Getting Intentional About Living Your Life. How to Craft Your Personal Brand

By Jackie White

It’s a new year and it is a time when many of us are making resolutions to become better. One way to get at this is maybe looking at things a little bit differently. What I am talking about is intentionally developing your own personal brand. That doesn’t mean you are selling something rather you are becoming the person you really want to be.

Personal Brand:
The definition of a personal brand is a widely recognized and largely-uniform perception or impression of an individual based on their experience, expertise, competencies, actions, and/or achievements within a community, industry, or the marketplace at large.

It doesn’t matter what you do for a living, this is about how you are doing your living. That’s a key difference. Your personal brand is how you present yourself to the world from the inside out. It’s not just about superficial presentation, it’s the frame that defines who you are. This frame is defined by certain parameters you set.

Defining a personal brand is for everyone. If you are a stay-at-home mom or employed outside the home, everyone should think about their personal brand.

Parameters to Utilize When Crafting Your Personal Brand

Your Core Values:
When defining your personal brand, a great place to begin is with the foundation of your core values. Core values are values we hold that form the foundation on which we conduct ourselves. The core values are the basic elements and practices we use (or should be using) every day in everything we do. For more on core values go to www.FindYourSoulShine.com/Resources

Your Why:
Another important part of your personal brand is the vision you have for yourself. That vision should be aligned to your “Why”. Your “Why” is what internally motivates you to do what you do. It’s the thing you are excited about and it’s the thing you are emotionally linked to deep down inside. For more on your” Why” Go to www.FindYourSoulShine.com/Resources

Look to Others for Inspiration:
A great way to define your personal brand is to look to others. Are there people you are drawn to because of the way they present themselves? Do you admire certain characteristics or traits in others that you’d like to emulate, then incorporate those into who you want to be.

Being Intentional:
When you are intentional with how you move in the world, you are using your time wisely, you are being true to yourself and you are accomplishing those things that are important to you. It’s important to know who you are and what you stand for. The old saying goes, if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. Tightening up what you are about makes doing life so much easier because you have defined the kind of person you are and what you will and will not tolerate. 

Put It All Together:
When you put together all the parameters, you have described the kind of person you want to be. You may have some of the elements to your brand already down, but others are aspirational. That’s ok because we are ever-evolving and need to reach for more.

Bumper Sticker It:
Just for fun, what would your bumper sticker say about you? Would it say:

You are following a fun and creative, get-er-done kind of person! 

or 

You are following a lackluster ball dropper that accomplishes little in life.

Follow Through:
You can put all this together in a nice package with a bow, but if you do not live by the words, they mean nothing. Take action and live out your personal brand so that when others think of you, they are sure to know just who you are. This year, kick it off right, be intentional and bring your personal brand to life.

Shine On!