Kibbe on Marketing: The Stuart Smalley Effect

When was the last time you thought positively about your business and your talents as a business owner – and spoke it aloud to yourself? When was the last time you dared to think that you are actually in the midst of turning your dream into a reality? Have you noticed that the times you have done this, great things actually happened?

Some of you out there may remember Stuart Smalley, the hilariously sensitive man portrayed by “Saturday Night Live” alum Al Franken. This gentle soul sought each week to buck himself up with affirmations that coming from anyone else would have sounded grotesquely pretentious. His iconic “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me” has been spoofed innumerable times over the years. But there’s a reason why he –and more famously, Norman Vincent Peale and his “The Power of Positive Thinking” – are so, well, famous. Positive thinking works.

A colleague of mine told me about a wonderful book by Chellie Campbell entitled, “The Wealthy Spirit.” Similar to other positive affirmation books, this too is based on the power of positive thinking, but is more specific to careers, income and broader definitions of wealth beyond the financial. It contains 365 steps, affirmations and points to ponder – one for each day of the year – that may help you on your path achieving your goals.

Finding myself an entrepreneur of late has been as terrifying as it has been exhilarating. While I love the excitement of tackling new projects with a large amount of creative control, the prospect of insufficient and sporadic income during what are supposed to be my peak earning years is deeply troubling. After the first page, “The Wealthy Spirit” restored my hope that I’m not doomed to be eating cat food out of a Maytag box when I’m 70.

I realized my passion for writing has, is and will provide for me. I struggled with the fact that I didn’t want people, including myself, to think of me as some as beret-wearing "La Boehme"-type whiner who refused to get her hands dirty doing an honest day’s work. (For the record, I do have a beret – and I look darn cute in it, too – but these hands saved lives in the hospital as much as they’ve strung together an entertaining subject and predicate and paid the mortgage.)

 I crafted a concrete statement about what I wanted for my career and my life, adding a faith component because that’s important to me and my beliefs. I began saying it daily. You know what – it is working! Not one, but two opportunities presented themselves in a matter of days.

There is a big difference between wishful thinking and rehearsing a desire for yourself. Affirmations are not pearls spewed from some cosmic wishing well. If you’re 60, you know you can’t affirm your way to actually being 20 again – but you can regain the joy, discovery and exuberance of life you had when you were.

I also learned that affirmations are present tense. “Will” means “someday,” implying you currently don’t have and maybe never will have what you’re trying to accomplish. If you think that sounds a bit like lying to yourself –pretending you’ve already accomplished your dream when you haven’t yet – I thought the same thing until I realized the point is to start thinking of yourself in positive terms. Saying the affirmation simply makes you more confident and more aware of the opportunities around you that will help you reach your goal.

Don’t worry if others don’t agree with you personal definition of success. Your goal, your dream, your affirmation is genuinely and uniquely yours.  If you haven’t already created one, you should start. Today.

Why?

Because you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like you.



Cindy Kibbe is owner of Cindy Kibbe Creative Communications, a writing services firm based in New England. She was an editor for a regional business publication for nearly a decade. She can be reached at cindy@kibbecreative.com.