How to Live the Life You Don’t Want
The easiest way to become trapped in your career is to put on a pair of golden handcuffs. If you want your career and personal brand to move in a positive direction it is important to recognize and avoid this trap.
Avoid the trapThe golden handcuffs refers to staying in an unpleasant situation that …
We All Wear Masks and Disguises
People make assumptions about who you are from their observations. They learn about your personal brand from what they hear and see. Your words, appearance, and actions combine to create a picture of who you are and what is important to you.
As Dan Schawbel recently commented on Facebook, “You get to decide what face …
Wisdom from Winnie the Pooh
I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions, but in 2011 I resolve to live my life more like Winnie the Pooh. He seems to always be happy, having fun and adventures. I’ve found some important words of wisdom to follow in this coming year, taken from Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, by author A. …
10 Gifts of Generosity
We can all be generous. It doesn’t matter who we are or what our personal brand may be, we all have the ability to be generous. To celebrate your holiday season this year, consider offering one or more of these gifts of generosity.
Simple touching gifts1. Donate a used blanket, coat, scarf, mittens, or …
Can You Relate to Anyone?
I remember an HR professional telling me years ago that they tended to hire for hard technical skills and ended up firing for a lack of soft skills. He wanted to figure out ways to close this gap. This manager was ahead of his time. Back then he saw the need that Dan Schawbel refers …
10 Essential Career Success Strategies
Over the course of your lifetime you may spend 80,000 hours at work. Are you getting what you want from work? Are you excelling at your career? Here are 10 strategies to help you become more engaged and successful at work.
1. Ask yourself for directions
Career success, although different for everyone, occurs when your …
Today is Yesterday’s Tomorrow
I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. – Elwyn Brooks White
I can relate to this statement. It is always a challenge for me to balance enjoying life, acting in the here-and-now, with imagining …
Take Charge of Your Brand
Are you getting in the way of your own success? You are the one in charge of ensuring people see your brand in a positive light. Here are three tips for demonstrating to others that you are taking personal responsibility for who you are.
Don’t wallow in the whineBad things happen and, sometimes, life …
3 Ways to Build Your Brand
What will you learn today? Your brand naturally evolves as you gain skills and competencies to function more effectively. Consider these three ways of building your brand and identify a learning strategy that works best for you.
Formal educationClasses and courses are available in many fields to facilitate your learning. Going back to school, …
Articulating Your Brand
My life has a superb cast but I can’t figure out the plot. ~Ashleigh Brilliant
What separates you from everyone else? Creating and articulating a personal brand requires a solid understanding of who you are and what is important for your version of career success.
We can get trapped sometimes into defining career success in …