How to Be Awesome Like Beyonce

 I woke up this morning with two deep thoughts. One was Amber Teamann‘s quote…(@8amber8)

“Blowing out someone’s candle doesn’t make yours shine any brighter.”

The other was a quote from my mother, who does NOT have a web presence…

 

“Some people’s lights are meant to shine brighter. Imagine a world full of Beyonces.”

Let’s take a moment and think about that…a world full of Beyonces. What does Beyonce have, other than more money than can be printed, goddess-like looks and the voice of an angel?

CONFIDENCE & THE REALIZATION OF WHO SHE IS!

Yes, I screamed that from the rafters…hence the bold print and all caps.

We just left a massive technology conference (ISTE) where people were clamoring to have pictures made with “edu-stars from twitter”, which would have been okay had they not also at times diminished their own contributions while building up others. It broke my heart to hear, “I wish that I could____ like _____”. Dear Edu-World…We are all amazing. We have strengths in areas that are vastly different. Some of us are amazing at building relationships. Others are tech-wizards. We have Curriculum Super-Stars. Quite a few are amazingly brilliant leaders. The bottom line is that there should NOT be any lights brighter than others. We all have the capacity to shine and areas to shine within. What is your strength? What makes one light brighter than the other? It’s the Beyonce-syndrome, confidence and sense of self. When I was in high school, I was an officer on our school dance team. My mother used to to yell at me from the stands, “Smile Baby! Act like you own the place!” So I did. One would assume that with a mother like that, I’d grow up to be highly confident. I did not. It was only this year that I really found my inner strength. As successful as my career has been, I didn’t see it. I was too busy comparing my accomplishments, which were there to others that I thought were better. As crazy as that sounds, that was me! The moment that I took my mom’s advice and realized who I was and what I have to offer was the moment that my life changed. Yes, I credit Scott Floyd  for helping me to see that but the reality is that it was all me…Acceptance of WHO I AM and WHAT I BRING TO THE TABLE! 

 Even Chrome tells me that I’m awesome and amazing daily[/caption] What I hope that you get from this posting is that instead of diminishing someone else’s light, including your own, find what makes you stand out! Be Awesome, in the words of Kid President because you ARE! You were made to be Awesome! Steps to be Awesome! (Things that YOU can do instead of putting down those that ARE)      

• Submit a proposal to present at the next conference
• Start a blog & share!
• Join conversations on twitter.
• Build relationships with those that you encounter
• Tell yourself everyday how awesome you are!
• Give props to someone else…give props to someone that you originally put down
• Watch ALL posted Kid President videos like the one below!