GOALS VS. COMMITMENT
Crafting a fully realized Personal Brand is the first step.
Implementing it is the most important step.
What is instrumental to implementation is aligning your goals and your commitment. It sounds basic; it seems simple – the reality, all too often is different.
Harvard University offers freshmen a noncredit seminar, “Reflecting on Your Life.” The purpose: to create an opportunity to reflect – outside the classroom – on what matters to them and why, explains Richard J. Light, professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education (https://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/education/edlife/how-to-live-wisely.html?emc=edit_nn_20170321&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=64344326&te=1&_r=0&referer=):
One of the class exercises is the students make a list of how they want to spend their time at college. “What matters to you? This might be going to class, studying, spending time with close friends, perhaps volunteering in the off-campus community or reading books not on any course’s required reading list. Then students make a list of how they actually spent their time, on average, each day over the past week and match the two lists.
“Finally, we pose the question: How well do your commitments actually match your goals?
“A few students find a strong overlap between the lists. The majority don’t. They are stunned and dismayed to discover they are spending much of their precious time on activities they don’t value highly. The challenge is how to align your time commitments to reflect your personal convictions.”
That alignment is crucial when developing your Personal Brand.
What are some of the steps you can take to achieve this alignment? Melanie Benson Strick, author of “Rewired for Wealth” and part of the Executive Leadership Team for Women Speakers Association, offers these steps (http://sheownsit.com/commitment-vs-interest-key-achieving-dream-goals-melcoach/):
Visualize a successful outcome. See and feel yourself with the goal already realized. Don’t let fears and doubts could your mind.
Keep the goal front of mind. Make action towards the goal a part of your daily routine.
Commit to being the person – mindset, habits and strategies – that will achieve those goals easily.
Remember it’s not enough to craft a Personal Brand. You must work to achieve it.
