and life you love.  It is Q&A Tuesday and today’s question comes from Sylvia, and

Sylvia writes,

Hi Marie,

How do I find MY voice and create my own brand without feeling like a total copy of the women

I admire? I get so much inspiration from my mentors - but I feel stuck. How do I get my

own message out there and have it sound like me?  

Sylvia, this is a fantastic question Sylvia, and one I get asked a LOT.  It’s really

important that you’re able to find your own way to express yourself in a way that

feels original and authentic to YOU.

One thing I wanna let you know though. Every creator and writer I know struggles with this

- including me.  When you find someone that you’re inspired by, it’s really easy to

read all their stuff and then all of a sudden you start speaking like them and writing like

them and it can get confusing and just not feel so good.

Here’s the thing, most ideas are already out there. So it’s not so much about what

you say, it’s about how you say it.

It’s so important that you challenge yourself and be creative.  And I know it can seem

like when someone else has said something, that is the ONLY way it can be said, but that’s

just not true.  

In fact, here are four strategies to find your voice and your brand.

1.  Challenge yourself to express one idea at least five different ways.

This is a great way to help you to build your ability to say things different ways - in

your OWN way. Try this: pick one idea or a universal concept - and try saying it a bunch

of different ways.  Here’s an example.

IDEA:  You can’t control the way things are going to happen.

• That’s the way the cookie crumbles. • Sh*t happens.

• Everything happens for a reason. • Tough titties. (sunglasses)

• Deal with it. • You just can’t win them all.

• Que sera, sera! Whatever will be will be.

See, that was just 7 different ways to say the same thing.  But they each have their

own unique tone and energy.  

2.  Draw on your own experience, not your research.

This means tell your own stories.  Use your own phrases.  Come up with your own analogies

and your own metaphors.  You wanna use your own life to inform your teaching.  Here’s

the thing, if you’re telling your own stories, you can’t possibly be copying from someone

else.  And using your own stories allows you to develop a very unique voice and develop

your own very unique content.

3.  When you write your own content, don’t look at other people’s stuff.  

Here’s the deal: If you are constantly looking at other people’s stuff, it is bound to

seep into your spongy little brain and then come out in what you write. So, when you’re

gonna write your own content, put away other people’s books, stop reading other people’s

blogs, and just say what you wanna say in your own voice. You should have no other reference

materials around - except for maybe a thesaurus.

4.  Give yourself the “BFF” reality check.

Whether you’re writing copy, or shooting a video or preparing for a talk, you need

to check and ask yourself. Do this sound like you? Would you actually say this to your best

friend?  If you said it to your best friend would they say WTF, WHO ARE YOU???! DID AN

ALIEN COME DOWN AND ABDUCT YOU? If so, it’s likely you’re trying to be someone else.

 If not, congrats girl - you found your voice!

ALIEN: You sound very unique.

Before we wrap, I want to leave you with one of my favorite quotes of all time and yes,

it’s a Tweetable:

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody

else. -Judy Garland

Now it’s your turn.  Do you have any tricks for bringing out your own voice?

Any stumbling blocks that you run into when you’re trying to staying unique - or, as

I like to say, keepin’ it real?

I want you to add YOUR genius to the conversation. Be specific as possible and, if you didn’t

know, the best stuff always happens after the episode over at MarieForleo.com. So go

there and leave a comment right now.

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Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams. The world needs that special gift

that only YOU have.  Thank you so much for watching, and I’ll see you next time on

MarieTV!