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.

The Elvisian Diamond Jubilee Special

Hey Ladies and Gentleman,

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario for another week of finding the success lessons the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll showed and learning how to implement them into your life. This week we’re going to talk about stability.

As you might know if you’re British, from a Commonwealth country or otherwise well-informed, the Queen of England and the British Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee was earlier this week (in other words, she’s been on the throne for sixty years). Anybody working that long is pretty impressive but considering she’s eighty-six and still going strong, it’s mind blowing.

Anyways, after watching the Jubilee concert on Monday, I watched a couple interviews on BBC from some of the most famous performers (Sir Elton John, Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Paul McCartney) on why they thought the Queen was so special. The message that got me thinking the most was the one from Sir Elton John; he said, essentially, that people love the Queen because in this ever-changing world, she’s constant − she’s stable.

Strangely enough, that made me think of Elvis. Now, in the past I’ve talked about how Elvis was good acting with change. This is true. But, being constant/stable does not require one to not change. The Queen has changed many times in her life; her hair’s gone silver, she stopped riding her horse, Burmese, during the Trooping of the Colour (a military ceremony held every year in honour of the Queen’s official birthday) and members of her family (her father, mother, sister) have passed away. But, despite this change, the Queen still seems the same; she still rarely smiles (but when she does, it’s always a beam), she’s got that funny little wave and she’s always helping people around the world, perpetually busy.

That’s what I mean about being constant. She’s reliable, not predictable in action but predictable in character. We see a situation and think we know how the Queen would react because she’s got a constant set of values. The same is true for Elvis and our belief in how he would react because he tended to act a certain, stable way, whatever change was present in his life.

When we think about Elvis, we think about that strong, humble character who honestly believed he was “just an entertainer”. He changed and faced change through his life (like all of us) through careers (musician to movie-star and back again) and went through marrying, having children and then divorcing (an all too common pattern these days). But, his character remained constant. And being constant in character builds trust; whatever happened, we believe Elvis would react in a responsible manner. We play him for our kids because being trustworthy and consistent means being a good role model (you have to be consistent to be a role model or you won’t be showing a lead to follow). We even take strength in his music because he seems stronger than we are (or his consistency makes him seem stronger). We trust he’d be capable of doing the right thing given any situation, even when we’d doubt ourselves, and we hold onto him like a senior with a cane when we’re in trouble.

So, what’s the benefit of being consistent/stable? People imagine that your life’s stable and they want to hold onto you to stabilize because their life’s wild. The truth is everyone’s life’s wild, even if you’re Elvis or the Queen, but when you’re going through hell you don’t think that − you imagine you’ve got it the worst. So when you’re scared that your existence is going to throw you into the rapids, you listen to someone like Elvis or watch the Queen who seems perfect and ‘normal’. They’d be able to deal with this, you think and you hold onto their image of stability for dear life.

It’s not necessarily being stable that counts, it’s looking stable. If people see a stick jutting out of a tree while they’re sinking in quick sand, they’re going to try to hold onto it. They don’t know that stick’s rotten on the inside. It looks like support so they grab for it.

Now, imagine you’re the stable one, the Elvis or Queen of your business or social circle. Sure, there’ll be the people who are needy and want you to support them all the way but there are others who only want to see someone consistent in their ragtag existence. When that person’s you, they respect you and become your follower. Why? Simply because they trust you’ll remain the same in character, an individual they’ll be able metaphorically hold on to when times get tough. The nice thing about trust is they’ll support you in your ventures and career, too (trust is easily transferred). By being stable, people will think you’re safe to socialize with, to deal with, to confide with. It puts you in a position of power. And a little extra power never hurt anyone. But remember not to abuse that power. Abusing the trust of people who believe in you is not a great idea… with power comes responsibility. I hope you can hold that responsibility for the best.

On a side note, a very happy Diamond Jubilee, your Maj! I trust you reign for many more wonderful years…

Elvis’s Lessons:

As Sir Elton John put it, one of the reasons people love the Queen of England and the British Commonwealth is because she’s consistent/stable. Like Elvis, she has predictable values that we can count on and trust. People’s lives are crazy but they tend to think they’ve got it worse than someone else. When you become the stable one (or put that image across), people latch onto and begin to trust you. With this trust comes a position of power. It’s up to you not to abuse this power but to use it well, to use it to help others, to make others as stable as you’ve become. That’s the true wish of those seeking stable people. A wish you can make reality.

P.S. If you’re interested in seeing the original Sir Elton John video I referenced in this post, you can find it off this BBC article.

P.P.S. Remember to leave a comment or send me an email at alexghilson@gmail.com to add to the conversation.