What major part of your personal brand today might be different far in the future?
When I was 13 years old, someone at my school had the idea to create a time capsule. The idea picked up steam and the graduating class later created the time capsule and had the fun of burying it in one of the concrete walls of the school (don’t worry, they had help).
A friend of mine reminded me of the time capsule a few days ago when he emailed about the upcoming closing of the school, whose farewell event will include opening the time capsule earlier than expected but still over 20 years later. I’m sure it will be a fun moment for all attendees, and not only for any of the capsule-making alumni.
Encapsulate the moment
The whole point of a time capsule is to take encapsulate a moment in time by preserving a selection of objects that best represent that moment in time. I don’t remember much about what was in my school’s time capsule, but I’m pretty sure the collection included an empty Coke can and a class portrait of the capsule builders.
Looking back on a class photo always gets a smile, and since Coca-Cola updates its can designs every so often, the can was a good, cheap throw-in for the times.
What would best represent your personal brand today, that might change tomorrow?
Let’s say you created a personal time capsule today.
It could just be a group of objects that you hide away at home, in a safe-deposit box, or in a wall like the one at my old school, or it could be a digital time capsule collecting images, audio, video and documents (although, who knows if you’ll be able to get it to work 10 or even 20 years from now?). Yahoo created one back in 2006, to be opened in 2020.
You could do one with your kids.
However, for our own fun and discussion, we’ll limit the time capsule to 3 things that best represent your personal brand today in 2011, such as:
- A photo
- A website snapshot
- A physical object
Use the comments below to share with us your 3 selections. I’ll join in too so come back to see how the conversation develops and inspires.
Author:
Jacob Share, a job search expert, is the creator of JobMob, one of the biggest blogs in the world about finding jobs. Follow him on Twitter for job search tips and humor.
