Fame Should be a By-Product, Not a Goal
Don’t get me wrong! I have nothing but the utmost respect for Thinkers and Doers: for those Inspiring individuals who know what they want and work hard to achieve it…
People with skills and influence are immensely important: but they are not in it just to get X number of likes or shares. They don’t do it to put an “Influencer” badge in an online profile. They do it because they have a dream.
A purpose. A calling. Vocation. Call it what you will, but in essence, it is the need to create and build something bigger than yourself. Something which brings value to people’s lives or rewards your curiosity, thirst for knowledge, talent or purpose.
A purpose. A calling. Vocation. Call it what you will, but in essence, it is the need to create and build something bigger than yourself.
Neither Elon Musk nor Richard Branson describes himself as a “Top Influencer”. So why would you?
Humility is a hallmark trait of accomplished people. Great content creators and people with impact in their industry do not need to say how great they are: their actions and accomplishments speak for themselves.
Humility is a hallmark trait of accomplished people
I believe the world needs dedicated, motivated people, pursuing topics they really care about. That is what makes a real impact on audiences and that is what adds value to online presence.
“Seth Godin recently shared that he’s never had a viral hit.Can you believe that?!… Is that because he was just unlucky? I don’t think so. Seth hasn’t gone viral, because going viral is not what Seth is trying to do. He’s trying to connect with you and help you change things. And going viral can sometimes stand in the way of real impact.” — Jeff Goins
Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation
People who have passion and dedication, usually end up being great at what they do. And when you are great, you sometimes also get famous. Your primary motivation is Intrinsic (linked to internal rewards) as opposed to Extrinsic (seeking validation, approval, money or fame).
Research on human motivation and behavior indicates that happiness is positively associated with Intrinsic motivation (HGSE), whereas contemporary forms of Extrinsic motivation (receiving new likes, getting new followers, ranking high on social media platforms) have been shown to provide short “dopamine hits” with ever more diminishing returns. Former Facebook president Sean Parker called this phenomenon a “social-validation loop”:
“It’s a social-validation feedback loop … exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.” — Sean Parker, ex-Facebook president
Have a Purpose, not a Following
In the end, you want people to be interested in you because you are motivated, driven and an expert, committed to your passion for technology, journalism, charity, politics, art or whatever makes you tick. In the end: it is your impact on the offline world that truly matters.
In the end: it is your impact on the offline world that truly matters.
If all you want is to be popular and to be called an “Influencer”…maybe it is time to reconsider your motivation. In today’s attention span, Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame are probably down to 15 seconds (or less). And then people scroll to the next post.
Strive for more.
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This is an excerpt. See more data and marketing information about Influencer marketing in the original publication at Medium.com