About two years ago I was introduced, by a friend of mine, to a video on YouTube that opened my eyes. A video that I quickly shared with everyone in my family and all of my friends. I watched as social media spread the viral clip like wild fire…an amazing success.

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University when he was diagnosed with a terminal case of pancreatic cancer in September 2006. He gave an upbeat lecture entitled “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” on September 18, 2007 which then became a hit on YouTube. On July 25, 2008, we lost Randy to pancreatic cancer but the message in his words have and will live on.

Although I could spend my entire day writing about his lecture, I want to talk about his question, Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore? As Randy puts it, “Tiggers are energetic, optimistic. They’re curious, enthusiastic and they have fun. And never ever under estimate the importance of having fun.” So to me, that is what it is all about, having fun. You can make things in your life fun and meaningful and when you do that, it becomes contagious and spreads to others you come into contact with. I am a Tigger. Are you?

I like to use this example when talking about business because when you are in the business of branding yourself, you have to show people that you are having fun doing what you love to do. Isn’t that what everyone is looking for? To do something they can have fun doing and love it? I like to think so. Brand yourself as the person you are, a person who loves to have fun especially when it comes to your business.

Brand yourself. Promote yourself. Build your business. Most of all, have fun.

Below is a shorter version of Randy Pausch’s Achieving Your Childhood Dreams video (longer version)

About Clifton Hatfield

I am a family man. My wife and I are both web developers and parents to our beautiful boys. I have been working with social networks since 2004 and blogging even longer. After building niche networks of over 400,000 members, I have genuinely gained knowledge of how they have grown over the years and have influenced the way people interact on the internet. My hobbies include writing Facebook Applications and Wordpress Plugins. In my free time, I love a glass of wine with my wife or playing in the yard our boys. Nothing means more to me than my family.

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