A weekly post from my childhood to grown-up friend Carrie ~
sharing her awesome life and her desire to have community while doing it!
Happy Tribelife Tuesday!
I am sitting here at my desk, my diffuser going with an amazing
essential oil blend and the house is quiet. This is the first time it’s been
quiet all day. We have a number of guests with us right now, and every day is a
bit hectic so the P & Q is so sweet right now. But with the stillness comes
the clarity to think, to dive down deep and search my soul. I’m excited that
you’re joining me today as we go on a soul treasure hunt.
For the past three weeks I have written about people who have
inspired me. And I can’t help but ask, how does one become an influencer?
There’s a seemingly endless number of questions running through my mind about
inspiration, influence, and the type of influence I want. But I pause and quiet
my racing mind, I tell myself let’s focus; I remind myself to keep the main
thing the main thing.
First things first: What is influence? According to the
dictionary it is the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects
on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others.
P-A-U-S-E.
Re-read.
Take it in.
Two things that strike me: capacity and force. I feel like the
word "capacity" is thrown around quite a bit these days, causing me to recently
take the time to evaluate my own space. How much capacity do you have and what
for? How much space is there for you? For your family? Your job? Your beliefs?
I have a tendency to crowd my capacity with “comfortable” things or habits, leaving less room for the things I
truly value. These are things I am seeing within myself during my soul treasure
hunt.
Now, on to force! Influencers are a force, a compelling force.
They attract. Ask yourself, what do I attract?
P-A-U-S-E
Did you answer?
I picture influencers as the ones who walk in the room and you
know they’re there. They have boisterous personalities and everyone loves them.
When they enter the room it’s like gravity’s pull just shifted, drawing
everyone in their direction. Do you personally know anyone like that? Me too.
But the truth is being an influencer is much deeper than that and far more
profound.
Let’s talk about the “traits” of an influencer. I didn’t
google this one; this is all ME! I think the influencers worth following are
disciplined, constant learners, not motivated by fear, purpose-driven, and risk
takers, to name a few. An influencer is someone who is working toward their
truest self. They’re someone who grapples with themselves honestly, they ask
the hard questions, and accept the genuine truths. They embrace their wins and
trample over their failure. As I write this, I can’t help but think of two people
who have enormous influence and are, in my opinion, on both sides of the
influence spectrum: Mother Teresa and Kanye West. Strange, I know, but if I am
being completely impartial, they both have/had gigantic platforms. Their use of
their unique platform was vastly different, but that doesn’t diminish their
place as an influencer. And that is beauty of it all: you get choose how you
will use the platform of your life.
So I ask you, who is it that inspires you? What is it about that
person that draws you in?
You don’t need to be famous or on a stage to inspire; to be an
influencer you don’t need a cause to champion, all you need is to come with
your truest self. (It helps to have a tribe too, for moral support.) So what
are you doing with your influence? Whether you want it or not, you have a level
of influence -- it’s how you use it that shows the truth of who you are to those
around you. The extent of your influence may be your family, your job, your
blog, or your social media accounts, but you get the point. YOU HAVE INFLUENCE!
You also have the power to inspire others, so my advice is: use it wisely and
be strategic. I encourage you to go on your own soul treasure hunt, dig down
into who you are, and examine yourself. Get rid of those unattractive things
and let the substantive,
amazing, true you pull others in. Because, trust me, people are waiting for
you, the real you, to show up!
See you next Tuesday!
Carrie
*Please note that content in guest blogs is not necessarily shared by the station manager (i.e. Wendi!)
