“I want to be famous,” a young girl said to me recently. Her mother stood close by, her expectant gaze hoping I might offer some advice that would bring her daughter’s head out of the clouds and back to reality.

“I totally understand that,” I said. “When I was your age I wanted to be famous too.”

I doubt her mother was pleased with my affirmation, but I wasn’t finished. We talked about why she wanted to be famous, and told me she wanted to be a positive influence on others. “I’m not going to be like Miley Cyrus.”

This is not a bad desire, but I had to ask. “How strong are you?” She didn’t understand the question at first, so I explained that there are thousands of kids out there, who just like her, want to be famous. And the entertainment industry, whether it is TV, movies, or music, really doesn’t care about the influence they bring to their audiences as much as they care about sales. Just turn on the TV for a few minutes. More than 90 percent of music videos have barely dressed females twirking away to the vulgar lyrics of the “latest and greatest”. As long as the public is buying, the industry will keep making it, no matter how degrading the message.

Right about here she said, “Well that won’t be me.” Once again, good to hear, but the reality is everyone starts as a nobody, and as a nobody, you really aren’t in a place of influence yet. You make too many demands and they’ll just find somebody else, so again I said, “How strong are you. Will you keep your standards even if it keeps you from being famous one day?”

It’s a question I ask to all. And I hope you have an answer for it before you start down that mystical path of fame. If you have a clear line in the sand of what you will and won’t do to become famous, you’ll have less regret over the things you did while trying to climb to the top.