I wanna be like Mike

“I wanna be like Mike,” is the infamous tagline for a USA-created Gatorade marketing campaign from the early 2000’s. It uses adored athletes to sell products. If ____ does this, then I want to do it also, to be just like ____. Young adults respond not only by purchasing gallons of the sport drink, but by turning talented athletes into teen idols. Hero worship that may have been harmless, but could just as easily mislead vulnerable teens.

Some of the athletes push back, proclaiming their discomfort at being tagged with an incorrect label of hero. It’s a discussion that continues today- what defines a role model and how responsible is the media for influencing our choices of such.

As you increase your level of participation in the world of influence, remain mindful of how you approach those you deem to be “more influential” than you. Simply because a role model may have been in the game longer than you, be alert to losing your own sense of self and your own worth.

A successful entrepreneur is a regular person just like you, who has been on the influential path a little longer. You can be inspired, admiring of their success, respectful of their time (very important) and still not hold them apart.  

Today’s action: Identify a couple of people you admire. Park any hero worship you may have going on and approach them confidently to see if you can find a way to give them influence (connections, endorsement) to get a relationship started that will be valuable to you both in the long run.

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About the Author

Teresa de Grosbois is the #1 International Bestselling author of Mass Influence, 4X best selling author, International Speaker and Founder of the Evolutionary Business Council.

If you’d like to learn how to increase your influence, click here to download your complimentary digital copy of the #1 International Bestseller Mass Influence

Teresa’s passionate goal is to have transformational principles touch the lives of 1.2 Billion people by 2020, by growing 1200 thought-leaders.

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