What Is Authentic Systems and What Can It Do For You?

This video provides you with a brief glimpse into Authentic Systems and how it empowers individuals with the knowledge of who they truly are at the deepest possible level.  Armed with this new knowledge about yourself, you will be able to take back control of your life and create your own customized path to happiness, fulfillment and success.

Is Motivation Really Motivation?

What they have done is confuse enthusiasm for motivation, and all of us get to pay the price for that confusion, especially managers and employees. So what is enthusiasm?

Enthusiasm is defined as eagerness, fervor, zeal, passion, or devotion. It is a temporary emotion. Temporary in the sense that it can only be sustained for a brief period of time, until it is either replaced by another emotion or a sustained feeling. (See the article: The Difference Between Emotions and Feelings.) That is why you can go to any number of so called “motivational seminars” get really “pumped” only to have that enthusiasm and energy fade away after a few days. It’s an emotional high that lasts only a short while until you are right back where you left off and once again in need of another seminar. What you are really experiencing at such seminars is a form of social hysteria, albeit in a positive form. What these events should be called is “Enthusiasm Seminars”.

Employee Motivation.

One of the main areas of our life where motivation becomes a subject of contention and confusion is the workplace. It often starts with the numbers. Profits are down and a company looks internally for the cause. Upper management gets leaned on and squeezes middle management who then pressures lower management who in turn accuse employees of not having enough motivation.The solution is usually a motivational seminar, workshop, or other program to get everyone fired up and back up to peak performance.

Thus, motivation gets treated as if it were a skill one can learn. (See the article: What is Motivation) However, with such training, a downward spiral soon begins that is fraught with confusion, distress, and self sabotage. As explained earlier, programs such as an “Motivational (Enthusiasm) Seminar” have only temporary effects. You can only sustain your enthusiasm for just so long. Inevitably, your enthusiasm wanes. When this happens you’ll typically ask yourself: “What’s wrong with me?” Doubt, and a lack of confidence follows and the stress builds. Does this sound familiar to you?

Understand that there is nothing wrong with you, and there is nothing to fix. You are actually behaving normally. The problems lies with our culture’s inaccurate understanding of motivation.

Motivation is not a learned skill. Natural motivation is very simply: The full expression of your state of “being”. Natural motivation is the energy that compels you to leave your bed each morning. It’s a deep seated, propelling need to express your unique existence to the world.

Therefore, for anyone to teach that motivation is a learned skill of “doing”, demonstrates a lack of understanding of the basic function of motivation. This is the reason why so many people are confused about motivation and why pop-psychology continues to design inherently flawed testing methods, books, seminars, and workshops which sadly point people down the wrong path.

Westernized cultures (Particularly Americans), live in a capitalistic society that cannot afford to define motivation as simply a state of “being”. That is why Motivational Gurus, do not use Mother Teresa as an example of what it means to be motivated even though she is a fine example of natural, authentic motivation. From their prospective, there is simply no profit to be had in using her as an example of what it truly means to be motivated.

The Solution to Employee Motivation in the Workplace.

The answer to employee motivation in the workplace is natural and always effective. Simply put, if you enjoy what you do for work, there is no need to seek out motivation because it is already present. If any professional feels the need to attend a “Motivational Seminar,” they should seriously consider another profession. Imagine for a moment that your surgeon is running late to your pre-surgery consultation, because he, or she has yet to return from a “motivational seminar”. How might you feel? For that matter, what might you do? Would you still go under the knife?

Motivation comes naturally to each of us from a deep level within. No one should have to go out and find their motivation. Your motivation is not somewhere out there, it’s intrinsic, It’s within you. Ask yourself why plumbers, carpenters, electricians, doctors, computer technicians, and in fact most professionals do not have a desperate need to attend motivational seminars in order to get fired up to do their job.

The real secret to all this, is to discover the exact style of motivation you already posses. It is as if, you were given a unique set of prescription glasses through which you see a reality all your own. It is that prescription which dictates how you should live life and what career you should pursue. We call this your Life Theme. Discovering it and learning how it guides you is vital in creating meaningful, sustainable change in your personal and business life.

It is through discovering who employees are at their very core that management will be able to generate natural and effective motivation in the workplace. Managers who discover their own Life Theme as well as that of their employees, are capable of building dynamic, highly productive and profitable teams where everyone has a greater sense of fulfillment and sustained cooperation. Management will also know which projects should be delegated to which individuals in order to attain the highest level of productivity. Each person will be able to maximize their Authentic Expression with each project, completely by-passing the typical, costly debating and negotiating process. No longer will ego-battles slow down production and cause inner-office struggle.

Knowing your Life Theme and what specifically motivates you naturally, as well as knowing the same about those who work with you on a day to day basis is not only the best solution for employee motivation in the workplace, we feel it is the future of business.

First off, why should you be concerned with the difference between emotions and feelings anyway? Because the way you behave in this world, is the end result of your feelings and emotions. Learning the difference can provide you with a better understanding of not only yourself,  but of the people around you.

What are Emotions?

According to Carl Jung, objects draw and invoke emotions. This is a natural phenomenon, and is essential for human survival. When you encounter an unknown, you may have a range of sensations such as: curiosity, fear, or even ambivalence. When you give that unknown a name, it becomes a significant symbol of meaning. It is through this process that emotions become attached to every object in the universe. When some object is given a name, it not only becomes a “thing”, it also becomes something of “meaning”. On a daily basis these emotions can be as subtle as: “like”, “dislike” or “ambivalence”. Even a state of ambivalence is nevertheless a state of meaning. Therefore, to put it simply: Nothing, is ever meaningless.

Emotions offer the sense of life itself. Emotions deliver the message: “The external world (beyond your body) matters“. It delivers a sense of life as an abstract, metaphysical idea. Art is a solid example of this. A work of art represents the artist’s own emotional perspective of life. What you value in life, and the choices you make are the results of your likes and dislikes, understood by their emotional attachment.

Your sense of life is an emotional form, in which your world experience finds value, your reason for existence and defines your relationship with other things that exists. Emotions are an abstract, metaphysical state of mind; they are essential impressions of the world, and your relationship with it. Emotions establish your attitude toward reality, and provides your drive for all of life’s pleasures.

Additionally, these emotions are connected to your biological systems, and are designed to alert you of danger, or to draw you to something pleasurable. If you did not possess emotions, you would carelessly walk right up to a lion in the Savanna wilderness. If starving, you would not have the motivation needed to climb a tree, and pick it’s fruit to eat.

Protection of Body Identity Through Emotion.

To illustrate this principle, lets use the encounter with a lion in the Savanna wilderness.

1. Awareness. You must first be aware of an objects presence. Your awareness of the lion is an emotional eliciting stimulus.
2. Body Change. These changes are in the form of innate body signals. In this example it is fight or flight. Adrenaline begins coursing throughout the blood stream, your muscles are ready for action. Your heart rate and breathing also increases.
3. Interpretation. You must interpret the correct reaction in order to preserve your identity. Based upon all the available information in your surroundings, as well as any previous learned knowledge or skill, will you take flight, or will you stay and fight?
4. Action. Now you execute your decision.

Change of Context, Change of Emotion.

Imagine the same scenario except now, you are in the zoo, and there are bars between you and the lion. Your sensations may range anywhere from curiosity, to appreciation or admiration over the beauty of the animal. More than likely, fear would not be present. Your new awareness now includes the bars, which provide the emotional idea of separation, and protection.

Protection of Mind Identity Through Emotion.

To illustrate, imagine that you found a love letter in your spouses coat from a co-worker in the office.

1. Awareness. You become aware that a life altering situation exists by reading the content of the letter. Your awareness of a “love letter” to your spouse is an emotional eliciting stimulus.
2. Body Change. You feel your body react. Adrenaline begins coursing throughout your blood stream, your muscles tense up for action. Your heart rate and breathing drastically increase. You begin to perspire, and feel sick to your stomach.
3. Interpretation. You must interpret the correct reaction in order to preserve your identity. You begin to process the situation cognitively, drawing on all of your knowledge that applies to the moment. You become angry due to the betrayal. Based upon your personal beliefs, life goals, and the degree of importance of the betrayal, you make a decision on how to confront the situation.
4. Action. Now you execute your decision.

Change of Context, Change of Emotion.

Now, imagine that you discover that the letter was in fact given to your spouse by a distraught co-worker, who found it in their own spouses coat. Your interpretation of the meaning of the letter has now changed. Anger gives way to relief.

Your sense of identity is physical but at the same time mental. Both of the above example illustrate how emotions serve as a trigger to ensure survival of self, but it is the second example that illustrates a far more important point.

You have a sense of mental identity in the form of unchanging beliefs that you identify with. It is this cluster of ideas that are essential in order to preserve your sense of “self”. It is the: “who you are” in the world that you must protect at all costs. As a spouse living in a particular culture and economic environment, you must preserve the dignity of self as defined by that culture. Dignity comes in the form of an Authentic state of wholeness, with all its frailties and inadequacies. Regardless of the errors you make in life, you must maintain a sense of a single self.

Finally, emotions are intense but temporary. To have them be any other way would be far too stressful on your body! The constant stress would eventually lead to some very serious physical, and mental ailments.

What are Feelings?

As the objects in your world induce emotions within you, they are collected in the subconscious and begin to accumulate. This is especially so when the events are repeated. Ultimately they form a  final emotional conclusion about life, how to live it, and more importantly, how to survive physically and mentally in a world of chaos. When this happens a feeling is born. In this way, emotions serve as a sort of, “Feelings Factory”.

Once feelings are established, they often feed back into your emotions to produce the appropriate result to ensure survivability.

Imagine you observe your child approaching an electrical outlet with a paper clip in hand. Your sustained feeling of love for your child, will generate the temporary emotion of fear, and you quickly act by yelling “No!” and swatting your child’s hand away from the outlet. Perhaps your child responds with surprise and anger, and defiantly attempts to insert the paperclip into the outlet again. Your sustained feeling of love for your child, may generate the temporary emotion of anger because your child is expressing stubbornness, and disrespect to your attempts at preserving their life.

Here is another example. Imagine that a professional snake handler offers you an opportunity to hold a snake. You may project the “Joy”, of touching the snake, because you really want the experience and the sensations that go along with it. However, you have difficulty moving past the“Fear”, of potentially getting bit. Your solution? To approach the situation with great caution. Caution is a sustainable feeling that is the balance point between two temporary, emotional potentialities. Namely, that of “Fear”, and “Joy”.

Feelings are products of emotions. But unlike short term, intense emotions, feelings are: low-key, stable and sustained over time.

The Differences of Emotions and Feelings in a Nutshell:

What Does This All Mean For You Personally?

The difference between emotions and feelings is crucial to your personal growth. If you are dissatisfied in your life, know that there is really nothing wrong with you, and there is nothing to fix. Rather, there is something to discover about yourself. Authentic Systems can aid you in that discovery. The uniqueness of your feelings can provide you with a new understanding, that can lead to many positive changes for you.

Don’t hesitate! Click here to learn about your own unique Life Theme! The “Real You” awaits discovery!

This was the birth of the “Real You” and “true inner self”. This “Life Theme” provided you with a very personalized belief system from which you derive all meaning, purpose, understanding and motivation. From this moment on you would spend the rest of your life validating it as the “one and only belief system” worthy of any recognition.

The Duality of Self.

Just as your physical brain is divided into two hemispheres that work synergistically together, there also exist two distinct sides of your mind: An Authentic and Synthetic Identity.

Your Authentic Identity.

Your Authentic Identity is the moral stand you take regarding life as to what is “Right and Wrong”. It provides you with stability and structure in “being” and is evident by the commitments you have made in life.  Your Authentic Identity is the unchanging “Real You” which has but one single purpose: To express your abstract existence as a mental being in the world. In essence it states: “I exist, I am unique, and I matter.”

Your Synthetic Side.

To achieve this declaration to the world, your Life Theme employs another facet of your overall identity called the Synthetic Identity. It was selected by you as a channel or medium for you to express just how you should and should not act or behave in the world.

Your Synthetic Identity is “synthetic” not in a fake or artificial sense, but rather in the sense that it is a synthesis or the drawing together of physical possibilities.

This is the moral stand you take regarding life as to what is “Good and Bad”. It provides you with stability and structure in the way of “doing” and is evident by the commitments you have made in life. Your commitments will always conform to this social expression of “doing”. Your Synthetic Identity is the ever changing, “Flexible You” which has but one single purpose: To express your physical existence as an empirical being in the world.

Your Synthetic side is very adaptable, creative, and spontaneous in its expression, and is wide open to all the physical possibilities available to you in order for you to completely express yourself and your free-will. This is what attracts others to you and is a cause for establishing personal and business relationships. It is also responsible for your emotional fulfillment and moments of joy in your life. It is this Synthetic side of your identity that helps you to meet all the challenges you face in an ever changing, and demanding world.

The Impact of Knowing Your Life Theme and Who You Really Are.

These two sides of your identity work synergistically together and are responsible for all the successes in your life as well as all your failures. They provide the reasons for the way you think, the opinions and beliefs you hold, the way you behave, your sense of style, even what causes you to be happy, angry or sad.

Knowledge and understanding of this Life Theme with it’s Authentic and Synthetic sides is vital if you desire to make any real improvement and progress in your life and sustain it.

An Extremely Unique Methodology.

This advanced knowledge and methodology can not be found anywhere else other than through Authentic Systems. It is the culmination of 30 years of extensive research, theory and practical, real world application.

This revolutionary approach to understanding your true identity is substantiated by over 550 academically recognized books representing over 1000 experts in their respective fields, such as; psychology, epistemology, ethics, morality, linguistics, sociology, symbology, neuropsychology, phenomenology, existentialism, cognitive neuroscience, quantum psychology, psychophysiology and philosophy. An extensive list of reference sources can be found at Authentic Bibliography: The Knowledge That Leads to the Real You.

What’s your Life Theme? Find out! Get your Life Theme Profile Now!

Would you be surprised if I told you that most of what you have read about the nature of motivation is inaccurate and in some instances just plain wrong? Would you believe that the most popular definitions of motivation are “one sided” and are blind to the big picture. Can you understand why such errors in understanding can be the cause of a lot of peoples dissatisfaction and frustration in their lives?

Popular Definitions of Motivation

Commonly motivation has been defined as:

1. “the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction” (Kreitner, 1995)
2. “a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs” (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995)
3. “an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need” (Higgins, 1994);
4. “the will to achieve” (Bedeian, 1993)
5. “the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals” (Bedeian, 1993)

Based upon the above definitions as well as all material written to expound on these definitions we would be lead to believe that all motivations stem from the existence of unsatisfied or unmet needs or to simply achieve our goals.

But how would you explain the motivation behind such things as going for a walk in the park, daydreaming or many other so called trivial activities that we engage in on a daily basis? For that matter, how would you describe the motivation behind the statement: “I just need to be me”? Use of the word “need” does not necessarily imply that there is indeed something unmet or unsatisfied.

This explains the overall difficulty that exists with trying to define what motivation truly is. Part of the reason is that it is not easy to language something that is abstract or intangible, and therein lies the problem.

The Best Definition of Motivation

The best definition of motivation we have found so far comes from the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer:

“Motivation distinguishes the sufficient reason of Becoming, of Knowledge, of Being and of Action.”

In other words, these effects “of Becoming”, “of Knowledge”, “of Being” and “of Action” are established by having adequate reasons determined by motivation.

We didn’t say it would be easy, but at least based upon that definition we can now begin to lay a foundation to work from and provide a truly accurate definition of motivation.

The Two Sides of Motivation

First off, not all motivations are created equal. It is their source, the place or domain from where they are generated that dictate their nature.

Your individuality is separated into two broad functions or domains. One side known as your “Synthetic Identity” is designed to interact with the physical, tangible world while the other, your “Authentic Identity” domain, is designed to engage the intangible, abstract world.

Together these two domains function synergistically to make up who you really are. They also determine the nature of your motivations.

Typically, motivations that are generated by your “Synthetic Identity” side relate to physical events and circumstances (of becoming, of knowledge, of action) such as:

• when you move to protect yourself or a loved one from physical harm (action)
• when you want or need to become knowledgeable about something (knowledge)
• when you want to improve yourself or break a bad habit (becoming).

Motivation generated by your “Authentic Identity” on the other hand are abstract in nature (of being) and spring forth from a single solitary need: To express your unique Authentic Identity.

In essence it is declaring: “I am, I exist, I am unique and I matter“. In fact, we spend most of our lives expressing various states of “Being” all driven and motivated by this Authentic side. (For more detailed information about the Authentic and Synthetic sides of the human identity see: Birth of the Real You)

Becoming aware and excepting this distinction of our two sides, allows you to shift your attention and focus to the appropriate side in order to initiate and establish real and sustained change in your life.

Would you like to learn more? Find out what makes you tick! Discover your “Core Motivator”!

Perhaps you are very familiar with the feelings of excitement and enthusiasm when you find and purchase a program that you feel will finally provide you the key that will unlock all that potential pent up inside only to drift slowly into disappointment and back to the way things use to be.

Well, you are not alone. One major problem with success programs and success training methods in general is that they all tend to focus on a one successful person’s experience, habits, and applied knowledge. But what’s wrong with that you may ask?

A Basic Problem With Success Programs

The problem is that your unique, individual personality has not been factored into the equation. This fact alone alters the effectiveness of any technique used including how it will be implemented by you.

Simply put, any success techniques and habits and any subsequent positive results can only be replicated by the very personality that generated it in the first place. To ignore this and press onward is like forcing a square peg into a round hole.

True, there are exceptions, but if you investigate thoroughly you will discover that those individuals who have made a particular program work for them, have a remarkably similar personality to the author of the success program.

Other success programs lump successful individuals together, search for commonalities and package this as “Twelve Secret Habits of The Worlds Most Successful People”. Like the first example, this omits you as part of the equation. Whats more, it’s typically generic and lacks real power to motivate. It is like placing pineapple, grapes, strawberries, banana, and a lemon into a blender. There is no one flavor that hits the taste buds with any identifiable clarity.

Most successful people will universally agree that having a plan and setting goals is essential for success. Therefore, their seminars, books, websites or CD Workbook programs will begin by teaching you how to design a plan for success. But in reality, successful people operate from an intuitive position, where events just naturally fall into place. You may find this hard to believe, but often successful people don’t even really know how they achieved their own success. It’s not until someone ask them “How did you do it?” that they even give it much thought and then perhaps write a book or program.

The Problem With “One Size Fits All”

Another problem with success programs is that you must conform to them. Initially this is acceptable. After all, there must be something within you that needs to be fixed or altered in order to achieve success, otherwise you wouldn’t be searching for a success program in the first place. However, eventually, the habits that you have conformed to fade away and you find yourself back to they way things use to be. The reason is simple. Following another persons path to success is unnatural and foreign to who you really are at the core. You are trying to conform to something intended for somebody else. It’s like putting on a suit hand tailored for a 300 pound 7 foot tall person when you are 125 pounds at 5 feet.

If there was a “one size fits all” single model or single set of principles to obtain success, then there would be only one single solitary “How To” success book in print. Instead, there are hundreds of theories on motivation, relationships, sales, and success.

The Core Failure of Success Programs

The number one reason why success programs fail to provide lasting results for you is that they are all based on a faulty premise: That an abstract, intuitive achievement such as “success”, can be taught using a physical model or process.

To illustrate the point we’ll enlist the aid of a syllogism. (A three step deductive argument that moves logically from a major and a minor premise to a conclusion.)

1. Dad knows how to tie shoes
2. Dad teaches Johnny how to tie shoes
3. Johnny knows how to tie shoes

Logically you can see how tying shoes can be taught from a father to his son. Whether or not Johny learned to tie his shoes is physically evident or tangible.

Now, try trading the term “tie shoes” (which is a physical event) with “happy, successful, or motivated (which are all non tangible or abstract ideas)”

1. Tony is happy (successful or motivated)
2. Tony teaches Jonathan how to be happy (successful or motivated)
3. Jonathan is happy (successful or motivated)

Notice that you cannot say with any certainty that Jonathan is or will be either happy, successful or motivated. Jonathan’s state of being is simply not tangible or measurable. The reason again is: You cannot teach an “abstract idea” using a model or process designed to generate “physical results”.

True, success programs can generate excitement and they can be motivating for awhile. For the majority, the effects are very short term, on average lasting a mere 10 to 15 days leaving you feeling like you did before you attended or studied the program or more often then not worse.

Really Ponder This For a Moment. What If…

There was nothing to fix in you but rather something to discover about yourself that will give your life purpose and ease?

What if…
You could be yourself and live a life of success and do it naturally without conforming to somebody else’s program?

What if…
Success can be achieved not by what you do, but by simply being yourself?

What if…
Based upon your own natural capabilities you could create your own definition of success and find real happiness?

The First Step To Lasting Authentic Success

The first step is to discover who you really are. This is not defined by your achievements, your education, your status, title, gender, or age. The “Real You” is the observer that has been ever present within you, witnessing your entire existence. It is the part of you that has remained unchanged and consistent throughout your life. It is responsible for recalling to mind all those precious, sad and ordinary moments of your life. It is also the cause for all the objects and relationships around you and all that you do in life including your successes and failures.

The “Real You” is known as your “Authentic Identity” and at it’s center is a single “Core Motivator” running the show.

Discovering your unique Core Motivator and understanding it’s strengths and weaknesses is the key to your success. In essence, you are your own success program, hand crafted and tailor-made to suit you perfectly. Success will come to you naturally as your Authentic Identity begins to be fully expressed and the people around you begin to take notice.

All it takes is for you to answer 11 meaningful questions followed by a two hour session (in person or over the phone) with one of our Motivation Analysts. The information uncovered will all be included in your “Life Theme Profile” which will provide you the tools needed to begin turning your life around.

Click here if you are are ready to take back control of your life.

This can also be applied to those who found success. It doesn’t matter what steps they took, the results would have been the same. The reason is success is an expression of the Authentic cause within each unique individual. Success is not achieved by following any set of steps or following any group of principals or assuming any archetype. That is why so called formulas for success continue to produce less than satisfactory results. Success (much like happiness) is not something you can put on a “to do” list, but rather it is a “state of being”.

A real simple approach to learning how to become successful is to read about those who you believe have attained your life’s dreams. By considering people who satisfy your definition of success you will find there is only one cause that they all share and that is persistence.

Short Stories of Successful Failures

According to “The Secret of Success is Not a Secret,” by Darcy Andries, Tenacity or being persistent in maintaining, or seeking something valued or desired is the name of the game. Here are just a few examples from her book:

Clint Eastwood
Actor, Director and Producer was fired early in his career. Universal studio executives told him, “You have a chipped tooth, your Adam’s apple sticks out to far and you talk to slow.” He supported himself through odd jobs then starred in an Italian movie called, “A Fist Full of Dollars.” It was a huge success and the director had him also star in, “A Few Dollars More” and “The Good, Bad and Ugly.” Once released worldwide, he became an international star.

Walt Disney
Walt began with entrepreneurial failures early in life and was forced into bankruptcy. He was also fired by a newspaper editor as he “had no good ideas.” Working against his critics, he spent 4 years in the production of “Snow White and the Sever Dwarfs” costing $1.5 million dollars in 1938, almost causing his second business to end in bankruptcy. Since releasing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1939, the movie has earned over $400 million dollars. Walt Disney also holds the record for receiving the most Academy Awards, twenty-six, with sixty-four nominations.

Albert Einstein
Albert was suspected of being mentally retarded while in elementary school due to his poor performance. Most considered him to be a failure with no future. Later he failed the entrance exam into the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and his doctoral dissertation was rejected as “irrelevant and fanciful.” He was recognized only after “The Special Theory of Relativity” was published. In 1921 Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

David Letterman
David was fired as an Indianapolis weatherman. He later landed ordinary roles on two television programs that were both canceled only after a few episodes. Another series was to be called “Leave it to Dave,” however it never aired. He then had a morning show called, “The David Letterman Show,” which was canceled after four months. Dave was finally offered the “Late Night with David Letterman” which earned five Emmy Awards and thirty five Emmy nominations. He later moved to CBS to host “The Late Show” which earned nine Emmy Awards and more than fifty Emmy nominations.

Clark Gable
Clark worked for 10 years trying to get the attention of Hollywood. Working in small theater productions he traveled form Ohio to Oregon. He sold ties to make a living. His first screen test for MGM was a failure and he was forced to find work as an extra in silent movies. He left the movies and returned to the stage. He auditioned for Warner Brothers but was again turned down. They thought his ears were too big. Gable returned to MGM in 1931 and found a role in The Painted Desert which was a success. However, Gable let it go to his head and MGM lent him out to a smaller studio were he could hopefully find humility. Instead in 1934 he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in “It Happened One Night.” His most famous role was his as the male lead in “Gone With the Wind”.

Abraham Lincoln
This is probably the most famous successful failure story in history.

1. In 1831 his first business, a dry goods store failed.
2. One year later he entered The Black Hawk War as Captain. Three months later he was demoted and left the Army as a Private.
3. Lost an election for the state legislation in 1832.
4. Opened another store, which also failed leaving him in debt in 1833.
5. As a postmaster he had the worse efficiency record in the county.
6. 1834 he ran for the Illinois House of Representatives and won only to later lose as the Speaker of the House in 1838.
7. 1843 Lincoln lost an election for U.S. Congress.
8. He won the following election but later failed to be re-elected in 1848.
9. 1855 he lost his bid for the U.S. Senate
10. 1856 he ran for Vice President and lost.
11. 1858 he again ran for U.S. Senate and lost a second time.
12. Finally in 1860 he ran for president of the United States and won with 40% of the popular vote. It was assumed that he would lose re-election in 1864, but he won with 55% of the popular vote.

What success model did Lincoln and these other successful people adhere to? What are the “7, 10 or 15 Principals of Success” that they followed? What does this say about the “Law of Attraction?”

Success is Inevitable

The above stories reveal the dynamics of real life. These are typical examples of how people discover real success. Notice it is not a straight path. Success comes only after failure and persistence. It was their inner drive, fueled by passion that compelled these people to press forward against repeated failures and disappointments.

Actor Tony Curtis said it best when he was interviewed by Steve Young in the book “Great Failures of the Extremely Successful”.

There’s no way I can point to a single experience or event and say that from then on, my life was changed. It’s just the living of life itself. You cannot put that into words. It’s too variable. Too changing. Every moment, every second we are alive provides so may inputs and impulses that it’s too difficult to choose one and say, ‘That’s what did it for me.’ - Tony Curtis – Actor, Painter and Writer

It is tenacity of our inner motivation that is responsible for success, and tenacity is very simply the willingness to insist on expressing your true inner self in the face of any obstacle.

Passion for an idea, is the tangible evidence that you are tapping into your Authentic Side where your inner motivator resides. When you feel excitement and exhibit a sense of joy found in accomplishment, you are expressing your authentic inner self and given time, success is inevitable.

Just don’t stop. Be persistent! Do not give up!

However, there does exist a tool that can ignite more of that fiery passion within you. A “Short-cut” if you will, on your path to a successful state of being. Want to know more?

The successful “You” awaits discovery!

In order to tap into the methodology needed to make this emotional connection between brand and customer requires a little intuitive thinking.

Automobiles are an excellent example of how the mystique of a brand works on the buying public. If traveling from one place to another was simply all there was to it, why are there so many makes and models of vehicles available? While price certainly plays a role, still there is  something else at play here.

How does a BMW or Jaguar make you feel? Why does a Jeep scream adventure or a Porsche precision? Each form of transportation we choose really does say something about us because of the emotional connection we make with that brand.

Where Did You Say You’re From?

The concept of emotional branding stretches even further to include such things such as geography. We are branded by the State we come from.  I am branded a “Californian” and treated as such according to how others view Californians to be. When I travel out of the country I am branded an American and treated accordingly.  The same also applies to cities. For example, while shopping in an elite boutique in San Francisco, my wife let it be known to a friendly, chatty clerk that we lived in the “East Bay” (Oakland, Hayward, San Leandro which apparently do not share the status of San Francisco). The clerk’s nose immediately ascended and  the friendly small talk stopped. No doubt you have at one time or other experienced something similar.

Social Class Branding

This notion of associating tangible products with intangible emotions reminds me of what Paul Fussell stated in his 1983 publication “Class, A Guide Through the American Status System”. In it he explains that while the concept of class distinction may be viewed by some as a repugnant commentary on American life, it is none-the-less present whether we care to admit it or not.

The application of class distinction is a universal concept. Regardless of the culture, there are those with more power, more influence and more money than others. Even among the wealthy themselves there are even further class distinctions.

“Social class” is ultimately indefinable. It is much like the concept of what constitutes something as “obscene”. Like Justice Potter Stewart, we as individuals can’t exactly draw the line, “but we know it when we see it”. Class distinction is not just determined by wealth but more importantly by the whole image an individual reveals about themselves.

You Can Not Hide – There Is No Escape

Everything in our life divulges information about who we are. From the clothes we wear, the car we drive, where we live, where we work, and even how we talk. In fact, one business designed to help students with their reading used this concept in their slogan: “People judge us by the words we use.” You may have heard of this business: “Hooked On Phonics”.

We have all heard the adage, “Don’t  judge a book by its cover.” However, the insurance industry earns huge profits by “judging covers”. They are not remotely interested in opening our pages to discover what we are all about as individuals. On the surface it may seem like that their method of gauging risk is based on prejudiced. If your a 32 year old male, living  in a rural area your car insurance will be lower than if you were an 18 year old living in the city. If your city has a population of 100,000 people  you will pay more than a city with only 10,000 people. If you own a Pontiac your insurance premiums will be lower than if you owned a Jaguar. Insurance companies are in business to make a profit. Utilizing factual, statistical data guarantees them those profits.

Insurance companies are not alone. Even you think in terms of category function that promote expectations and behavior. If you have an opinion, you are biased. If you turn down peaches with bruises, you are discriminating against them and practicing segregation by selecting peaches that don’t. In reality you are prejudice against soft spots on fruit. It is who you are at your very core that determines what you do and what products you bring home all based on category thinking.

Branding also has the same function, designed to promote expectations and hopefully, positive behavior such as purchasing. The Porsche is the brand name that promotes: Precision Engineering. The brand name Budweiser promotes: Here’s to you America, for being strong, for coming through. The brand creates a myth designed to resonate with their target market. Marketing is about connecting you with the myth in the hopes of directing your behavior.

The simple conclusion to all of this is: What you do, and what you posses are all inseparable from who you are.

What do the objects and brands in your life say about you? Find out what you are really declaring about yourself to the world. Discover your Life Theme!