Define your 3 words!
You have probably heard people talking about wanting to improve their personal brand. Company branding has been around for many years. Personal branding however, is becoming more popular and is usually related to ways to promote yourself.
I would like to refer to personal branding in a general sense. Whether you want to use it to promote yourself or not, your personal brand is the unique combination of skills, experience, and personality that you have. It reflects how you show up in the world. It is the telling of your story, and how it reflects your conduct, behavior, spoken and unspoken words, and attitudes.
The interesting thing is that even if you ignore your personal brand, you have one. It develops organically, based on your behaviors and abilities. I think it is a good strategy to dedicate a bit of time to think about how you want to show up, and define the personal brand that depicts you as the person you want to be.
The key principle here is authenticity. You will not be creating a persona, a fake version of yourself. Instead, you will look at the strengths that define you, the ones that better serve you, and highlight those. It’s not about presenting yourself as something that you are not. It’s about decisively and strategically exposing your authentic self to the world. It will show your uniqueness and your value proposition. Your personal brand should be a true reflection of your skills, passions, values, and beliefs.
It should also give you the drive and the direction to grow. It should be exciting, stimulating.
What has worked for me and my clients is crafting 3 words that define your most precious capabilities. The words should represent abilities that you already have, and that you want to continue developing in the path of becoming the best version of yourself. The words represent how you feel about yourself and how you want to be recognized for.
Finding out what your strengths are is a great way to start. It has been demonstrated that people that use their strengths intentionally, every day, are three times more likely to report a great quality of life, and six times more likely to be engaged at work.
I describe how to find and use your strengths in this blog post.
Once you have your strengths, pick the one that you want to use most frequently, the one that you want to be known for and continue growing.
The other two words can be adjectives that define you at your best. The behaviors that will make you conquer your goals and be who you want to be.
Make it a fun exercise. Pick a word and look its meaning in the dictionary. Do you like it? Do you find it appealing and motivating? If not, pick another word until you find one with the meaning that inspires you. It’s a bit like going into the dressing room and trying on a word. Does it fit? Is it you? Is it comfortable? Try words until you get your perfect fit.
As a reference, I will be very vulnerable and share my three words with you:
Exuberant: full of energy, excitement and cheerfulness.
Eclectic: deriving ideas, style or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.
Passionate: having strong feelings or believes.
I have them written as a note on my phone and read them every day first thing in the morning. I also read them when I feel that I am off my game and need a reminder of who my best self is.
I recommend the practice of reading the three words and their definitions every day. It ensures that bring your best qualities to the world in everything you do.
In no time you will be projecting the personal brand that you want to convey, because you are focusing on the characteristics that make you more powerful.
