Comments on: Bearing Your Personal Signature

By: Grace Boyle

Grace Boyle — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:14:16 +0000

@Jenny Thank you! I love hearing this from you because I understand where you were at mentally (as you explained) but I also love how a small jolt or even a quote can give you that boost or reminder.

You're amazing!

By: jennyblake

jennyblake — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 06:30:10 +0000

Beautiful post Grace. I read this during an exact moment of feeling a little down and melancholy. I was walking through the halls of the Austin convention center at SXSW – surrounded by people but in the middle of an emotional “empty space” – feeling a bit sad and lonely.

I particularly loved this line: “So if you are firmly planted in who you are why would want to hide or pretend those negatives parts of your life do not exist, when really, they are at the forefront of your life?” It seriously stopped me in my tracks and reminded me to embrace those feelings and just carry on. That those are every bit as much a part of me as the happy, optimistic side. Thank you! I really needed that

By: Grace Boyle

Grace Boyle — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:26:22 +0000

@Mehulkar Haha, why is it somewhat mind-blowing to you? What does that mean?

We're all just people who put our pants on the same way – only difference, we have chosen to express ourselves through blogging, networked, built a community and then continually learned. All those guys and Spinks who runs Under30 are all intelligent, amazing guys.

By: Grace Boyle

Grace Boyle — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:25:09 +0000

@Mehul Yes, I do know who you are and as soon as I saw this comment on my e-mail your name sounded familiar and I was right!

The quote from Thich Nhat Hahn which was the inspiration for this post says:
“Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it BEARS your signature,” so I used “bearing” because of the wise words, but “being” also works.

The blogging community is connected – it's really because there are no geographical boundaries and the best way to learn, is through others. It has opened up connections and after graduation, my current job came because of this very blog. It is powerful and shouldn't be underestimated.

I AM an MSAE-er for life funny, right? And yes, Higgins and I are still close and he taught us so much about brain types.

Good to see you here. Stop by whenever and if you ever have any blogging ideas, questions, feedback or thoughts, feel free to shoot me a line whenever. Cheers!

By: mehulkar

mehulkar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:41:42 +0000

PS. The fact that you are featured alongside the likes of like Neil Patel, Ramit Sethi, Dan Schwabel, Andrew Warner and Under30 is somewhat mind-blowing to me.

By: mehulkar

mehulkar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:36:38 +0000

I like this post. I would extend “bearing” your personal signature, to “being” your personal signature.
Like everyone else, I wrote an article a couple months ago about the power of social media and how to use it effectively.
One of my main points was that blogging/writing in general is an amazing way of first recognizing and then “real”-izing your true self. I talked about it from a student perspective, in preparation for a career. Once you've done that; i.e. explored yourself in and understood your opinions and general views on things (and an astonishing amount of people, including myself, have never done this), once you've practiced this, there is no interviewer that will leave you stumped.
I disagree with the first few words of your last statement though. Your signature shouldn't “should” be anything. It should be you. Which is what I think you meant anyway.

P.S. It's amazing how the blogger community is so connected. I've been weaving through hundreds and found the same names everywhere. And now, I'm here. At an exMSAE'er. (I had doubts about who you were until I saw that you described yourself as an ENFP. I knew you had played for Higgins back in the day ) You probably don't know me, but I was a year older than David.

By: Royce

Royce — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:41:00 +0000

Okay definitely gotcha now. I guess my point was more in answer to the person who is creating drama out of nothing, versus someone who do has some legitimate problems but is complaining without actually doing anything, as you say.

So I agree, the best approach seems to be to own your problems. To that end, I'd almost take it a step further and say venting about it is good, but you could show even more ownership of your problems by coming to your friend (which is you, because let's be honest you're everyone's friend) and saying “Grace, I have this problem, what do you think about my plan to fix it?” or even “Here is my problem, can you help me come up with a plan of action?” rather than straight complaining. Now THAT makes sense haha

By: Grace Boyle

Grace Boyle — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:19:31 +0000

@Royce It makes sense, but I don't think that being silent is the key to making things okay. That goes to my post of asking for what you want…because if you're silent, then all is okay and how am I supposed to know something is wrong either? Maybe it's about owning it. I know that we all complain, but let's use the word, vent or talking, versus complaining about an issue you're having. It HAS TO BE BACKED with action…right? Does that make sense?

By: Grace Boyle

Grace Boyle — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:17:44 +0000

@Mehnaz Oh thank you so much You're very right – every experience has very important takeaways and we mustn't forget that. That's why I talk about a character that has seen/experienced it all. Thanks for sharing and your words of inspiration!

By: Royce

Royce — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:51:17 +0000

I definitely said “used today” instead of “used to say” in my post above… brain = fried?

I like your comment about complaints by friends. One of my big rules is basically “No Complaining” – no one cares, and usually by complaining all you're doing is creating a problem out of nothing by giving an annoyance a voice. By being silent and giving at least the appearance of everything being okay, I think you actually ARE making things okay. Or at least better. Does that make sense?