Get in their Shoes The Campaign to make mentoring available for everyone.

How often have you seen the same successful person in the news like 100+ times?  They’re in Time Magazine on the list of the most influential/beautiful/cool people.  They’re the “Rockstar” who is bestselling/best-winning/best-dressed.  Wherever they go, the cameras are on as they relentlessly push through the paparazzi.  They’re on Facebook with 2.5 million+ fans even though they never update their page–they even have a fan page for their dog that has more friends than you have.  They always Tweet about the most mundane, lame things–(ie. “I’m off to Hawaii again.  Hoping 2 catch a nice wave…”).  And try as you might, you can’t delete them from your mind.  Everywhere you turn, they’re there, promoted, packaged, and sold as the embodiment of success.  It gets annoying.  It gets old.  It even gets depressing.  “How can I ever become that successful?”, you ask, as you look at your comparatively bland life that consists of a 9-5 joke that is really just an exercise in anger management, bills that (like money-hungry vampires) suck the life out of your paycheck, and a future that is (like your own celebrity status) as yet: Unknown.

So, how do you achieve your full potential if when you think of success all you can see is that annoying “Rockstar”?  He’s the 30-something CEO that invented that billion dollar app; she’s the inventor who created a game-changing technology; he’s the success story who went from rags to extreme riches almost overnight.  Those celebrities aren’t going away easily.  In fact, they’re not going away at all.  So, what can you do?

I have a confession: When it comes to celebrity, I’m an Unknown.  If you go to any average household and whisper or even shout the name Chris Deaver to the residents, you will get blank stares.  No props, thumbs up, or teenage heart-throbbing.  It’s the truth.  And I don’t care.  Seriously.

My mission in life is to simply do my very best and to achieve my full potential.  Will that translate into future mega-recognition that impresses people to the point of fan mail floods, requests for autographs on random appendages, or an Uncle Scrooge-like money bin of my own that I can swim in (which would actually be awesome, by the way)?  Probably not.  And I seriously don’t care.  In all the interviews I’ve done with Get in Their Shoes, I’ve found three keys that the greatest achievers (not necessarily the most well-known celebrities) have applied to their truly successful, and happy lives:

1. Join the Best. Partner with and learn from those who have done awesome things in their lives.  They may be prominent and well-known, or completely unknown.  Just get to know greatness firsthand by meeting one-on-one with it–that is, speaking directly to someone who has done it.

2. Connect with Others. Build relationships with people through listening, empathy, and genuine sharing.  Expand your networks again and again.  Create a multiplier effect in your social life.

3. Change the World. Service comes in small packages, and it can start with just one person.  You can make a difference in peoples’ lives who need you.

4. Do Something Great. Don’t be a spectator in life.  Envision great things, and then do everything it takes to get them done.  “Vision without work is dreaming, work without vision is drudgery.  Vision and work together is joy fulfilled.” –Thomas Monson

Back to the question: The Rockstar versus the Unknown.  Who wins?  Actually, that’s not the right question.  The right question is, “Which is the real Rockstar?”

-Chris

We just launched a great auction with Lawler Kang, a man who continues to beat the odds.  His bio is below:

Lawler’s philosophies on life—and work’s place in it—have been shaped significantly by his conquering the after-effects of a cerebral aneurysm, sustained at 14, and three additional major surgeries before the age of 21.

After 15 years of corporate and entrepreneurial leadership, Lawler was on vacation and started doodling a process that became the genesis of the Engagement Drivers.  Soon thereafter, he walked away from empire building, wrote Passion at Work, whose tools and philosophy laid the foundation for Ingage’s current work.

Entrepreneurial endeavors have included founding a socially responsible import firm out of Yogyakarta, Indonesia and an Internet services firm.

The Daniel Pink auction has officially launched!

Check it out and bid here.

This is an exclusive opportunity to connect with one of the top minds in motivation and business.  He’s a New York Times bestselling author of several books, and a thought leader.

Check out what they say about Mr. Pink’s work:

Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us

“Pink’s ideas deserve a wide hearing. Corporate boards, in fact, could do well by kicking out their pay consultants for an hour and reading Pink’s conclusions instead.”
- Forbes

“Fascinating . . . If Pink’s proselytizing helps persuade employers to make work more fulfilling, Drive will be a powerhouse.”
- USA Today

“Pink’s analysis–and new model–of motivation offers tremendous insight into our deepest nature.”
– Publishers Weekly

“Important reading…an integral addition to a growing body of literature that argues for a radical shift in how businesses operate.”
– Kirkus

“Drive is the rare book that will get you to think and inspire you to act. Pink makes a strong, science-based case for rethinking motivation–and then provides the tools you need to transform your life.”
–Dr. Mehmet Oz, co-author of YOU: The Owners Manual

“Pink’s a gifted writer who turns even the heaviest scientific study into something digestible — and often amusing — without losing his intellectual punch.”
- New York Post

“Enchanting . . . an important book offering a whole new way to think about motivation.”

- Globe and Mail

A Whole New Mind

“This book is a miracle.  Completely original and profound.”

-Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence

“It’s my favorite business book.”

-Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat