Modeling Your Way to the Top

I remember once Scott telling me how influential Chris Howard had been on him and Conscious One. He revealed a story about how when Conscious One was first beginning, it was Chris that lead him, by example, in the building of this business. During that period, Scott was only just beginning to talk to authors. For every one yes, he got seven no’s. Chris Howard was also building a business at the time. It was watching Chris act upon his own belief that when one door closes, you find another one that’s open, that really inspired Scott.

I am always moved by stories like these. Mostly because they show how even the most accomplished people have built their success, one step at a time. They seem to provide hope for everyone, wherever they are in the process.

In his course, Turning Passions Into Profits Chris mentions a similar story that Oprah Winfrey once told. It was her first television interview. She was so nervous and unsure of herself that she had no idea what to do or say. Her response was to pretend she was her hero, Barbara Walters. It was the only thing that she could think of to do.

Modeling others, Chris tells us, is something we have been doing our whole life. It is something we already do unconsciously. Putting it into the conscious arena can make all the difference in the world. Chris divulges that it was part of his own process in becoming the success he is today. It’s a tool we can all use to achieve what we want in our lives.

“When you consciously chose who you want to model, you rapidly take on those behaviors and strategies to propel you toward the success you desire,” he says. You shift from your current paradigm, which is likely smaller than it could be, to a larger grander scale.

When you model someone is who is playing a bigger game than you, you expand your world and look through new eyes. I remember experiencing that exact thing recently. As a writer, I was reading Julia Cameron’s creative memoir, Floor Sample. Prior to reading her book I had been pretty much stationary in one genre of writing: nonfiction. Reading her memoir, and watching her soar from screenplays, to self-help books, to songs, to prayers, and back to fiction again made me realize that a much larger range of motion was open to me as well. For some reason I had had it in my mind that I needed to stick to one kind of writing at a time. Julia Cameron blew that all out of the water. As an award winning writer and author of seventeen books, I guess she knew. That very week, I picked up a notebook and started writing fiction, just for the fun of it, and because I finally realized I could.

By reading about others who have achieved the kind of success that you seek, you’re likely to find yourself there. At the very least, Chris says, you will find yourself in a whole new playing field. What you chose to do when you get there is up to you.

My advice? Get a role model. Get many. Think bigger. Think broader. And start turning your passion into profits, right now.