Branding of a Personal Kind

"The intentions of your entire life may become overshadowed by your actions in the next 5 minutes." ~ Jason Huntsinger

I'm becoming more and more interested in the concept of personal branding.  Perhaps it's a sign of the times that we need to develop and manage our brand because we live our lives online.  The ease in which we document our daily activities creates a trail of digital permanency, good or bad, that may never go away.

Think about that quote above for a moment and ponder this: If you don't create a brand to tell your story then who will?  Why take a passive role in this process?

There are two key issues in developing and maintaining your personal brand.  First, is that the brand or image you're creating must be legitimate.  Certainly there is room for interpretation here, but you cannot create an online image of something you're not.  This invalidates your word and brand immediately.  When I say there is room for interpretation I mean we all have our own perceptions of the situations and circumstances in our lives.  The old adage "don't judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes."  You are the only one who knows the true and intimate details of your motivations and intentions.  Hence the need to tell your own story rather than let someone else do it.

The second key issue is consistency.  One of the reasons to brand or re-brand yourself is to tell the story of you.  That story is not defined by a single act yet that one act may step to the front of the stage in the brightest spotlight.  Once you draw attention to the entire story of YOU it becomes vitally important to be consistent in that story.  This takes being smart.  You can't purport to be one type of person and then act in a manner contrary to this.  The intentions of your entire life may become overshadowed by your actions in the next 5 minutes.  That warning is always there and never lets up.  And that's true of the life you live online or offline.  This also goes back to the legitimacy of the brand you're creating.  If it is a facade it will become apparent with your actions.  You can't keep living a lie nor can you build a foundation based on lies.

Here is the good news... It is never too late to begin this process.  Sure, it might be a steeper climb to get out of the hole you've dug, but, "it is never too late to be what you might have been" (George Eliot).  I love that quote.  Life is fluid and ever-changing.  If you can accept responsibility for your past choices and accept yourself for the potential you truly possess, it truly is never too late to create your brand and tell your story, write your story and design the life of your dreams.