Brand your life

With Deepawali around the corner, it is but natural that shopping is high on the priority list of those celebrating Deepawali, especially Indian’s the world over. Add to the fervor the numerous advertisements by online and offline advertisers all displaying a humongous range of visually  pleasing merchandise.  The buyer is bedazzled with the choices but stumped when it comes to decision making. Eventually, the chances of branded goods being purchased are much higher than non branded goods. The reasons are simple; there is reasonable guarantee of quality, reasonable price, committed delivery and a reasonable return/ exchange policy if not satisfied. It is the brand that simply triggers these convictions. Is it not time for you to build your personal brand so that when you interact with others, they have a similar trust, faith, expectation and confidence in you?

For ordinary individuals, personal branding is all about cultivating a holistic, honest and heartwarming identity. It is different from an image created by film hero’s / heroines or rock stars / sports person and celebrities who have a purely marketing angle to their individual branding. For ordinary folks like you and me, personal branding is conveying ourselves honestly to a world that will recognize our worth and respect us for our candor and acceptable demeanor.

The tools for personal branding are simple, easy and inexpensive.

For lips – Truth – Practice the art of being truthful however much the urge to tell a lie because of fear, jealousy, envy or other compulsions like protecting someone. Obviously it won’t be easy but if you set your own standards, you will never have to think twice about your course of action. More importantly, the world will know what you stand for and what to expect. Your brand is build immediately.

For Voices – Prayer – Unlike a ritual, which is often the norm for organized religion, a simple prayer is acknowledgement of thanks for the blessings in life, a earnest plea for the grace of acceptance of the challenges, a request for fortitude to cope with the challenges and most of all it is seeking blessings for those around us for their continued well being. Action is the bed rock of prayer; it requires one to do something for self, for others and for the world at large be it participating in alleviating the pain and /or poverty or spreading good cheer or doing good deeds. Work is worship and prayer in action. Your prayers in action help build your brand

For eyes – Sympathy – Concern for others helps one sympathize and empathize with the challenges people around us are coping with. Hopefully this realization will spur us on to engage in translating our concern and sympathy into tangible action. Your actions will be noticed and your brand will be recognized.

For hands – Charity – Doling out money is the easiest thing a person with means can do. Real charity is in sparing time and spending it doing something worthwhile for others who require our charity. Simple things like spending time with the aged, the sick, the lonely by visiting hospitals / orphanages/ prisons is all that is required. However, it is a commitment and that commitment is the brand that you will be recognized for.

For heart – Love – Falling in love with those who we like is easy; the tough part is to love those who are difficult to deal with, those who do not value us, those who we despise. It could be pesky neighbors, difficult colleagues, hard to please bosses, your nemesis. At times it is worse because it could be a troublesome family member or an irritating friend. Love is all encompassing; it should overlook faults, be unconditional and above all be genuine. Your brand will reflect in the ever widening circle of friends and well wishers around you.

For face – Smile – The simplest of all form of personal brand building. A smile costs nothing. It is the curve that helps straighten out things. Your smile is the outward reflection of your inner beauty. It is the brand that you wear on your face. View it differently and your SMILE translates into See My Instant Life Energizer.  http://poweract.blogspot.com/2010/01/smile.html

Try these:       

• Out of the above which are the two strongest aspects that define your personal brand? Which are the two weakest aspects on which you will work hard to ensure your personal brand is top class.
• Identify a person whose brand image you closely identify with i.e. you share similar traits or values.

This post is courtesy www.actspot.com

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