Building a Powerful Personal Brand

The first question I ask people is what are you passionate about? What are the things that stir you and motivate you in life? Whether it is personal or professional, if we are not passionate about things, we are rarely motivated to excel. Knowing your passions, why you are passionate about them, and being able to communicate them effectively, enable you to be seen as someone people want to be drawn to and believe in.

It is vital for each and every one of us to understand and be honest with ourselves about who we are and what we are capable of today. This gives us a starting block. A line in the sand that we can look back at and realize how far we have come. It allows us to realize what our strengths are, where our challenges lie and what we still need to learn in order to achieve our goals. Realize that weaknesses are only opportunities to either learn something new or build relationships with people who possess those strengths. There is no failure, there is only opportunity to learn, assess, augment, and retry.

If you do not understand where you want to go and how to get there in your life, you never will. Wishing for something to happen does not create opportunity, instead in creates disappointment. Take the time to decide what your goals are for the next five years and go out and learn the skills and build the relationships in order to get you there. Communicate with people what you want and what you need and find mentors who can help you along the way. Be humble and ask lots of questions. Be interested in the people who are where you want to be and ask them for their time and advice to help show you what you need to work on yourself in order to get where you want to go. Remember, nothing in life worthwhile comes easily or quickly. Be patient, be inquisitive and be a life long learner. Understand how you can help others first and do it. People are far more apt to help you, if you help them.