Your reputation is who people think you are.
This perception may be true or false, but what matters is that people believe you are that kind of person.
People's perception will determine how they relate with you in social and business situations.
People relate with us based on who they think we are.
In the market place, we buy certain products based on what we perceive them to be.
For instance, we use certain products because of what we believe they can do based on the adverts we watch on television.
If we put these products to the test, some of them may fail to live up to expectation, but our perception of these products cause us to keep buying them.
In life, career and business, people will relate with you based on who they think you are.
If you are perceived as professional, creative, resourceful, a team player and highly productive, CEO's of mega companies will want to employ you to work with them.
On the other hand, if you are perceived to be lazy, unprofessional, and troublesome, not a team player, you will be rejected or avoided by good companies.
In social situations, people relate with you based on your reputation.
We cannot buy a good reputation neither can we force people to have a positive perception of us if we lack integrity.
If your reputation is tainted, you will have problems getting people to associate with you.
Have you ever heard about the lady down the street who sleeps around? You probably know a lady who has such a reputation but have you ever caught her having sex with anyone? She has developed a bad reputation based on her lifestyle.
She may be misunderstood by people, but the bottom line is that most people believe she is that kind of person.
People who don't want to be tainted by her bad reputation will avoid having anything to do with her.
She will face rejection and she may not even know why unless someone tells her what she is doing wrong.
I am sure you also know a lady who has a good reputation.
People vouch for her integrity and uprightness.
She has a reputation for kindness because she created that impression in the minds of people who know her through her consistent acts of kindness and integrity.
You first create a good reputation, and then a good reputation creates a great future for you.
Never create doubt in people's minds through your actions about who you are or what you stand for.
Always act in consonance with your highest values and beliefs.
Live your life in such a way that when people talk about you, they will have only positive things to say.
Never compromise your beliefs because it could totally ruin your reputation.
For instance, if you don't want to be called a husband-snatcher don't hang around married men.
Some single ladies have married men as their best friends yet they wonder why they have such a bad reputation.
Such ladies tell you that it is nobody's business who they have as friends.
But the truth of the matter is that who we associate with affects people's perception of who we are.
If you are perceived as a husband-snatcher for instance, married women will want to have nothing to do with you.
Bachelors who are ready for marriage will see you as a 'big girl' who goes out with 'big boys' and has no intention of getting married.
If you want to change that perception, then you must change what you do and people will see you differently.