Do you know the surest fact of life? We will all remain humans, but we will never remain equal. Does this sound like a familiar adage? All fingers are not? All fingers are not equal. The indisputable fact is that there will always be people whose mere presence command respect. I know you will agree with me that you know more than two people whose lifestyles influence more than millions of people. You give them different names like celebrity, social media influencers, coach and sometimes mentor. This is the jaw-dropping secret. Anyone, including you, can become an influential person if you follow these steps:

• Build Your Credentials
• Handle Difficult People
• Manage Criticism

BUILD YOUR CREDENTIALS

Do you know the aspect influential people have in common? They have interesting credentials. Forget about the money in the bank account or the academic qualifications for now. People of influence live beyond momentary things. Calm down. Don’t divide your attention here. This is not another “aspire to acquire” write up. The truth you will not deny is that influential people are those who overtime, have come to earn your respect and trust. I don’t think you will not agree with me if I say influence has to do with trust and respect. If you can get these from people, you get to influence them. Let me open the veil for you. If you want people to trust you, do all that is within your power to help them to be successful and believe the best in them. Let me tell you the strategy. Focus on other people, if you want to have the focus on yourself. Anytime you act as an encourager to others, people come to develop trust in you. And this is the part you don’t want to miss. Respect and trust work together. This is the way respect works. The easiest way to earn others’ respect is by living by a higher standard. Let me explain. The position of influence is not a role you get on a platter of gold. You earn that position by proving faithful and accountable over a long period of time. This is the trick. As an influencer, you live with a higher standard by submitting to significant authority. As an influencer, you need to be under authority and be accountable because your authority as an influencer minus accountability will become a very dangerous situation.

Is that too much for you to take in? The next point will encourage you.

HANDLE DIFFICULT PEOPLE

Do you ever think it is easy to become an influencer? Do you know how many “haters” a celebrity has to deal with? If you wish to influence people, you cannot escape difficult people. The difficult people you meet will only be a problem if you don’t know the way to handle difficult people. This is the simple solution. The first solution is for you to love difficult people. Stick with me here. It is true that it may be difficult for you to do, but it is a necessity because there are different kinds of people with different personality. Some people want to rule and intimidate others while we have some people that want to live in their own world without any interruption. Interesting? Some people are explosive, unpredictable and unapproachable while some just wallow in self pity and try to get others together for their need. If you permit me to dig deeper, I will remind you of the mood swingers, who always have bad moods and much negativity and I will tell you of the user who manipulates others for personal gains. So, what is the solution to dealing with these different people? Try as much as possible to love them without conditions. In spite of all their undesirable attitudes, try to stay emotionally healthy yourself and as a bonus, don’t try to elevate this kind of people to positions of leadership in order to rescue them. Every relationship, comes in stages. If you want to influence people, you cannot just jump the process. Some stages are sweet and others as you know what it is, some stages are bitter. One strategy you should always have in mind in all of these is to remember that you are responsible for how you treat others not how others treat you.

You don’t want to miss this next point about criticism.

MANAGE CRITICISM

Do you know one thing that is common to all influencers? All influencers go through criticism. More often than not, they experience negative criticism they don’t publicize. If you want to manage criticism well, this is the solution. First, you need to understand the difference between constructive and destructive criticism. This is really where you should give your full attention. Examine the way the critic criticises you. If it is not with a gentle spirit, you can be sure the criticism is destructive. Don’t stop reading here, another thing you should observe is the “where” of the criticism. If the critic criticises you in public view, you can be sure that the criticism is not for the best and you can ignore. Apart from all these, as an influential person, you don’t have to take yourself seriously all the time. Come on. Feel free to laugh at yourself and sometimes just enjoy your blunders. After all, no one is perfect. Plus, don’t forget that if you are a good influencer, you will get people to criticise you on a regular basis. In fact, there are many times you should see criticism from the world as a verification that your life is making positive impact and this is the trick to criticism. Don’t just see the critic, see the crowd. If several people say the same criticism, as an influencer, you need to realise that you have a challenge to work on. That apart, you can also wait for a time to prove your critics wrong. If you know your actions or decisions are right, I have just one instruction for you. Hang in there. Time will prove you out and right.

This is the complete puzzle.

This life is for you to live. It is either you permit others to influence you or you become the influencer. For true, the demands are a bit high, but they are not difficult to attain. Be all you are capable of becoming without stress. This is not another motivational blog post. I am waiting for you at the top.