In a follow up to my last post about about challenging yourself, if you want to improve, you must understand the value you bring to others.
As humans we all have a self-images and egos that can cloud our perspective and limit our ability to create real relationships. A true desire to grow and bring about positive change requires you to step outside of the fear of hurt feelings and understand how others see you and what you bring to the world.
Thus I ask everyone who reads this to respond to my question:
WHAT IS YOUR PERCEPTION OF ME?
As I am committed to challenging myself to make more of an impact, this question is important. Your response can change my world.
You can answer this in the comment section or by email (thom [at] thomsinger [dot] com). Anonymous is okay. It need not be nice, just true.
thom
3 comments:
I think you are very bold to open yourself up this way and to put such an broad question on your blog.
My answer is this:
My impression of you is that you are someone who has really made the most of his talents and is doing his best to have a positive impact on the world. You seem to genuinely want to connect with people which, sadly, is hard to find in this day and age when most people seem mainly interested in what they can take from others rather than what they can give back.
I think you are like an old fashioned "Father Knows Best"/Ward Cleaver kind of guy who, at first glance, seems so nice that you aren't sure at first if he is really for real. And then when you watch enough episodes you realize that he really is the perfect dad/husband/friend/etc.
I hope that my comment comes across in the spirit that I intended it to (complimentary). I think the reason others may not have commented yet is that it's hard to answer a question like this in such a way that you don't inadvertently say something stupid and/or hurt someone's feelings by mistake.
Many of us have had it hammered into our heads that hitting the Send button is a permanent, irreversible act. Sometimes it is best to send nothing at all, other times post credit where credit is due. So, for those of us that are still intimidated by the permanence and ubiquity of a simple blog post – here is what I think of Thom Singer:
Thom, your blog, books and twits are among the few welcome items to hit my cerebral Inbox. I have been challenged some days and delightfully entertained on others. I have yet to be disappointed. In one of our coffee chats, too long ago now, you spoke about extending your Some Assembly Required publishing and dedicating yourself to this blog. To me, these are about challenging yourself daily, building your brand one post at a time. It forces you to be fresh, relevant and interesting. That alone puts you in a class beyond my imagination. Yet, since you are here, picking up keyboard again, I don’t have to imagine. I can know and believe in the possibilities for expression at my fingertips. I no longer worry about the sending a post and not being able to recall my remarks. In other words – you inspire me.
Jack Garvin
Liz and Jack,
Thank you for the kind words.
I also want to thank the three who emailed me so far.
thom
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