Your Next Frontier.

Today's Marketing Cookie is about breaking out of your shell.

You probably already know that there is a big world of possibility out there for you to discover. What you may not already realize is how much the world really wants to discover you. Not the "you" that looks like the "you" you're trying to be, but the real "you" they haven't seen. The world is looking for genuine authenticity, unrefined creativity, and an unpolished, unadjusted, and unfiltered "you"—that only you can be.

Take it from me, it can be scary to be "you".

I've seen myself, and I'm just not sure if there's a market out there for who I really am. As open as I am, even in this cookie blog, I sometimes cower from revealing my whole self to the world... and for good reason. Right!? I ask myself, "Self, what if they don't like who I am?" However, when I shared the stories on this blog about being homeless at seventeen years old, how I met my wife in a NY play, or how I got started in my career drawing hotdogs with crayons, people respond favorably. They thank me for having the courage to share my personal story, and for the inspiration it gave them to share theirs. When I receive this feedback from friends, fans, and strangers alike, a feeling of elation rushes over me and for a moment I am glad I broke out of my comfy shell.

Now, when I receive such affirmation, you'd think I'd find it easier to open up and continue sharing my true "me" with the world the next day, but alas my defenses quickly try to regroup, and they attempt to build a new impenetrable wall even taller, wider, and stronger than before. For a time, I may retreat into my safe zone, and push the trusty facade of myself to center stage, which I convince myself is more desirable for the masses. Then, at some point, I realize I haven't been being me. So, I slip through the gate, rush out into the open, and people once again, tell me how refreshing the authenticity is for them.

As far as I've come out of my shell, I have a long way to go yet.

For example, I promised my wife I would do the amateur stand-up comedy night at a local pub in our town. That was over two years ago. When she asks about it, I tell her, "I'm writing jokes and trying to work on a routine." When in reality, I've got plenty of material, but I'm just plain too scared to get up there, and too heart-stoppingly terrified to look stupid if no one laughs at my jokes. Stand-up comedy would be something new about "me" that I've not allowed people to discover, and something that would take uncommon courage to reveal.

The truth is, you, like me, have something amazing about yourself to share with the world, and you've been holding back. Whether it be telling your jokes, your art, your music, or even the next great technological invention you've been working on, you've been hiding out. I encourage you to step forward from the shadows and into the spotlight. Pull back the curtain, tear down the walls, and speak clearly into the microphone, because the world is ready to discover the next frontier... YOU. If you share yourself, you like me, will declare how good it is to come out of your shell, just as today's fortune says, "About time I got out of that cookie."