Trendhunter

For one of my Communications Classes we had the assignment to listen to a 30 minute Keynote speech by Jeremy Gutsche called Innovation. He was presenting this speech to a bunch of marketing people. I really like him and the way he presents. Beyond that, I REALLY like what he had to say about some important aspects of marketing that also related directly to {my} life.
One key note he discussed had to do with "packaging" so to speak. He gave the example that I'm sure most people are familiar with....one of the nation's best violinists Josh Bell. His video is below.

This man literally makes $1000 per MINUTE he is on stage. $1000 folks! He decided to conduct an experiment to see how many people would stop in a busy D.C. Metro stop to listen to his music. People pay a whole lot of dollars to see him play professionally, yet when he is dressed as an average Joe playing for money, 7 people stopped to listen. He made $35.
So what does this have to do with anything? How you/a situation/a product/etc is packaged will have a whole lot of influence on how much it is noticed.
The key phrase that I took away from Jeremy Gutsche's speech was this:
Portray your event as average, and that is all it will ever be.

So what does this mean for the non-marketing every day person out there? Here is how I relate it to myself.
Change the words "your event" to YOU (or YOURSELF).

Portray Yourself as average, and that is all You will ever be.

Of course when I first thought about it I connected on physical level. I'm pretty sure if I never showered, dressed in grungy clothes all day and never did a thing to take care of myself, I would definitely not be very approachable. I wouldn't be putting my best self out there.
But...have you ever noticed that when you take the time to spruce up a little bit you feel a little like you can conquer the world? Or is that just me? When I feel good about myself, I excel in other areas of my life as well. I'm more confident and more willing to take a (little) risk every now and then.
Does this mean to become snobby mcsnob and be a jerk? Not in the least. It means that you need to take pride in yourself. You need to take pride in your family, friends, home, schoolwork, religion, etc and make it become extraordinary.

So maybe instead of focusing on the negatives....you need to focus on the amazing, wonderful things that you do. Let yourself shine when you accomplish a task no matter now heinous or small it may be. Take pride in yourself and all you do. It's worth it, I promise.