By Robin Fisher Roffer
We all know the story. We’ve watched the classic movie over and over and had the cheery song stuck in our heads for days. (You’re hearing it now, aren’t you?) We’ve cheered on the plucky red-nosed reindeer and his companion Hermey, the determined elf with dental school dreams. Even as adults, we’ve delighted in the snowy North Pole scenes, shuddered at the Abominable Snowman, and rejoiced at our unlikely hero’s happy ending. But few of us have really pondered the meaning behind this little fable: that a fulfilling life means being yourself—(symbolic) glowing red nose and all.
There’s never been a better time to march to the beat of that proverbial “different drummer” who makes you you. And if you take a lesson from the most famous reindeer of all, you can make 2009 the year you turn your unique qualities to your advantage.
While Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer was made in 1964, its theme—that embracing your uniqueness pays off—is even truer today. In a global world where businesses (and employees) face a literal world of competition, where people meet their spouses via Internet dating services, and where everyone from hot celebrities to your Uncle Fred have MySpace accounts, fearlessly being yourself is the only way to distinguish yourself from the teeming masses.
Here’s how Rudolph and his pals channeled their own “fearless fish” to save the day on that foggy Christmas Eve—and how you, allegorically at least, can do the same in 2009.
Let your nose shine bright. Once it became apparent that Rudolph wasn’t like the rest of his peers, his well-meaning father devised a way to help him “fit in.” The mud-covered nose didn’t last for long, and when his true self shone through, the other reindeer immediately excluded him from the reindeer games. On the other hand, the pretty little doe Clarice told him his red nose was “much better than that false one you were wearing.” The point? Playing an “acceptable” role never works—at least not for long.
When you aren’t authentic, it shows. Instead of fitting in, you come across as dishonest and untrustworthy. Don’t downplay your ethnic background, or try to hide the fact that you’re gay, or maybe a country music fan in an office full of hip-hop listeners. Give the world a fearless representation of who you are and let the chips fall where they may. Chances are they’ll fall in your favor.
Don’t just longingly read your dentist book. Grab your (metaphorical) drill and get to work. Hermey is an elf. At the North Pole. Of course he should make toys, right? Wrong! Hermey wanted to be a dentist instead, and in the end, he found the initiative to pursue his dream. Taking the first step toward big life changes, especially those that go against the grain can seem overwhelming. But as fearless fish we see the need for those changes and we take a flying leap instead.
We all have dreams that we have been too scared to fulfill in our lives. Perhaps it’s a new career path, or finally going back to school. Or maybe you are living in a city that just doesn’t work for you. Make this the year that you finally change those things. You will be amazed at how many other things begin to fall into place in your life once you allow yourself to pursue the things that really make you happy.
Seek out your own Hermey and make friends. On the surface it may seem like a red-nosed reindeer and an elf who wants to be a dentist may not have all that much in common. However, it was Rudolph’s misfit mantra and Hermey’s outcast status that bound them together and helped them become an unstoppable force. Likewise if you’re a “fish out of water,” you should align yourself with others who are different or special in their own ways.
It’s important to find others that you can count on as allies and friends in your quest for success. No, you don’t need to hold out for a coworker pal who is also an immigrant from China—that’s probably unrealistic. But you might join forces with, say, another maverick who is trying to lead the charge for dynamic change within the company. Find a boss like Santa. No one is suggesting that you find a job in a toy shop, or seek out a jolly leader in a red suit. Rather, seek out leaders or influential colleagues with the insight to recognize what you bring to the table. Santa used Rudolph’s difference to make him a great leader for his team. This is the type of person to look for in your organization who can help take you to the top.
Look for individuals who are creative and open-minded and put yourself in their path. These are the people who will champion your ideas and talents when the time is right. Rudolph was given the chance to save Christmas because he had a leader who could appreciate his unique talent. If you have been laid off, use this opportunity to make your next job one with the right kind of leadership. Your moment could be right around the corner—it just takes having the right people to help get you there.
Help the misfit toys in your own life. Rudolph and Hermey use their alliance with one another to overcome the odds and achieve their own happy endings. It would be easy to assume that the story stops there, right? Not for fearless fish. Just like Rudolph uses his influence with Santa to help the misfit toys find happy homes, you must advocate for others who need a helping hand.
Once you have begun to find your own way, use the leverage you have achieved to help others on their journey. After all, you were one of them at some point and it’s important to maintain the mentoring cycle. It’s not just a nice thing to do for someone else; it’s a catalyst for continued growth and positive energy for yourself, too.
Make sure you’ll go down in history. It may seem obvious, but the things that make you unique are of any good to you only if you use them. It’s easy to see the things that make you different as what keeps you outside the group at large. In reality, they are your own secret weapons. If Rudolph hadn’t used his nose to guide the sleigh through the fog, he would still just be an outsider to the reindeer community. Instead, he winds up the hero.
Being a fearless fish out of water means believing that you are not just taking up space but that your contributions are valuable. Cultivating this kind of confidence from deep inside of you will spur you forward more than anything else in life. So don’t apologize for who you are and what makes you different. Be bold, be creative, and put yourself out there. People who are different are often the ones who can make the biggest difference.
Of course, “be yourself” hardly seems like the kind of cutting-edge advice to build a life-changing New Year’s Resolution around. After all, everyone’s mother has said it a hundred times. But if you’re honest, you’ll admit that those two tiny words are tough to put into action. And that’s precisely why they’re so powerful.
So many people are terrified to be themselves. So when you decide to cut that inner rebel loose, well, people notice. They pay attention. And if you’ve always been the “hide your light under a bushel” type, attracting attention may be the best thing that ever happened to you. Be who you are, and just like our favorite holiday hero, you will be happy too. And that’s the only ending to your story that matters.
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About the Author:
Robin Fisher Roffer (Los Angeles and New York) is CEO of Big Fish Marketing, one of the entertainment industry’s preeminent brand marketing and digital advertising agencies. She has provided the rocket fuel that has ignited the launch pad of dozens of brands all over the world, developing brand-building marketing plans and promotional campaigns for top media companies like Sony, Time-Warner, and Twentieth Century Fox.
Roffer has written strategic plans and executed marketing tactics for a prestigious client list that includes ABC, A&E, AMC, Bloomberg, Bravo, CNN, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, History, Lifetime, MTV, Oxygen, and Turner Networks. Today, her client roster includes over 25 television networks, a global cosmetics company, and several insurance and investment firms.
A dynamic and engaging speaker, Roffer has given keynote presentations to some of the nation’s biggest companies and organizations, including AOL, Mattel, Verizon, Wharton School of Business, and many more. In addition to her work with Big Fish Marketing, she serves as a strategic branding consultant for a variety of corporations.
Drawing on her experience in creating some of the world’s leading entertainment
brands, Roffer penned her first book, MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF: Eight
Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success. Her latest book, THE FEARLESS FISH OUT OF WATER: How to Succeed
When You’re the Only One Like You, will be in stores in February 2009. It shows professionals how to stay connected and relevant at work while maintaining a unique identity, how to fit in without blending in, and how to transform exclusion into high impact. Roffer’s core belief is that entertainment should be leveraged for a greater good. She has received accolades for developing community outreach programs like Lifetime’s “Women Rock,” a concert event designed to raise awareness for breast cancer issues; CNN’s “Your Choice Your Voice” high school-based election promotion; FSN’s “Reading All-Stars” literacy campaign; The History Channel’s “Save Our History” initiative, which raised money and awareness for the World War II Memorial; and Comedy Central’s “Comedy RX,” a hospital-based program promoting the healing powers of laughter. About the Book:
The Fearless Fish Out of Water: How to Succeed When You’re the Only One Like You (Wiley, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-470-31668-9, $24.95) will be available at bookstores nationwide, major online booksellers, or direct from the publisher by calling 800-225-5945. In Canada, call 800-567-4797.
For more information, please visit www.bigfishmarketing.com. C. Hand
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To be able to play a musical instrument well is a very satisfying emotional experience. The experience is even more edifying if you are good enough to play in a good band or playing backing for a singer whether professionally or just for the fun of it. So, if you want to learn how to play a musical instrument, which instrument should you pick up? Well, if you are asking me, then I would say, learn how to play the piano. The next question would then be, why should you learn how to play the piano as the first choice over so many other musical instruments? Well, here are some reasons why you should pick the piano over the other instruments. See if you agree. For starters, just like I said earlier, being proficient in playing a musical instrument is a very satisfying experience and that is why everyone should learn how to play at least one instrument and make beautiful music. Playing the piano proficiently makes you feel and look sophisticated and elegant. For some unknown reason, a pianist just exudes some kind of elegant charm more than other musicians, don’t you think so? Furthermore, playing the piano keeps our brain active and our brain is actually doing mental exercises on all ten fingers when we consistently throw it the musical language to interpret. There are studies which show that pianists are more mathematically gifted too. Also, learning how to play the piano can kill boredom. If you do not have anything to do, go and tickle the ebonies and ivories. Better yet, serenading to yourself while you are at it. Yes, I know you can do that with the guitar, but which instrument will produce a fuller and complete sound? Perhaps you can organize family gatherings or entertain- your friends at a party with all of you having fun with you direct sing along sessions. That would be fun wouldn’t it? Also, in a strange way, some people will actually respect you more and even think that you are a genius. Many people actually admire someone who can play the piano well. Perhaps you too and that is why you want to learn how to play the piano. A good pianist never quit learning. You see, there is absolutely no way to memorize every song and if you can play by ear, you are learning new tunes every time whenever you hear a tune without you even aware of it until someone ask you whether you can play a certain song and although you have never learnt that song before, the tune just pops into your head with your fingers running elegantly over the piano keys. I supposed deep down in most people, they wished that they are able to play the piano. If not, why are you reading this article? Do you know that learning how to play the piano is one of the most common New Year resolution? Learning to play the piano proficiently is also a fantastic ego booster. There’s no better feeling like playing a difficult song effortlessly and flawlessly. If you are thinking of picking up a musical instrument, why not choose to learn how to play the piano? Chris Chew
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What, Exactly, Is Music ? by Ocean Music does not need to have been produced by organized sequences, whether planned or not. It need not have been channeled through an instrument made for melodic or rhythmic purpose. Music is as simple as a random breeze through a pine tree, making a sweepingly beuautiful sound, or the resonating echo of a mockingbird’s song, or the might rush of a wave crawling up the beach. Nature is filled with effortless music. Even the crack of a dried branch in the woods is music. Everything in nature is music. Music abounded in pre-human history. When we were still creatures of the sea, musical sounds under the water must have inspired our souls to stretch, and our wills to push, until we developed ever more sensory skills in order to soak in the lovely tones of our surroundings. Next time you’re at the ocean, stay underwater for a moment and make some squeals, some laughs, some sounds, or just speak, or sing. Witness the feeling of the watery vibrations you’ve caused, and hear the difference between air sounds and sea sounds. It’s fun ! And did you know that fish talk? Yes, and perhaps they also sing ! People often do not give our fellow beings much credit for the similar ways they enjoy their lives and use their senses so like our own. Sea horses couples arise when the dawn light filters into their sea green world, and they both sing and dance their love for each other, and for our Creator, I’m sure, as we all do, if we’re in joy and alignment with the universe. All other animals take joy in sound, in making their own music. Our cats clearly take pleasure in purring, as they surround themselves in the warm vibes of throaty expressions of happiness. Dogs bark in ecstasy when we play with them, and whimper in sympathy when we’re blue, and of course they sing along with us, whether they’re in tune or not! Horses, guinea pigs, elephants, et al, and every being in between, whether we can hear them or not, make sounds that are pleasing, like music. Some breeds, like the Humpback Whale, use organized tunes – songs – and they develop new ones as they go along – usually one for each mating season, which individuals remember and perhaps add to. Birds, the virtuosos of the world, putting us primates to vocal shame, create their own songs, compose, recall songs from their childhood, and obviously sing their hearts out when their moods prevail. Whether, as we do, other beings have the vocal chords and the tongue formation, the palate, and the teeth in the right places in order to utter words or not, we know that all other animals communicate however they can, and it’s obvious that they also create sounds that convey their emotions. Hippos sing the blues? Of course they do. Alligators chrip with glee? Yes. Just imagine what life sounded like, once upon a time, when we were still tree-dwellers, when the forests and jungles were filled with voices of all types, with sounds made from countless individuals of many, many diverse species, and we were blessed with the fulness of nature that we will never know again. Not only primates are blessed with vocal self-expression. We all make music – all living beings, all places, all of the elements on our planet, and it does soothe our souls. http://www.ToOcean.com Ocean
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Does it really help? With any instrument practice makes perfect, and your voice is an instrument!
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I wanna know how much vocal classes cast i thinking to start taking vocal lessons but i don’t know the cast do i have to pay by week or month please tell me the prise
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People tell me that I sing really well, but I sing VERY quietly. I want to learn how to scream my words/sing them with more emotion without sounding off-key.
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yea ive heard the usual "sing from your diaphragm" but im still not sure how. from my "reasearch" a lot of people put breathing exercises like "when you breathe, make sure your stomach expands and not your chest." i can do that no problem, but when i try to sing a note it just does not come out right. Im confused Check out my answer to this very similar question: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApwKfqQ3DD3ssyvKUsjnPUDsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20100216144821AAHTvKm&show=7#profile-info-QyGe6e55aa Good luck!!!!!
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Hope this helps!!!
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Just in case you don’t know (or im calling it by the wrong name =] )…..a soprano c is the c 2 octaves above middle c. I need to learn it for a solo in my choir class. My teacher gave me the solo, but if i cant sing it, were just going to drop it. I can sing it but it doesnt sound very pretty and it sounds very strained. Anyone have any suggestions or vocal exercises i can do to improve it? It’d be greatly appreciated =)
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Like, you guys know how its fun to sing to songs like A Thousand Miles, and Everytime We Touch? Can you guys think of any more fun songs just to jam out to, and sing and dance to? Thanks! Oh soon please (: Sugar, Sugar – The Archies Big Rock Candy Mountain 100
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