First Rule of Personal Branding: Believe in Yourself
By Alina Popescu on Jul 1, 2008 in PR & Marketing, Thoughts I Came across, Tips & Tricks
Confidence is about knowing what you’re worth and showing it to those around it. It’s not showing off, it is just discovering your qualities, getting to know what your good at an believe in that and your dreams.
Why is it important to believe in yourself? Because that will help others believe it to, if they also have the results to prove. Unless you are confident you’re good for the job, the results will get to others much harder, and it will be more difficult to convince them you have the needed qualities.
Sometimes however, the behavior of those who should motivate us is not what it should, and one can start doubting their value. You might even get to feel like an impostor, waiting for others to discover your great results were a lucky mistake. As confidence is important to then promote a positive image of yourself, this is what you can do to compensate the lack of encouragement or recognition:
- reanalyze your results, reacquaint yourself to how you obtained them and how hard you worked for each of your goals
- talk to those who believe in you, not necessarily for reassurance, as to see yourself through their eyes. More perspectives can lead to an objective view on yourself. They can lead to your true identity.
- remind yourself why you love what you’re doing
- if all else fails, start working on a personal project where you’ll put your skills to good use and get equally great, quantifiable results.
This might sound a bit like a self-improvement post, but it’s not entirely. Promoting your personal brand effectively requires you to believe in what you’re selling. Would you be able to sell a food that makes you feel sick? Maybe. Would you be better at selling your all time favorite dish? Definitely!
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Wonderfully said.
Beatrice | Jul 1, 2008 | Reply
Thanks sis, for the comment and the constant support!
Alina Popescu | Jul 1, 2008 | Reply
“remind yourself why you love what you’re doing”
I never thought about it as personal branding, but you’re right. People know if you do is lack of confidence (and passion).
Being passionate about the thing you work on is very important. If I’m not passionate about blogging and the topic I blog about, I would have quit a long time ago when I struggle to make a dime from it.
No matter what you do, there will be hard times. Passion helps me follow through.
Life is too short to do what you dislike doing.
Hendry Lee | Jul 1, 2008 | Reply
Hendry, you are quite right! Most of us work for a significant part of our day. Not liking what we do means spending most of our lives forcing ourselves to do something we dislike. It does show in the end and those around us will be able to tell.
Alina Popescu | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
Alina, this is really good advice. I spent several years selling a product when my heart wasn’t in it, and it flat out doesn’t work. Customers sense a lack of enthusiasm no matter how well you think you’re covering it up.
Brad Shorr | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
Personal branding is so important as you will find that your confidence in yourself becomes wonderfully infectious to those around you. If you lack passion your clients can sense it.
Great post
Cheers
Cathy
http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com
Cathy | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
Hi Brad! I agree trying to deceive everyone else doesn’t really work. At some point, no matter how good you are, they will discover the lack of passion, the disbelief, and you would have wasted both your and their time.
Alina Popescu | Jul 3, 2008 | Reply
Hi Cathy, thanks for stopping by! I’d also add people love being around those spreading good vibes and stay away from those spreading the opposite.
Alina Popescu | Jul 4, 2008 | Reply