By Sunny Simon
During the past few weeks I’ve heard several people brag about character traits they attribute to “being from New Jersey.” After putting some thought into it, I wondered if upbringing in a certain geographic location brings with it an acquired persona.
In addition to political strategist, Julie Roginsky, Chris Christie, the 55th Governor of the Garden State, the third individual who recently proclaimed the “New Jersey brag,” was entrepreneur Marie Forleo. She is self-described as: “part business strategist, part marketing maven and part spiritual ass-kicker with a side of hip-hop swagger.” Upon learning Marie created a multi-million dollar socially conscious empire from scratch, I decided to explore what being born and bred in New Jersey offered other than favorite sons like Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi , Frank Sinatra and my favorite LA Angel, Mike Trout.
Diving headfirst into my research I discovered people from Jersey (that’s how they like to refer to it Jersey…not Joisey, that offends them) know the location of every clip shown in the Sopranos opening credits, brag about producing the best pizza and never pump their own gas because it’s illegal in their state. They have lots of Jersey pride, but more importantly, they have attitude. (I even discovered a song on YouTube called Jersey Attitude). Many Jerseyan’s claim to be intense, clearly driven, focused and basically not afraid of much. That last trait meshed with a study done by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology finding our Jersey friends to be uninhibited.
In contrast, I’m from Michigan. Of course we have bragging rights. Just watch a “Pure Michigan” travel ad and you will see the majesty of the Great Lake state. Ask me to name all five of the Great Lakes and point to their locations around my left and right hand and I’ll give you a tour. But in my experience, the New Jersey chutzpah is foreign to the Michigan culture.
I must admit there are days I wish I possessed the blatant daring of our New Jersey counterparts. Attitude is defined as “a way of thinking or feeling about something or someone reflected in a person’s behavior.” Surely it wouldn’t hurt to add a little attitude to my current persona. So here goes, this week I’m kicking my mild Michigander roots to the curb, turning a blind eye to what others think, stepping up to speak my truth, vowing to take a leap of faith with no regrets…and adding a definite swagger.
Sunny Simon is the owner of Raise the Bar High Life and Career Coaching. More about Sunny at www.raisethebarhigh.com
