What's Your Lucky Number?

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for success advice based on the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Today we’re going to take a break from our Olympic series to focus on the number of this post − 34 − and of the symbolic importance it can impart to you.

So, let's start by saying Elvis is my favourite singer. Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Nat King Cole all come close but Elvis rocks #1.

But Why?

Well, for me, Elvis became my idol. He looked the way I wanted to, he acted the way I wanted to. But I knew I couldn’t be him. So, instead, he became my guide − ideally, I’d enact his positive habits and dodge his negative aspects (which, to me, seemed few).

Elvis became a friend of sorts, the favourite person to look at when I needed advice. Being dead only meant that he was closer to me in spirit than if he’d been a real person, living his own life across the world instead of ‘some other place’.

In turn, 34 became my ‘friend’ number. Over time it became a symbol of me − it’d keep showing up time and again around the things I wanted and liked. And when it showed up, subconsciously I’d want those things more because fate had linked that item, event, person, etc. to a symbol of me.

So, I’m a bit crazy, but what else’s new? Ok, before you turn me off, let’s have a think: I’m not so different from everyone else −they have their favourites, too. And they want to get as close to those favourites as I do. Wouldn’t it be nice to be that person’s favourite number? The one people felt brought them luck? Was somehow part of them?

When you’re the favourite, people are already looking for you. They trust you and want your stuff. Meanwhile, you keep the quality high and monopolize the market.

Not bad, eh?

But how do you become favourite?

Not an easy question, my friend. It’s not clear cut and changes from person to person. But, looking at the information above, there are a couple ways that might help.

1) Be Around: Remember number 34 − it kept on showing up until I felt it was fate putting us together. Was it? Who knows. But when you’re about, it’s easy to get put into someone’s subconscious mind, easy to be made favourite. You see, when you see a brand all the time, you’re more likely to belief it’s legitimate than if it suddenly appeared on the shelves and said “I'm best.” With the later, you’re liable to say, “if you’re best, why did I never hear of you before?” When you’ve been around all along, people feel like you’ve always been about, and when you’ve always been about, you must be safe and trustworthy. Otherwise you’d have been pulled years ago. In a way, by being around, you build trust. And when people trust you, they’ll buy you and you stand a chance at becoming their favourite.

2) Act as Best as You Can: Elvis became my idol. Why? He was simply who I wanted to be. Why? Because he seemed better than everyone else. That’s the lesson − when you act better than everyone else you, logically, must be best. People want to have the best to help them, be the best, act the best. Making your product best will slowly but surely change the dynamic so that people realize your goods, or act, are consistently better than the other guy. Therefore, they’ll go for you rather than settle for less than they deserve. As I wanted to be Elvis, they’ll want to have your stuff because they’ll think it’s the best they can do or get. And, if you play honest, they’ll be right. Again, this builds trust; trust in you, trust in the brand. And with trust, you’ll eventually become favourite.

Elvis’s Lessons:

Elvis and 34 are two examples of favourites in my life. Everyone has favourites and, when you become favourite, it becomes a very profitable situation to be in. When you or your product is around and you act, or build, it as best as you can, you stand a good chance of being someone’s new favourite. This in turn builds trust. With trust, it’s easy to become a favourite. And once you’re in that situation, that person’s going to be attracted to you or your product, returning for your product or service time and again. Not bad, my friend, not bad…

P.S. Remember to leave a comment; I’d love to hear what you have to say about today’s post.

P.P.S. If you’re interested in seeing Elvis being favourite, here’s a Youtube clip of him arriving in Hawaii for his Aloha from Hawaii Concert. Notice how people react to him, trying to attract his attention, be near him. They’ve grown up with him, they trust him, and he’s their favourite. And that’s where you want to be. It's a private video by a fella who was present at the event which makes it even more awesome, and rare.

P.P.P.S In case you're wondering, up here in good ol' Canada, we spell 'favourite', not 'favorite' like in the U.S. (even though we're geographically close). So, if you happen to be reading this from the U.S., I can spell, but differently to how you do.

Learn from Elvis, Learn from a Superhero

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

So, we’re back for our fourth and final week talking about superheroes (though I’m sure they’ll return in the future), how they influenced Elvis and how their positive influences can be used to improve your life as well. Sound good? Good!

So last week, we talked about making decisions. If you missed that post, check it out. It’s worth a browse.

So, this week, the first trait we’ll be talking about is being…

Polite

Notice how superheroes are polite. I mean, not only to grandmothers and young children, but they’re even cordial to the bad guys. And we’re not talking about the guys at work that bring smelly food at lunch time; these guys are wrecking the world, and the superhero essentially says, “hey stop it… now!... Or I’ll have to blow you up (and I don’t want to do that)”. In like fashion, Elvis always came across as polite. Whenever you see him in interviews, he’s always referring to the interviewer as ‘sir’ and nodding his head. He’s shaking the man’s hand, smiling, being nice to the guy − even in the 70’s when he’s a grown man, one of the most well-known men in the world, and the interviewer’s this unknown fella. I wonder how great that unknown fella felt when he got treated like an equal, or even a better, by the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Actually, let’s be honest − how do YOU feel when you get treated good by anybody, even if they’re working the cash at Wal-Mart. Yea, that’s right − great. By being polite to others, you make them feel respected and worthy. And that makes them feel great. And people do nice things for you when you make them feel great. It never hurts to be polite. Ever.

Look Uniquely/Camouflaging Awesome!

Ok, let’s be honest − all superheroes look awesome. I mean, you might not like their style, but it’s bright and bold and easy to market. Though you might not want to go to work looking like that, it still gets you to smile when you see it and go, “I might not want to rock that, but it looks fine on him and, admittedly, he looks amazing in that Spiderman garb”.

The same is true for Elvis. Elvis had those incredible jump suits. Now sure, clothes like the Tupelo Gold Suit made their mark, but you’ve got to continually look similar to be recognized like a superhero and those jumpsuits did that job. Again, maybe you wouldn’t want to wear them to work, but you still feel that Elvis looked so awesome for wearing them.

But if he looked so awesome for wearing them, why wouldn’t you want to wear one? Mainly because you have to look not only awesome but uniquely/camouflaging awesome. This means what you wear has to be unique enough that people will recognize you as you for wearing that outfit (Elvis jumpsuit); but, the outfit also has to be awesome in a way that makes you still camouflage with others (like having a really awesome Men in Black suit −looks like other suits so you don’t stand out, but is so well-maintained you look great).

The idea here is not to look like a fruit. It’s to look great. Superheroes never look bad on a daily basis. Maybe roughed up after a tough fight, but they have to be ready to smile at those grandmothers and get on to the next bad guy and they can’t do that if their pants are ripped so badly they’re falling off. Same thing with Elvis; he looked great, even at the end of a tough concert tour. When you look great like that, people feel an affinity to your awesome clothes and they connect that to an awesome you. Seeing pictures of Elvis dressed up in those jumpsuits are so iconic, you can’t help but go “wow” when you see them. By looking awesome in your own way, you want others to say “wow” when they see you. And you know it’s good when your next boss looks at you and goes “wow. That’s one well put together guy!” If it worked for Elvis and Superman, it can work for you.

Elvis’s Lessons:

Elvis Presley, one of the most successful men in history, took inspiration from superheroes to power-boost his career and YOU can, too. Two ways to do this are to be polite and to look uniquely/camouflaging awesome. When you’re polite, you make others feel awesome and they want to help you in return, when you dress awesome, you wow people into believing into you. Be like Presley, be polite; Look like Captain America, Look awesome.

P.S. I'd love to hear your input; leave a comment below this post or email me at alexghilson@gmail.com to continue the conversation.

P.P.S. If you want to see Elvis looking awesome and being polite, here's a Youtube video of him in interview from the early 70's.