Six Sexy Steps to Seductive Sirens

Hello Friends,

Yesterday at about 5.30pm I saw a Region of Peel police cruiser made a left turn from Bovaird onto Kennedy heading south. As the officer entered the busy intersection on the amber light he initiated the flashing emergency lights without the sound of the siren and I thought to myself what if we all had our own sirens.

How many times have you raced through an amber light at a busy intersection? What if we all had our own sirens?

A siren is a device that makes a loud prolonged signal or warning sound. In Greek mythology, Sirens were considered dangerous and beautiful creatures, portrayed as femme fatales (women or winged creatures) who lured unwary sailors nearby with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.

A siren alerts or draws your attention to danger or emergency situations. What if you had your own siren? What would you do?

Today I want you to think of siren in a slightly different way than to alert or draw the attention of others to dangerous or emergency situations. I want you to think of your siren as a tool that puts the spotlight on your goals. Think of your siren as the flashing lights that draws attention to the tasks and activities you are engaged in the pursuit of your dream, success and happiness.

Just as Odysseus understood the power that seductive sirens possessed you too should understand and develop the ability to put the spotlight on your dreams and goals. It is about getting notice. I have long learned that in a highly competitive environment I have to find creative ways to guide clients and potential employers in my direction. In one of my previous blogs titled “How I Hire:  I should have made them liked me” I spoke about the level of competition I face in my field.

We are all operating in a highly competitive space and for want of a better word we have to “develop seductive siren mythical magic.” We have to sooth songs and magical melodies to shine the spotlights on our dreams and goals just like Greek mythology depicts sirens that foster the rare ability to lure sailors into submission.

Here are my six sexy steps to engaging your seductive siren mythical magic:

Set your goals and have a plan

In order to engage your seductive siren and be successful you have to focus on what you want to achieve. You have to know what you want, and then devise a path to pursuing your passion. Let me tell you the secret I have heard over and over again. The open secret is you have to set clear and specific goals. You also have to have a plan on how to achieve your goals. A goal is a specific objective you want to achieve and your plan is the blueprint or roadmap for achieving your goals. 

In my blog yesterday titled “The Power of Believing in Yourself” I shared with you my goal to becoming a professional motivational speaker and some the steps I have taken to make this a reality. Remember success starts with having specific goals and an actionable plan. You have to identify and communicate your goals and plan how to achieve them.

Be a Performer

Remember in Greek mythology sirens that lured unsuspected sailors with lovely music and beautiful voices. If you are performer you will attract attention to your goals. You will get noticed.

Yesterday I delivered a humourous speech titled “Drunk Driver, Dead Deer, Delicious Dinner.” My core message was to caution my audience about the dangers of drinking and driving and to encourage them not to drink and drive this Holiday Season. When I was introduced I staggered to the lecture much like a drunken stupor or inebriated Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. I held a black bag as if attempting to disguise my bottle of Captain Morgan Black Rum. My shirt was partially unbuttoned giving the appearance of being unkempt. I initially spoke with a slight slur to exaggerate the state of being inebriated. For the first couple of minutes during the opening of my speech I was in full character of being drunk. I was a performer.

To engage your seductive siren you have to be a performer. Please allow me to put this in context for you. If you say you are going to do something, please do it! If you give a commitment to deliver on a task, keep your deadline as best as you and deliver on your commitments and promises. The world adores performers and achievers. Effective performance and results builds your reputation and credibility.

Be Flirtatious

A key lesson I am learning since I started daily blogging more than two months ago is the importance of a catchy title. I realise that if I have a very catchy title I attract more viewers which is a good thing. Tied back to my point above relating to performance is the fact that a catchy title by itself does not contribute to retention of readers. Retention is based on the integrity and creditability of the messages of my blog. In my daily blogs I “flirt freely” with the titles of my posts but I invest heavily in the messages of posts. Look at my title today “Six Sexy Steps to Seductive Sirens.” What do you think about my title today? What are your thoughts on my message? In the my content useful?

Make Yourself Vulnerable

As I noted above some of the titles of my daily blog posts are flirtatious. Remember in Greek mythology sirens were indiscriminate in luring and capturing sailors. The Internet and social media such as Facebook, Linkedin, Google+, Twitter and Youtube provides us with tools to access and reach an audience way beyond our immediate community. Through my daily blog posts I can reach well beyond Brampton and Mississauga and other parts of the Greater Toronto Area. For me there is just no two ways about it. I believe in what I am doing. I am committed to doing it. I have passion for what I am doing. You too should be confident about your goals and plan. You too should speak freely about your dreams, your accomplishments and successes. You should pitch your ideas with confidence. Flirt it here and there freely. 

Make yourself slightly vulnerable and exposed. Share with others your stories, experiences and accomplishments so that they may be inspired and motivated. Consider the seductive goddess of Greek mythology how they were exposed. As you share your dreams, stories, experiences and accomplishments speak freely about your mistakes and errors of judgement. Share the lessons learned from such experiences. Open yourself up to be scrutinized. Take risk but manage it prudently. Let me share a little dirty secret I discovered about my daily blogging and become slightly vulnerable to you. I learn that blogging daily comes with a big disadvantage as some readers are not likely to subscribe by email because of the fear of spamming! To avert this risk I continue to invest my time in the preparation of my message and content in my efforts to win your hearts and minds. Email me and tell me how am I doing?

I have to admit to you that I never in my wildest dreams thought the day would come when I sounded so excited about the things I am doing. You have to understand that my Jamaican culture taught me that self-praise is no recommendation or that you should not blow your own trumpet. However, business studies and my experience in business since setting up Mark McKenzie Consulting in 2006 has taught me that this is call effective public relations, marketing and promotions. 

Please tell the world what you doing or about to do….then do it!

Be Flashy or Ostentatiously Attractive but don’t shout

To engage your seductive siren you have to be flashy or ostentatiously attractive. Remember I started with the Region of Peel police cruise initiating its emergency lights while navigating a busy intersection on the amber light. The emergency lights were flashing but the siren was not on. Remember my humourous speech I mentioned above I tread a delicate and slippery slope in delivering my core message related to drinking and driving. The issue of drinking and driving is a serious subject. We are all too well aware of the risks and tragic consequences of drinking and driving. I used humour and acting in my delivery to capture the attention of the audience attention but stay far from crossing over to endorsing the practice of drinking and driving. I was flashy, humourous and entertaining but not noisy and avoided distraction from my core message.

Think of your goals and plan and the ways in which you would like to get notice. You want to do in a similar way as the police cruise with its emergency lights flashing. In your career you want to be flashy and impressive but you don’t way to shout. You don’t want to confuse or mesmerize the attention you are seeking as this can be a distraction. Keep the focus on your goals and plan. Be confident but not arrogant. You want to be impressive and you certainly want to avoid becoming annoying. Direct the attention to the things you are doing and on your accomplishments and successes.

Be Confident and Assertive

To engage your seductive siren you have to be confident and assertive. The more experience you have the more confident and assertive you will be. Seek out and acquire knowledge related to your goals. Get a mentor or coach. Work on your communication skills. Get involved in your community. These are all things you can do to boost your confidence and become more assertive. I admire the confidence and assertiveness of Elon Musk from SpaceX. The man is so bold and confident he is selling the world an idea about colonization of Mars. Isn’t that amazing?

To engage your seductive siren you have to be as bold and as confident in your dreams and goals as Elon Musk from SpaceX. Read my blog “Elon Musk and SpaceX’s Goal Setting and Success.”

Have Passion for What You Do and Have Fun

In Greek mythology the unwary sailors were lured because of their passion to be seduced and desire to have fun. You success starts with your dreams and desire. Success starts with your passion and having fun doing the things you are doing. If you have passion for the things you are doing and appears to be having fun doing it you will get notice. You can show passion for the things you are doing by sharing your stories and experience with others so that they too may cultivate a similar passion. You can join interest groups that share similar interests as you do.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate your support and encouragement. I encourage you to engage your seductive siren mythical magic. What are your doing to engage your seductive siren mythical magic?

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog  http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.