So why bother about your Personal Brand? It's a little like saying, Why bother ensuring that I sleep well, or find ways to de-stress? It's to do with behaviours and actions that touch upon our desire for improvement; actions that enable us to raise our self esteem. As you know, when we sleep well, our energy level improves, and finding ways to de-stress improves our health. By taking actions that improve our lives we maintain a level of self respect. In part, that's because we rid ourselves of unhelpful behaviours. Similarly, when we bother to take care of our Personal Brand, we buoy our self esteem, and raise our level of self confidence. We do this by ridding ourselves of any inappropriate behaviours actions and attitudes. In effect, that's how we actually cleanse our Inner Brand. Also, when this cleansing process begins, we must ensure that we leave enough clean space so that there's room to make improvements. We leave space when we delete a behaviour or attitude that prevents, or dulls our Inner Brand from shining brightly.
Our Personal Brand is a little like our home. We must keep it clean, and ensure our Inner Brand (the internal workings) are kept in good order. Taking full responsibility for your Personal Brand can almost be a full-time job. And like any job that consumes us, we must endeavour we do our utmost to ensure our job is secure. Trust that you have a strategy in place. You might be thinking, 'Why do I need a plan or strategy for my Personal Brand?' Without a plan or strategy, your Personal Brand is unlikely to hit the right notes, which is imperative if we are to convey an authentic Personal Brand. Anything off-key will convey the wrong message.
Think of your Personal Brand as you would a business. A business without a plan is likely to flail all over the place. So it's good to start with creating a Personal Brand Statement. This statement needs to encompass how you wish to be perceived, your purpose and your aspirations. For example, you might say - My Outer Personal Brand is elegant, friendly and communicative. Or, perhaps, MyInner Personal Brand is authentic and engaging. One needs to support these statements with facts. For instance, how elegant are you? How friendly are you? Are you an effective communicator? How authentic are you, how do you know you are engaging? When we ask ourselves these questions, we alert ourselves as to what might need to change, or to improve. This is when a plan or strategy comes into play. For example, what action(s) needs to be taken in order to be more elegant? Does it require you improving your body language, or perhaps taking better care of your grooming?
Only when we are able to ask ourselves good questions are we likely to experience good answers. When your answers reveal what needs to be done, then, you put into action your strategy/plan. I urge you to take the bull by the horns, and begin your journey of self discovery. To aid you in your pursuit of attaining your Personal Branding Statement, here are some tips:
Ask yourself how you'd like others to perceive you.
How could you be any more authentic?
Ask a close friend how they'd describe you to someone who doesn't know you.
Do you fully acknowledge your assets?
Are you willing to acknowledge what you'd like to improve?
Who do you admire most and why?
What one thing can you do today that will improve your Personal Brand?