost always shoot this response at them: "Pretty good, not bad, can't complain." It is from a song, Pretty Good, written by John Prine.
I can predict that everyone will say something to the effect that complaining doesn't do any good anyway... then they mumble something about nobody ever listening. True enough. After hearing so much negativity all the time, people just tune it out.
Try a positive reply and see what it
gets you.
