mentioned before that one of the perks of being famous is being
able to get restaurant reservations without any problem. My uber-
rich friend has not entitled himself to very many perks.
Ever notice if you introduce someone and then later add on
something like, “as you know, he won the Pulitzer prize,” that the
reaction to the person becomes entirely different? It goes from
polite to excited in no time flat. Suddenly the nobody is a some-
body. Suddenly their PR power, or their buzz effect, has escalated.
But unless you have someone around to toot your horn for you,
you’ll have to get accustomed to doing it for yourself. The well-
established brand name literally speaks for itself. Some people may
not even like the designs Karl Lagerfeld comes up with for
Chanel, but because it says Chanel, they’ll buy them, wear them,
and love them.
A name can speak volumes, but until you have a “household
name” you might do well to tell people who you are and what
you’ve done. It’s a start. It’s also a way of networking to find out
if you might have common interests. Can you imagine if Luciano
Pavarotti had been singing, contentedly, in some obscure place his
whole life, what we would have missed? Or if Elton John was
happy to just sing for himself in a garage somewhere? There’s noth-
ing wrong with bringing your talents to the surface.
Having an ego and acknowledging it is a healthy choice. Our
ego is the center of our consciousness and gives us a sense of pur-
pose. People with no ego will have very little life force, and peo-
ple with too much will tend toward dictatorial personalities. As
with everything, keeping a good balance is important. Your ego
can serve to keep your momentum moving forward. It can keep
you vibrant and productive. It can keep your focus where it should
be, which is on your work. After awhile, you won’t have to tell
people about your success because they’ll already know about it.
Do not disregard your ego.
DONALD J. TRUMP