Q. I am interested in knowing how you compete with the myriad of other motivational speakers who are doing the same thing you are doing?

A. Thank you for your question and for giving me some delightful laughter. First, I do not consider myself a motivational speaker, per se. I am a brain-function consultant who delights in helping people understand more about how the brain functions in general and providing tips on how they can use their brain by design to be more successful.

Second, I learned early on that sometime, somewhere, someone will do something better than I do—at least by the subjective opinions of those doing the critiquing. Therefore, I compete only with myself—endeavoring to make each presentation more relevant and helpful. I concentrate on what I can bring to the table rather than comparing myself with or trying to compete with others. Each brain is unique, so that type of competition would be like comparing olives and oranges.

Several years ago, country-singer Kenny Rogers reportedly said something that always struck me as brilliant. You either do what everyone else is doing and you do it better, or you do what no one else is doing and you don’t invite comparison. Bottom line? I’m not trying to do what everyone else is doing….