I originally thought that there was only one lesson to share from my experience with Mr. Internet Hacker, but what I realized as a result of all of you, is that there are a variety of valuable concepts we can take away and implement in our lives. During the video for Part 1 of the hacking fiasco, I mentioned that I received hundreds of emails from people who wanted to make sure I was okay; however, they realized that this was a scam because it “did not sound like me.” One of your fellow BRANDENTITY members, Michele Rosenthal, who is an inspiration for people who struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and has created an incredible blog with an unquantifiable number of resources (www.healmyptsd.com), wrote a wonderful comment that I would like to share with all of you:
My intent with this message is not to focus on myself and how I created an IDENTITY for the “who I am.” But at the same time, this is my intention because the concept of establishing a BRANDENTITY enables you to be the ONLY you. There is no one in the entire world who can steal your identity once you create it, own it, and become it. There is no “fluff” with the concept of creating your BRANDENTITY, and thus, I did not choose this term because I thought it sounded appropriate for the purposes of marketing. I truly believe that once you begin this process, and start redefining who you want to be in this world, you will discover an internal power that will prevent anyone from stealing what makes you…YOU.
I have dedicated my life to learning and embracing the “who I am,” which is why no hacker, no relationship, no career, no event, etc. could ever take this from me. When Michele and the hundreds of other people informed me that the hacked email was “not my style of communicating and did not sound like me,” I felt proud; I felt honored; and I felt congruent. Once you ascertain the “REAL YOU,” and stand strong on your values, it will be difficult for you to be compromised. Therefore, I want to reiterate the definition of BRANDENTITY and also what potentially will happen if you do not take the time, energy, and effort to embrace this discovery.
- BRAND- This is your external YOU. This is the WHO YOU ARE and the person that everyone is able to see, as represented through your exterior image. Your brand needs to be in complete alignment with the other half of the equation, which is your identity. If incongruencies exist between both parts, the result could be an unfulfilling life where someone or something may impede your growth and your ability to define who you are.
- IDENTITY- This is your internal YOU. This is WHAT YOU STAND FOR, and the person that only you are able to see, as it represents the core of your existence. Your identity needs to be in perfect alignment with your BRAND, otherwise there is a contradiction which will always lead to destruction, and the severity of the destruction will be based on the magnitude of the contradiction.
I want you to take a moment to envision the HOOVER DAM, located in Nevada and Arizona. The concept of a dam epitomizes what could potentially happen if there are contradictions between your BRAND and IDENTITY. If the HOOVER DAM had even the smallest crack, which permitted water to leak through, the pressure that would be exerted on the dam would force the crack to expand, and eventually the entire dam would be compromised and come crashing down. The same goes for you and the contradictions in your world. Even if the contradiction is miniscule, the pressure exerted on that area of your life will force the misalignment to expand and eventually lead to destruction.
This is exactly what would have happened if I did not invest the time in myself to realize my BRANDENTITY. Mr. Internet Hacker would have succeeded because many of you may have fallen for the impersonation, as a result of my inability to be true to my authentic self. This proves there is nothing in your life that is more valuable than your BRAND and your IDENTITY. Those of you who do not invest the time to embrace the various philosophies, and then take action on the areas where incongruencies exist, are risking a contradiction expanding and the destruction of the HOOVER DAM in your world. This literally and figuratively opens the floodgates and makes you more susceptible and vulnerable to compromising what makes you…YOU!
Although I am working towards complete alignment between my BRAND and IDENTITY, there are times and situations that create cracks in my wall. Instead of ignoring these cracks, which represent pain, challenges, and frustrations, I have made the commitment to myself to address them and take the necessary steps to plug their existence so that they do not have the opportunity to expand. As a result of my experiences, I am now on a mission to empower all of you to plug the cracks in your personal dam.
What I encourage you to realize is that if you are not committed to creating an IDENTITY for yourself, then there is a possibility that someone or something will compromise what is rightfully yours. Therefore, the time is here and the time is now to embark on this adventure because your BRANDENTITY is real and the IDENTITY REVOLUTION is something that no hacker, no career, no disorder, no relationship, etc. will be able to destroy.
What cracks are in your personal Hoover Dam?
What does this mean to you? Please leave a comment.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Jared,
After reading your article on the Internet hacker 2-presently being at a retreat with women who own business and are writing articles to publish for the year, I became moved in my spirit to be more intentional then what I was yesterday.
You gave me power to speak on behalf of my authentic self, values, and beliefs. I am confident I will be more effective…yes much more effective now because the spirit within is awakened and allowed the freedom to stand up, stand true and stand strong in my reason for being , believing and doing..
Thanks for being true to you and reminding me to do the same.
Blessing.
Lori Bestler-Motivational Speaker and Mind Coach
http://www.mindscapesunlimited.com
Lori your words mean so much to me and I feel fortunate that you have allowed my message to echo in your world. I want you to always remember that you possess internal tools that will enable you to prove that the impossible is very much possible. You can be, do, and have anything as long as you remain congruent to your authentic self. Always have courage and belief that the words and philosophies you share are what people NEED to hear. And finally, be proud, be very proud of the who you are, the what you stand for, and what makes you…YOU!!!!
Have you ever had a great thought or idea that could not make it any further than a thought and you were never able to get it into your body? I am not talking about a goal – by now most of us are aware, at least in print how to set goals and keep them. But I have found that few still are they who can take a great idea or belief that they have and move that into their bodies so they live it out.
You may have a belief that says I really need to save money or I will not have a good retirement. I really need to call my mom or dad more. I really think as a good dad I should spend more time with my kids. These are ideas or thoughts or beliefs that we have. And many times, even though we know them and feel them, we just don’t get those beliefs into our legs or into our hands so we pick up that phone, or spend time with those kids etc.
So how do we do that? There has to be a way to move those beliefs that seem so important into our bodies so we embody our beliefs, and then that will make your life better, will it not? So, let’s see what we need to do to take these great ideas and start fixing them into our bodies and thus be on the outside that we are on the inside.
The first thing you want to do before you move this thought or belief into your body, is make sure you do an ecology check. Is it a real good belief? Could it backfire if you did it? Could it have negative consequences on you if you were to really take that belief and live it? So, do that ecology check, then get ready to move that belief into your very neurology and watch the transformation.
1. Start of by identifying the principle or belief that you want to incorporate into your life. You will want to write it down, and say it out loud. You start by writing and saying, “I understand that“ …… – let me you an example throughout so you better understand. Lets say the belief or principle is that you want to spend more time with you family. You would write down and state out loud. – “I know that I should spend more time with my family, or I understand that I should spend more time with my family. “
2. Once you say that you understand or conceptualize that you should spend more time with your family, the next thing to do is state that as a belief. You say, “I believe I should spend more time with my family. “ Now what we have done is move a conception or idea and made it a belief. You need to really feel this belief. Remember or imagine a time you really believed in something and get into that state and apply that state to this belief. When you do that you have taken an idea or knowledge (semantic thought) and slowly, in your neurology and are building a network that is moving a thought from the semantic part of your brain to the part that processes episodes.
3. Once you really feel this belief, once it is clear and powerful and you know that it is a real belief and not just a concept or idea, then you need to take this belief and make it a decision in your life. Now that you have this strong belief you now say.. “I will spend more time with my family“, or “from here forward I will spend more time with my family“, or “I am going to spend more time with my family. “ As you do this you are starting to connect areas of your brain that are abstract and faithful, into the muscle portion of your brain – you are now, one step at a time, affecting different parts of your brain and building up a system for change.
4. Now that you have stated it as a belief and then as a decision to act, now you want to move it to the emotional system of the brain and say, “I feel great that I am going to spend more time with my family, or “I am experiencing great joy that I am going to spend time with my family. “ Again you need to do all this with emotion and meaning – each of these steps are not just words, they are to be states.
5. Now that you FEEL this decision, you state the next action you will take. At this point you have taken this thought from the frontal cortex, to a belief touching on various other parts of the brain, then the decision which now builds a stronger neural network into the muscle portion of the brain, and then the great feeling in the body and emotions integrates the limbic system with the motor system – you have engaged the various parts of the brain and body and emotions that are an important part of your experiencing this movement of an idea or concept into your actions. So here you would say, “tomorrow I will spend 30 minutes with my children playing ball“, or “today I will spend 15 minutes with each of my kids. “
6. The next step is to take all this and create a real state that you can step into – you have all these resources now at your command and a new neural network that you now are setting up as a state. This is where you see what you will be doing, what step you will be taking and give a big YES to it. Feel the state, see the action. What will you see, what will you hear, what will you feel, when you spend this 15 minutes with your family, what joy, what excitement that will come from that – get into state and ground the state.
7. Now if you really want to ground this even better for the rest of your life (that is why I asked you to check that it is ecological) then take this state that you created and associate it with your identity – make it part of who you are. Again, only do this if you want it to be part of your identity, this is a big step. But if you do, then spending time with your family is no longer what you want to do, it is who you are – see it as part of who you are, experience how that it will be a part of YOU, how that will feel as part of YOU.
8. DO an ecology check – Imagine this being a part of you – how will your life be? What will you be doing? How will this affect other areas of your life –
Well that is one way to move a great idea into your muscle – so if you have had an idea or concept of what you wanted to do or be but could never seem to get it from this great idea to an action, run this pattern, and do so with the understanding that you are re-wiring your brain and moving from one system of the brain to the next. And the areas that are affected by this pattern are not first this system, then that one, then that one, but they blend into one system, so now you have a system of systems and so you have eight times the neurons working toward your success – how can you not succeed??
Charles, you never cease to amaze me! With each your comments, I the fortune of growing in such a profound way because of your ability to communicate. The 8 steps that you shared with all of BRANDENTITY has made me speechless because this strategy is one that has the potential to truly induce change in a way that many people may have never experienced. I love step 8 and the ecology check because this correlates with the philosophy of STARTING WITH THE END IN MIND. These are the types of questions we must ask and answer so that we can literally feel ourselves in the life of our dreams.
You are a pioneer Charles and I know that your drive and determination will enable you to take many THOUGHTS/IDEAS and turn them into something real that will positively impact the world forever!
Thank you for your leadership!