Be Remarkable

January 5, 2012 in A Better Way of Business, A Life Not Wasted with 3 Comments

The tagline for A Better Way of Business is “Be Remarkable” and I got to thinking about this yesterday while listening to a TED Talk by Seth Godin titled On Standing Out.

In the talk, Seth talks about the word remarkable and how it implies that you’re doing something so well, so unusual, so inspired that it causes others to remark on it; to talk about it, to share it with friends, family, and associates.

Hearing Seth talk I started thinking about why Be Remarkable is my tagline; where I got it, what I hope it accomplishes.

Where it came from

I heard Be Remarkable, when used to describe what a business does, for the first time from Justin Lukasavige over at CoachRadio.tv. Justin frequently uses this expression on his podcast and in his blog.

When I heard it the first time, it struck a chord with me. Too frequently I’ve seen people who are just in business. Their either just trying to get by or just make more money, but they’re not trying to be remarkable. Being remarkable takes too much effort, too much time, costs too much.

So they do their job, or run their business, or live their life just to get by; doing “just” enough and no more.

The very idea of undertaking any of these endeavors to be remarkable made me smile, made my heart sing, made me stop and think, “Am I being remarkable or am I doing just enough to get by?”

I owe a lot to Justin, least of which is credit for A Better Way of Business’s tagline.

What I hope it accomplishes

There are many things I hope it accomplishes.

With the new direction of this blog announced January 1, 2012, I want to start with the selfish reason. Be Remarkable is intended to make me push myself to be remarkable, to perform my work in such a manner that others not only appreciate it, but talk about it and share it with others. To always push me to perform a little better than last time, to make this time the best effort and product ever. Being remarkable pushes me to approach everything that I do, whether it’s work, play, spending time with family, or time with God to be worthy of remark by others.

With regards to you, my tribe, my audience, my friends, current and future business owners, I hope Be Remarkable forces you to stop, to take a step back, and ask yourself, “Am I performing in a way that is remarkable?”

If not, change your behavior. Either stop performing the tasks that you have no love for and no heart for, or adapt yourself so that you can start performing in a remarkable way. Push to make every effort your best effort; every interaction, your best interaction.

Be Remarkable.

Going forward

Going forward I intend on keeping Be Remarkable front and center in my life and in my business. Personally, I hope to not have another period of time where I go weeks or months without consciously thinking about this phrase. I hope to live it!

Will you join me in this adventure? Will you push to Be Remarkable? Make this effort your best effort?

It takes hard work. It takes heart. It takes being intentional in all that you do.

Will you join me in my efforts to Be Remarkable?

~Ivan

  • Wendy Staas

    Ivan,

    ‘Be Remarkable’ can even go beyond business and lead to a better ‘life’. . .sort of making a ‘better story’ as it is described in the book ‘A million Miles in a Thousand Years’ by Donald Miller — to ‘Be Remarkable’ or to even live a good ‘Life Story’ one has to make a conscience effort to be different every day — to be productive.

    The beauty of it — is that it doesn’t have to be earth shattering either. . . a little does go a long way. Being a better Husband, Wife, Mother, Father. . . as well as business owner, student of God (learning how to think and act like Jesus). . . one step every day — will lead to ‘Being Remarkable’ —

    Thanks for the beautiful reminder — ever since 3 years ago — I decided I was NOT going to live a life a mediocrity — but it take LOTS of hard work, dedication and NOT giving up — because our government, society and peers are okay with everyone being mediocre. . .

    Bleh!! Not for us, right??

    Let 2012 be a wonderful productive year of NO MEDIOCRITY!!

    Blessings!!

    Wendy

    • http://www.abetterwayofbusiness.com/ Ivan Bickett

      I totally agree that being remarkable should be applied to all areas of life, both work / business related areas and in our personal lives. It’s about being intentional and doing more than we thought we could. It’s about being remarkable.

      ~Ivan

  • http://alanamokma.wordpress.com/ Alana Mokma

    “…and ask yourself, ‘Am I performing in a way that is remarkable?’

    If not, change your behavior. Either stop performing the tasks that you have no love for and no heart for, or adapt yourself so that you can start performing in a remarkable way.”

    I LOVE this! Specifically the part that speaks to me is “stop performing the tasks that you have no love for and no heart for…” ouch. Yeah, why WOULD I try to keep doing something that I don’t really care for?

    I also really like your tag line “Be Remarkable” because it is so simple to say and easy to remember, yet it speaks in an epic way.

    I want to be remarkable and remembering to push forward with the passion that propels me is a good reminder. Sometimes I get stuck looking at all the possibilities when most of them are not options that DRIVE me forward.