Personal Brand is your value in the eyes of others. Every conversation, email, and social media post either adds or diminishes its value.

The service you provide is the one thing that impacts it the most. This service could be in your 9 to 5, or through community work.

We often underestimate the underlying skill that adds value to our service. Because the skill often becomes second nature and seems to be trivial.

The other trap we fall into is restricting ourselves to only what is needed of us in the community. This is what causes us not to realize our full potential.

I think it is about time we discuss two important things:

1. The service we provide is of value and is not trivial.
2. We are meant for more than we know.

Service We Provide Builds Our Personal Brand

Think of the last time you took the initiative to solve a problem. Likely, you did so since you were confident about the task at hand. The confidence is based on the fact that the task is within your proficiency, and you are confident you can deliver on it.

When we keep doing something long enough we develop a bias. This bias makes us believe the skill is trivial, and anyone can do it, which is far from the truth.

I for example love writing blogs, and have been doing it consistently over the past 6 months. In this short time, I have written over 100 blogs. I also love reading non-fiction books on personal growth, and in the past year alone I have read about 25 such books.

Now doing this for such a long time I get a bias which makes me think this is not a big deal.

I have started to believe blogging is so easy, that anyone can do it. I also tend to believe everyone reads non-fiction.

But when I discuss this with non-bloggers or readers I realize not everyone is passionate about blogging, and not everyone reads non-fiction.

The two things that make me what I am are the books I read, and the stories I share. Over time I have come to realize that stories are the shortest distance between two individuals.

The stories we share are what connect us with others. Being a good storyteller is a skill, and it is essential to my ‘Personal Brand’. It is the skill that makes me unique.

Every individual on this planet has such skills. Some have a gift of gab, others are resourceful in getting things done, some are great at technology, and others are great at sales.

Knowing your skills and enhancing them is step one to building your brand.

We Are More Than We Think

Have you heard about the experiment of fleas in a jar?

I recently came across this experiment on YouTube. Fleas can jump up to 40 to 100 times their length, but when constricted to a jar and constantly hitting the lid they stop jumping higher. This continues even when the lid is removed, they are essentially conditioned to not live up to their potential.

Our lives are no different. Society usually does not act as a motivator but an inhibitor.

We are all stuck in a jar, asked to live by the rules, and not jump higher than society allows. We are warned of the risks of trying too hard. The rules are usually made by the ones in power since they want to ensure there is no shift in equilibrium.

Unfortunately, most people abide by these ‘rules’ and spend their lives being only as good as society needs them to be, not as much as they want. We end up being the fleas in the jar. Even when we grow up and have more autonomy, we continue to behave like the fleas do.

If you need to unleash the potential of your ‘Personal Brand’ you need to break through the shackles of these inhibitors.

Find your inherent skill, find your superpower, enhance it, and build it up. The constant upgrades to your skills will help build your authority.

Never believe yourself to be any less than what you can truly be. Challenge yourself to be better than the day before, no matter how many times you feel you have given it your all, strive to give 1% more every day.

Don’t be the flea in a jar.

What Next

You may feel that all this is easier said than done. I used to feel so too. I used to make excuses to do less and stay in my comfort zone forever. But once I realized lack of time was just an excuse I made up, I have lived every day challenging myself. Anything that is not bringing value to me, my family, or my community, I let go.

Everything you do impacts your Personal Brand, so let’s do only what field it, not diminish it.

I am trying to build a system to give the same freedom to others. I read and write almost daily giving all this information for free.

All of which would mostly remain free. But at the same time, I am curating a service catering to the specific needs of individuals who may be willing to go an extra step.

I will be unveiling the plan soon, so make sure to keep an eye on future blogs, and also subscribe to my newsletter below.

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