Think you are not an ‘Influencer’?

Think you are not an ‘Influencer’?
We are all Influencers; we are all Standard Setters

What does it mean to be an Influencer, a standard setter? Being an ‘influencer’ is a lucrative career move – if you hit the mark with the newest trend you can make millions. Famous for setting the ‘next best’ in anything you can pretty much imagine, influencers compete for popularity from the ‘must have product’, to detailing their private lives, or the most outrageous lifestyle trends. Mega, Macro, Micro, Nano … the whole array, endorsing, selling products, brands and themselves – beauty, body shaping, fashion, fitness, travel, business, the family dream … nothing is off limits. International Influencer Awards champion the ‘best of social media’.

But influencing and setting standards is not an exclusive career, it is something in which we all play a part, every day in every way. However, unless we do something we perceive as ‘trend setting’, we don’t see ourselves as an influencer nor that we have set any standard, but nothing is further from the truth. Standards cannot be owned by any person, agenda, business, government or societal framework because in fact we are all influencers, all standard setters, every one of us. Can you imagine what would happen if we truly took that on board. How would that change the way we live?

Whether we like it or not, this is an authority that we all have at our fingertips and it is up to us which way we choose to play it, for no matter what you think, you simply can’t get away from being an ‘influencer’.

Even if you imagine that you are of no consequence you are seen, and so consequently have set a standard, so influencing naturally follows – and it is not always productive. Inspiring or criticizing, enriching or dragging down, acquiescing or standing steadfast, reacting or observing, transparent or manipulating – what scenes do we set in our relationships, workplace and our homes? What quality do we weave into the tapestry of our own and others’ lives?

Imagine if setting standards in our personal lives, homes or at work meant no controlling or dictating, no manipulating, no ‘nice guy’, but living in a way that truly enriches and inspires a model of how we can all evolve together, with qualities that naturally serve all equally. Whatever we do, how we live, what we reflect to others, everything in our movements 24/7 there is no denying – we are constantly setting standards.

"When you stop the compromise and you express what your body knows is true, it actually works – that is the power we measure unleashing – but at what cost? You are powerful, you are influencing. You are standard setters,
you set the feel of the home, the tone of the workplace, the decency of the relationship.
And that’s before you even open your mouth."
Natalie Benhayon Women in Livingness, July 2017

Do we realise how powerful we are? It goes without saying that we are an authority in our ability to influence, but what is the quality – what is the value of that which we are living and imparting. And what is our measure or marker of that value? It is our body.

The sensitivity of the body is our marker, always. Listen to the wisdom of your body, it can only ever offer truth. The way we move makes the life we live, informs the way we express and the very words we speak. Is the quality of stillness and graciousness in our movement, or are we in reaction to the world? Are our movements steady and flowing or disjointed and out of kilter; are we breathing our own breath or letting the influence of the outside world in? The greatest tone-setter, the greatest standard setter is the fullness of movement we grace life with.

"Keeping the peace is the lie of letting things lie"
Jenny James, 2021

Our body registers every tremor, every sway we make away from truth – or movement we make towards it. When we compromise or play ourselves down; when we don't want to ripple the waters or cause a fuss, we also set that as a standard. And we can feel that in every part of our being and so can everyone around us. As every species on this planet has the ability to sense an impending storm on a perfectly clear day, our body senses everything too. It is a master at reading every situation and personal interaction. Disingenuous or true . . . how can we tell? When we connect to the deeper place within us, space opens up to our natural intelligence and so our ability to observe, discern and respond, with no attachment to any outcome is there … it is that simple. When we speak from our body, that which we express is heard. Our tone sets the tone.

What happens when we speak what we know is true? If we have no attachment to a desired outcome, we realise that we can express and the sky does not fall in! The beauty of that is truly settling in every way. We do not have to worry about others, we express and that is it, what is said has been offered. And the beauty of this is that when we place no conditions on others they have true space in which to respond, and we are not tied to that in any way, shape or form. This is true Love. No edicts, no conditions. And this is first set-up by our movements – it is the grace in which we move that sets the landscape of how we express.

There is nothing in the body that ever rejects integrity, truth, love and harmony, the sacredness that we can truly move with, it is only our interfering thoughts that play the self-sabotaging game.

The body’s innate sensitivity feels anything that is not in line with truth – and this is a very a tangible experience. When there is no fight, no nervous energy to counter, this is how we register that ‘things feel right or not’. It is often called our 6th sense. It is our natural ability to sense what is truly happening beneath the set smile, the look, the body language, that hones our awareness to see through the illusion of it all. Everyone wins when we don’t compromise truth – in actuality we are all enriched beyond measure.

So, if you didn't think that you were an influencer, think again … from the wisdom of your body.

Filed under

Body awareness, Role models, Sacredness