Believing in a Brand
I really think this is an important one. A lot of our daily life nowadays is about trusting in a brand no matter what it is for. We use brand trust when buying our clothes, our food, our shoes and many products we buy. This is our value system. So how do we create value?
I’ve spent a long time in the automotive industry now and I have seen a lot of things, I have seen a lot of companies change their value system and I fully understand that with growth comes change. It is actually something that I am dealing with personally as well. But I try to remind myself that if you have something worth making then you have no reason to compete with anyone but yourself. You are your own (and only) competition. You are the only reason you sit down at night and study the way you do, read the things you read, and lose the amount of sleep that you do. You are the difference maker. You may not realize it some days, but you are.
Your ultimate value - this is really a tough one for any human honestly. One day we think the knowledge in our heads is worth so much and the next day we think we need to come down to the level of someone else in order to be seen. This is what is wrong with all of us. This is what destroys our own self confidence. If you have spent the time to do the work and if you have spent the time to collect the data in anything you do then you are worth it. Do NOT listen to what everyone else is doing, and do NOT worry about what others are charging for said service or product - just be the most authentic brand you can be.
When it comes to others believing in you, you need to remember you have to honor that trust. Sometimes creating a structure in which that happens is tough because it means setting the bar high. It feels uncomfortable, it feels wrong, and you worry about how others see you - DON'T. When you create a structure that each person in your group can believe in and grow alongside with you, you create strength in whatever you are doing. No person alone has ever mastered something in this life without the help of another. Remember that! This is all about a circle of trust.
Remembering where you came from. Yes, a sensitive subject and I visit this a lot for myself. In my twenty plus years of this I always remember the ones that influenced my life or taught me in a way I could never forget. I was not always a car builder actually and a lot of my past actually comes from more of a holistic approach then a mechanical approach. I choose Synergy as our name because to me it meant - I am listening to you, the client. You may think you know something, but I am actually here to help you define that path instead. And if you do not fully understand who and where you are, that's what I can help with. Ironically it helped me in car building. Man and machine, dreams and desires, it's all the same. There are times where I felt, maybe I even saved a marriage or two because I helped someone choose a better path for their goals.
Never lose your integrity. This is the biggest one for me honestly. If I can not sleep at night knowing I did something outside of my comfort zone then I simply can't live with that. Maybe it's my astrological birth sign being a Sagittarius or maybe it's that I really can't deal with someone unhappy. And yes, I just threw a bit of the hippy dippy stuff into this writing, but let's be honest. At some point we all start asking ourselves if these things are real. My point is, if it feels wrong, most likely, it is. At that point - who do you want to be?
I think the point I want to make is that - It is ok to be who you are. It is easy to get wrapped up in the dollar amount, or the fame, or the pride of being on top. But the reality is that realizing that you can always live a life with less, and if that means you live that life with not everything you want right now, then that is ok. Because the second you leave this place, the second you leave; then all you have left is the people that care about you and whatever story you choose to leave behind. The fear of leaving who you are and what you know or what you leave for others; this is what stops us all from growing. You would never do this to your kids, so why not the rest of the world?