Hi Kyle,

Thank you for this reminder. This is something I share with my clients often, but something that is still so hard to keep in mind for yourself all of the time. With clients, management and your own inner competitive drive always pressing down on you, it is easy to forget to take the time necessary to really just be yourself and work at your fullest potential.

Prior to working in marketing, I started life out in the theatre. While I was still in school, one of my professors often reminded us of this idea, as well. In theatre, its easy to get wrapped up in the idea of always being the best, the first to succeed and the most experienced. Your competitive drive is on warp speed. But this professor always reminded us of the opposite. He always told us to slow down, take a breath and just be ourselves. He reminded us that it wasn't about being the best, the fastest or anything of that nature. Instead, it was about being yourself, just being authentic, honest and real and along for the journey--not the final result.

While this is something that definitely applies to being an artist, it applies to communications in general. When it comes to really creating something authentic and honest for your customers, you don't have to be first to be successful in the end. You just have to be real and be yourself. In the end, it'll be more gratifying to you and to your customers.

Justin