Why You Need a Ridiculously Awesome Personal Brand (and How to Build One) - Part 3.
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 4:36 am
A Word Of Caution.
I see a lot of people (and businesses) use phrases like “change the world” in a very loose fashion.
It’s become very cool to position yourself as someone who “wants to make a difference” (just like a blind desire to make money was very cool in the 1990’s).
There’s a big difference between wanting to be seen as someone who wants to make a difference and who has actually made commitment to making a difference. The first one is extrinsically-oriented (your image) while the other is an intrinsic orientation (your commitment to others).
The path to excellent personal branding is paved by sweat and tears that are a azerbaijan whatsapp phone number result of being someone who makes a difference to others - and does so in an ego-less, transparent way. Getting there involves very little focus on improving your image.
Rather, your focus must be on improving the amount of value you can deliver to a strictly defined audience (and - as I already alluded in the point above - seeing your own image improve in the process).
Craft Your Story.
The good news is that you've decided on what you want to stand for. The bad news is that you now must make sure that it holds up.
Ask yourself this - does it pass the “why” test? In other words, when you ask “why am I doing this”, does your answer become an obvious, free-flowing narrative? Or do you have to fabricate elements of it, hide it or twist it?
If you experience the latter more than the former, you’re probably being dishonest with yourself. Go back to the drawing board. Do not proceed with building your brand around any story that’s not 100% authentic.
I see a lot of people (and businesses) use phrases like “change the world” in a very loose fashion.
It’s become very cool to position yourself as someone who “wants to make a difference” (just like a blind desire to make money was very cool in the 1990’s).
There’s a big difference between wanting to be seen as someone who wants to make a difference and who has actually made commitment to making a difference. The first one is extrinsically-oriented (your image) while the other is an intrinsic orientation (your commitment to others).
The path to excellent personal branding is paved by sweat and tears that are a azerbaijan whatsapp phone number result of being someone who makes a difference to others - and does so in an ego-less, transparent way. Getting there involves very little focus on improving your image.
Rather, your focus must be on improving the amount of value you can deliver to a strictly defined audience (and - as I already alluded in the point above - seeing your own image improve in the process).
Craft Your Story.
The good news is that you've decided on what you want to stand for. The bad news is that you now must make sure that it holds up.
Ask yourself this - does it pass the “why” test? In other words, when you ask “why am I doing this”, does your answer become an obvious, free-flowing narrative? Or do you have to fabricate elements of it, hide it or twist it?
If you experience the latter more than the former, you’re probably being dishonest with yourself. Go back to the drawing board. Do not proceed with building your brand around any story that’s not 100% authentic.