All Pride, No Ego

9Selfish Is Not a Bad Word

I was raised in a family and a household where being called selfish usually resulted in a time out or a seat in the corner to “think about” what you had just done. Selfish was defined for me as not sharing or putting one's needs in front of others or generally terrorizing my sister with a childhood prank. In the innocence of childhood, I accepted my parents' definition and worked hard not to be branded as selfish. Branding and my various names and nicknames are a very interesting area to discuss in context of this learning.

I was born James David, the son of James Fredric and grandson of Marvin James and James Joseph. Notice anything? My mother consciously chose a different middle name for me because she did not want me to be a “Junior.” She wanted me to have my own identity. From day one, I was called Jimmy. I also had an uncle named James and a cousin named James, all of who went by different nicknames. By the time I was born, Jimmy was the moniker that was left, and to this day, I am still Jimmy to my sister and most of my cousins. My Dad's nickname for me was James Davido … and I was only called James or James David when I was being selfish or otherwise in trouble.

Now as a branding and marketing advisor, it strikes me that these various nicknames actually represented and continue to represent different parts of my personality. Jimmy is playful, laughs a lot, hates to be tickled, and is still innocent of many of the ways the world works. He also ...