Being true to yourself

Be true to yourself. Nowadays, people want to become famous just to be famous. It’s not because they’re necessarily striving to be great at anything or known for being excellent at their craft. They sell out – doing or saying things that don’t align with who they really are just to try to get more likes or to make a viral video.

If you are only putting out the content because you want to get as many likes as possible you need to take a look in the mirror. Why are you trying to impress people that you’ve never met and likely never will meet? If the work that you’re putting out into the world is not something you’re proud of, why do it? Don’t do things to impress a random person or say the something on social media because you think it will be accepted by the main stream. You should do, say, and create things because they matter to you.

The world is full of individuals. We are all unique and that’s what makes this such a wonderful place. Be the real you. You may offend some people or turn others off, but the people who like your actions? They’ll like the real you. And you’ll be able to form a deeper bond/connection with them than any of the shallow connections of getting a few likes on a post.

Be likeable

Have you met someone who just makes you feel good when you’re around them?

Be that person to other people. How? Listen to them intently, encourage them (with verbal and nonverbal cues) to keep talking, be interested, know when to add to the conversation/when to interrupt and when not to, smile, don’t be too eager/annoying, if they’re busy with something then leave them be. Have interests. Have things to talk about, but don’t always make it about you. Ask questions. Be approachable. Include others in your conversation. Be nice – not only to that person, but to everyone around you. Be a person of integrity. Be an expert in your field. Know your worth.

The more likeable you are, the further you are likely to go. “You can go fast alone, but you can go far together.” The more people enjoy your company, the more they will try to help you achieve your goals. Let them help you and you will go far.

Good vs nice

There is a difference between nice people and good people. A person can appear nice or even charismatic, but actually be a “bad” person. That’s not always the case, in fact, if someone appears nice they usually are good as well. But you should not confuse the two. Let me explain…

Good is more important than nice. Being good involves making the best decisions with the information at hand, even when those decisions may not be the most popular. This means that being good may involve telling somebody something that they do not want to hear, but need to hear. Meanwhile, in order to be considered nice, sometimes you may hide the truth to avoid a difficult discussion, embellish facts to make someone feel good, or verbally agree to something someone else believes in, so that you don’t hurt their feelings or cause conflict.

Be nice and good whenever possible. But when push comes to shove, choose being good over being nice.