My Theme For 2009: Influence

I love to choose a specific theme for each year which guides my major decisions. 2008’s theme was FOCUS and I’m very pleased with my results as a terrific reflection of that theme.

For 2009, I’m choosing INFLUENCE as my guiding theme. Here’s my key question:

Who and what am I allowing to influence me?

Notice the key word “allowing.” We do have choice as to who and what influences us. However, it can often be easier to follow the path of least resistance and just keep hanging out with the same under-achieving friends or non-supportive family members.

I certainly don’t mean this disrespectfully, but you may have heard people like Joe Vitale say: “Your income is the average of the five people you hang out with the most.” Many people might suggest you need to change your friends if you’re not happy with your income. While that would certainly be one choice – and could be the best one for you – an alternative is to help your friends get wealthy too! As Zig Ziglar says, “You can get anything you want in life by helping enough other people to get what they want.”

For me, my 2009 theme of influence includes the books I read, audio programs I listen to, seminars I attend, mentors I follow, consultants I hire, and all my team members.

What’s influencing me also includes the collective social influence from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Influence may also include my physical environment and my thoughts, feelings, beliefs and intrinsic motivations.

Equally, I strive to be aware of my own influence on my community of friends, clients and colleagues. My intention is always positive, always timely, and always value-adding.

I’ll be closely monitoring my decisions and direction as 2009 rolls in and on to make sure my influence factors are the highest and best for me.

Now it’s your turn! What’s your theme for 2009?

Mari Smith

Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is widely known as the Premier Facebook Marketing Expert and a top Social Media Thought Leader. Forbes describes Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.” IBM named Mari as one of seven women that are shaping digital marketing. Mari is an in-demand keynote speaker, corporate social media strategist, dynamic live webcast host, and popular brand ambassador. She is coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day, and author of The New Relationship Marketing.

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