How to build a personal brand: part 2

Building a personal brand is quite simple, although not easy.

First of all, as any good salesperson must know their product, we must be able to answer the question: Who am I?

The second step is about defining who you want to be, as this is also part of who you are.
You must find the answer to the question: What do you want to be when you grow up?
photo credit: Eneas via photopin cc


To find this answer you have to dream and to set some goals.

The task of goal setting may seem mundane and ordinary, but there's a lot more to it. It's not any inspirational quote that makes a good goal. There are a set of rules to follow if you want to create a great goal.


Essentially a good goal must strike a balance between attainable and motivational. 


This means that for me, a 1.60 m high (fairly stretched) woman, without the tiniest aptitude for sports, wanting to be a professional NBA player may be an unattainable goal and probably a huge (not to mention hilarious) waste of time and effort. Bad goal!

On the other hand, getting up in the morning everyday, which is something I already do without a lot of effort or pain, isn't a motivational enough goal.

A good goal should fall somewhere in between these two limits of the continuum, keeping in mind that it will as well stretch your comfort zone a bit out of what feels... well, comfortable to you.

At this stage, you must also develop futuristic strategic thinking, i. e., you have to daydream. This is something children do quite naturally, but that grown ups can no longer remember how to do it.

We hear companies mention so often their Vision and Mission. That is, nothing more, nothing less, than a dream (an attainable, motivational, long term goal). In order to keep going everyday in the right direction we, individual people, also must have have a dream to guide us.

It can be the desire to obtain something, to be someone, to feel a certain way.

This super goal must also comply with a few requirements: being attainable, motivational and also specific. Otherwise how will you know you are on the right track?


“Bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete* in the World.
*If you have a body, you're an athlete.

(Nike's vision/mission)

So now it's time to close your eyes (stay awake, OK?) and let your imagination run free.
Where would you like to be 20 years from now?

No comments:

Post a Comment