Ever find yourself or one of your blogging friends suffering from a case of big blogger ego?
Let’s be honest, this happens much more than anyone would like to admit. When you spend all day online with thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of followers, it can become easy to take everything too seriously. A false sense of importance takes hold.
Here are six easy ways to recalibrate your head based on personal experiences:
1) The Grocery Store Test
Go to your community grocery store for the weekly eats. If you don’t normally perform this household chore, go with your spouse. If anyone actually recognizes you, you probably have a right to feel like a weblebrity. More than likely, you will be just another citizen amongst citizens. And when you talk to them, tell them you’re a blogger or an Internet personality. Note their reactions. You have identified yourself to the normal world as an oddity.
2) Go to Hollywood
Try telling everyone that you are an Internet star in the marketing blogosphere. Notice how impressed they are. Before you leave make sure to visit Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame. Notice your name isn’t on it.
3) Attend a Different Web Conference
Go to a conference about a different part of the web, one that is not in your community. Since you’re reading this blog, attend something not marketing related like HTML 5, Ruby on Rails, or cloud for the enterprise. See how many people recognize your name in casual networking. If it is three or more, you have arrived.
4) Have Fun at Your Own Expense
If you can’t have fun at your own expense — a little self deprecation — then you have definitely become a legend in your own mind. This is not healthy! Do it for a cause or to lighten up a room where fellow community members are a little star struck. One of the core undercurrents in Dale Carnegie’s Great Depression era books on relationship building is self deprecation. It takes a right sized ego (or false humility) to enjoy a little fun at your own expense.
5) Coach a Little League Team
Or get involved in Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, or 4-H. Basically, get yourself around the same group of kids for a few weeks. Be present for them, and leave that phone in the car.
Hopefully, by the end of the experience, all of those children will have great respect for you and what you’ve done for them. See if any of them talk to you about blogging or the Internet (beyond talking games) through the experience, other than to find out what a blogger is. Somehow, investing time in children means more to them than a virtual career.
6) Visit the Wild
Take a long, non internet connected visit in the wild. Notice how you become attuned to the beautiful nature? As you walk, you notice animals and birds. None of them know who you are, in fact they are more than likely afraid of you. But the sight of these beautiful creatures brings great joy to your heart. As Ralph Emerson said, “In the woods, we return to reason and faith.”
Please add your own right sizing exercise… Have a great weekend, folks!