Finding Ground Zero of Your Personal Brand
Updated: Aug 13, 2021
You know it's (Personal Brand) coming.
You just don't know how, when, or where or in what form.
I get it.
For you, the idea of finding ground zero of your Personal Brand gets your interest more now than ever before, even if it does bring with it a degree (or four) of anxiety and frustration.
Chances are you sit in one of these three buckets:
1. The Wizard
2. Waking Up to It
3. The Intrapreneur
If you do see yourself in one of these three buckets, I've included some simple tools, resources, and helpful insights for you to engage, to get you more on your way,
or for some of you, further down your rabbit hole. Its cool - both serve you.
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Bucket 1 - Are You The Wizard?
Master of your game, you are one of life's well kept secrets, but on purpose.
You comfortably work behind the curtain.
While you have entertained conversations of your Personal Brand a few times in the past, it just hasn't landed!
You want both timing and that 'ahah' moment to emerge and completely resonate.
Until then, you listen to the personal brand narratives as they cross. your path... and each time you graciously duck out of the conversation and go about your business thinking to yourself:
That is just not for me (yet)
Some of your likely themes would include:
1. A la Carl Gustav Jung - and his idea that I'll paraphrase for the purpose of this article - "I am not for the masses. The second I find myself being for the masses, I must check and see where I've gone wrong."
2. Permission to take this work out far and wide
3. My work! It has me so busy, so focused, where will I find the time?
4. I can't see how this will come about. I can't see how these things will come together.
5. Creating content? My body contracts at the mere thought of it. It's not my thing, I'm not good at it, and I feel overwhelmed at having to resolve doing it.
What could help are things like:
1.Being interviewed as a format to help you organise your thoughts on the subject matter into a language your audience can receive. Craft a set of questions that when used in an interview, tease out the insights, details and gems your work has observed. If your area of expertise happens to align with the podcast I run; Inside Growth - then perhaps I can interview you. Inside Growth Podcast - Be My Guest >>
2. The three common questions you get asked by your clients day in and day out. Each question is a blog post wanting to be answered, unpacked and explained. Don't have a blog? Easy, write it and post it as a guest blog on another's platform. There are a lot of practical, mental and mutual benefits (for you and the platform you are writing on) to doing this. My three common questions here are: - Where do I start? If I just knew where the starting point was, I would be on my way. - Who is my ideal target market? My audience? - How do I create sales?
3. If you are not at the writing content for the top 3 questions yet, perhaps consider introducing an intake form for your clients to complete at the beginning of your engagement. Add a few questions in that intake form that over time, with multiple answers to those few questions - can inform an article, video or interview. I write a lot about fear - and other people's opinions, because in my intake form - it is number 1 reason why the individual hasn't got stuck in yet.
4. Being Challenged on "Why you Believe What You Believe" using quality questions - all with the intention for you to see more clearly as to what is driving your perception and actions (or inactions). When you see further and deeper you make better quality decisions that ultimately gets you closer to the realised vision you have for yourself. Of course, that conversation could also reaffirm you are exactly where you need to be. Validation can be equally helpful.
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Bucket 2 - Waking Up To The Idea of Personal Brand?
While certainty, as it relates to your; grown up, all singing, all dancing Personal Brand fluctuates between, clarity and non-existent, you are quite certain that this status quo you have been (are) doing, day in and day out, is not sustainable for you.
You are being called into something more - but the visibility as to exactly what that looks like, is well, non-existent for now.
You have a few projects on the go that could be argued are working vehicles for your Personal Brand. Things like a:
•Blog
•Podcast
•Social Profile Page
•Group or Community
-- but it's intermittent at best.
And it can be easily described as more force, almost no flow, with 2 of the 3 cool kids that make up the Personal Brand Pack missing: - those kids would be: compelling vision, inspired action, profitable.
Some of your likely themes would include:
1. Fear of being seen; body image, other people's opinions or some unconscious pattern playing out.
2. Insufficient clarity of your genius. Your expectations are likely high - as you think you should have way more certainty and detail figured out by now. The Reality is that it is often your first few steps out onto your path that make the next 3 steps visible. We tend to sit on the sidelines adamant that we need to see all 100 steps clearly marked first before we will even begin.
3. Not enough clarity on your service that will make you money. Or way too much judgement on how it looks in this moment. Your idea wants to be innovated over time and space. Innovation occurs inside meaningful action and growth - innovation does not emerge out of theory. We think we can mentally solve our discomfort of not knowing - when 99x out of 100, you must physically exercise it, live it, run it, ship it, if you are to see the innovation of it, become available to you.
4. Wood-for-trees perspective that has you obsessing with tactical details in the absence of the strategic intention. Details like "Who is my audience?" - We tend to fete upside down thinking - hell bent on having tactical questions answered in the absence of vision, values, and strategy.
5. All force, no flow. You are getting on with it but you are pissed off. You have an expectation that it should be; success without failure, wins without struggle, excitement without fear - that surely it must be a one sided experience. Alas - no! We always get terrified in equal to our excited. Growth occurs in the midst of terri-cited! (Terrified and Excited)
6. Mentally willing it - You are literally numb asking yourself, "What is the thing I love to do, that I can get handsomely paid for?" And you got nadda! Meaningful and inspired emerges when the head and heart align for a moment of bliss. Mentally working this out in the absence of your heart space will likely present no end to your frustration as your thinking self comes up with ideas that your thinking self then immediately judges. Dropping into your heart space will produce far different outcomes. Imagine the Heart to be the eyes that bring clarity to your vision and then your Mind are the feet that figure out the best possible way to get you to the vision your Heart sees.
What could help are things like:
1. Getting clear on your hierarchy of Values - please check out Dr. John Demartini's book Values Factor. It's on Kindle, Paperback, and there's a free online tool you can use to do the work too. Enormously helpful to get clarity on what is important to you, what inspires you and what is your heart song.
2. Putting a survey together for. your inner circle to answer for you: Include questions like: If you could describe the thing that I do great, what would that be? When you look back over our conversations these past three years - what was the topic-du-jour that I consistently brought to our exchange? What is the one problem you experience that makes you think of me first. Why? What have you observed in X timeline that lights me up and gives me energy? Put about 6 of these questions together and ask x3 or x5 people close to you, to answer them for you.
3. Working with a Facilitator and their Purpose related Programme to bring more clarity to you in this area. I know a few people who could be of interest.
4. Accessing your heart space for a period, while inviting your thinking self to sit a few brainstorming sessions out - this involves things like movement, breath, nature and intention.
5. Embrace uncertainty! "As you begin to set out on the hidden road, the road reveals more of itself to you." There is a great book I devoured in the summer of 2011. Courage - The Joy of Living Dangerously by OSHO. That book is not for everyone - and the timing with which you pick it up will be important. But the idea here is to recognise your mind's need for certainty and your heart's willingness to dance inside uncertainty.
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Bucket 3 - Are you the Intrapreneur?
You have a career you enjoy WHEN your role allows you to bring your magic to it.
When we tease out the things that light you up in your job, one cold easily pull the word, Paradox in to hold your: genius, areas you love to straddle, and how you want to go about delivering mind bending results.
But how does one effectively articulate that paradox?
You are an intrapreneur and when your role welcomes you to open your intrapreneurial magic box as you see fit, you can actually hear angels sing in the far off distance. Your work quality sky rockets, your output drives results that make you do a happy dance, and you get even more bright ideas to fuel the ones already out there.
You are not alone in this - by any means.
You want to keep your job, and you want to invest in your long term Personal Brand at the same time. This is about: career development, having an opinion on relevant issues, and following your heart about the things that matter most to you.
You probably have a 3 year goal to boot. Go You!
Now! Where does one begin?
Because, I'm guessing that this paragraph above has resonated more clarity for you than any other conversation, article and video you've been consuming on the subject.
Some of your likely themes would include:
1. Valley of Indecision! Should I work for myself? Should I be a part time consultant? Should I get a different job?
2. Unaware of how valuable Intrapreneurs are to big business and/or how to go about maximising Intrapreneurial mastery for you and your job.
3. Insufficient clarity on how to bridge your genius in your job. For example, how to organise a CV, a personal brand or present your Intrapreneurial prowess to a firm in a way that has them gagging for you.
4. Lack of confidence in stepping fully into the Intrapreneur that you are. Anytime we take steps that fall outside of the ho-hum status quo we trigger fear, shame, guilt - and questions of - "Who am I to do....?" When we don't have sufficient tools and strategies in our arsenal to meet that fear in ways that allow us to dance inside fear, for the purpose of transforming it into
What could help are things like:
1. Getting clear on your hierarchy of Values - Dr John Demartini has an incredible resource to help you do just that. Values Factor is the book on Amazon. And the online tool is here >>
2. Putting a survey together for. your inner circle to answer: If you could describe the thing that I do great, what would that be? And a few more similarly flavoured questions - maximum of 6 questions. Get 6 people to answer it for you so you can get insight on how you are observed in your natural habitat.
3. Working with a Facilitator to help you bring clarity to the WHAT, HOW and WHY.
4. Accessing your heart space for a period, inviting your thinking self to sit a few brainstorming sessions out.
5. Embrace uncertainty! "As you begin to set out on the hidden road, the road reveals more of itself to you." There is a great book I devoured in the summer of 2011. Courage - The Joy of Living Dangerously by OSHO. That book is not for everyone - and the timing with which you pick it up will be important. But the idea here is to recognise your mind's need for certainty and your heart's willingness to dance inside uncertainty.
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