Category: BUSINESS

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been copied.

Raise your hand if your work has ever been plagiarized without remorse.

Raise your hand if you thought it was rude + disrespectful, not only to you but to the entire human species.

Raise your hand if you considered dropping your “copy cat” a nuclear bomb. It’s okay, it’s safe here.

It’s true, the internet is making it easier than ever for people (ahem lazy people) to steal. The story of the student who registers for a course + compulsively takes notes + three months later (flick magic wand), launches “their version”, is happening more and more often. It’s a jungle out there.

Simultaneously, there’s a big coalition happening. When brands take a sharp left turn at the normal stop sign, they trip the whole system. Weird is impossible to imitate.

There are one too many Gucci rip offs, but there’s only ONE Gucci. Rembrandt had “painter assistants”, but no one remembers their name because there’s only ONE Rembrandt.

Today I want to talk about being original. Standing out, so no one, no matter how hard they try, can pass off as YOU!

Click play to watch a very especial episode with a very special cameo appearance!

Let’s recap!

Wanna be original? Here’s a place to start:

• Recognize the areas of your life in which you are living disconnected from your true self.
• Proclaim who you want to be.
• Work it! Develop + express your individuality.
• Accept that YOU might not look like the YOU you thought about in your head.
• Practice your authentic muscle.

Your turn!

As homework I want you to make a list of all the things that make you “unidentifiable”. Original. Authentic. Drop them in the comments below!

Disclaimer: Despite my continuos brainwashing efforts, my little sister Laura (we are 11 years apart), actually, doesn’t want to copy me. What is wrong with her? Seriously.

True tale: Found a battalion of eggplants in my fridge this morning. Pondered: “I can’t freeze them. I don’t think I can juice them. What am I gonna do with these?”

I Googled.

A Baked Eggplant Parmesan link popped up. I start salivating.

Clicked on the link. No pictures. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Next.

Couldn’t get pass the pic with a flash. I mean, have you seen how radioactive food looks with a flash?

After 5 rounds of clicking + whining, I’m basically about to lose it. Mayi’s hungry people. H-A-M-B-R-E!

Lightbulb goes on: You Tube. Cue the celestial soundtrack. That’s where I met Dani Spies. Where have you been all my life girlfriend? Her clean twist on yo’ mama’s Eggplant Parmesan had me at play.

Made it. Ate it. Danced the champion song. That’s when I had the revelation: People wanna see how you do it!

Sure they like how to’s. Bullet points + checklists are nice too. Pretty pictures without flash are super. But sometimes, most times, people just want you to show them, not tell them, how it gets done. Skip the advice + the tips + the tricks. Show me, please!!!

Now, this goes against everything I’ve been thought + know to be true. Mayi, that’s me talking to myself, “You don’t give people the fish, you show them how to fish so they never go hungry again. Right?” Right.

That’s years of Catholic School for ya’.

But what if (stay with me for a sec), what if instead of giving people the 1 2 3’s + recommending them what fishing gear to get or empowering them to find their own fishing style, I just show them how I do it. Follow along. Like karaoke.

At first, I suspect they will just copy. Copying is bad, but not if you’re baking Eggplant Parmesan for hubby or not launching an Eggplant Parmesan e-book tomorrow.

First attempts are scary, so we’re tempted to follow the instructions word for word. But practice seeds confidence – confidence to break the rules + play + experiment + tweak a little something here + whoops why not add some carrots there. Bam!

We don’t stay amateur for very long when we admire our mentors. We honor their guidance by making up our own recipe.

Until now, I’ve only shown you how to fish. Today, for the first time E-V-E-R I want to show you exactly how I fish, so you can copy me, if you want. So you can practice with a life vest or like we call them around here “flotis”. So you can reach confident. So you can find your voice. So you can make it yours.

Your own is good.

To start the show not tell saga, I’m letting your inside my entire pre Friday Video Time ritual. Ta daaa…

I want to hear from you!

Was this helpful? Did you like it? Was this crazy? Am I crazy? Okay don’t answer that last one.