Happy New... You?

And so you've made it through the first month of work after the New Year. It was just a month ago when you promised yourself, and whomever else could hear you amidst the reveling, that you would be a new and improved you as soon as the clock struck midnight. You were going to "stop eating sugar," "hit the gym," and "lose some weight" at home. You were going to "be more productive," "chip in more often," or "have your voice heard" at work. Then the ball dropped, the fireworks went off, the bells tolled and time went on it's merry little way...

And so here we are, a month out and how has your resolve been thus far? Meh?

Often, we make resolutions just to make resolutions. Many times it's some knee-jerk response to our overachieving friend asking "what's your New Year's Resolution?" In a fit of panic, we blurt out stupid things like "lose 48 pounds in 3 days!!" or "conquer my fear of black widow spider monkeys!" It's no wonder those who suffer from resolution-spasms can't keep them, but what about the rest of us? What about those of us who make serious resolutions, often concerning our careers? Why aren't we able to keep them? It usually boils down to one thing. Many of us make promises to change things without actually taking a moment to examine the root cause of the very thing we hope to change. We don't (cliché coming in 3... 2... 1...) get to the meat of the problem.

Perhaps we don't recognize that it'd be easier to stick with that resolution if we rethought our approach. We've all heard the term rebranding. It's a rather simple concept to understand- it's basically defined as a marketing strategy usually employed to change the image of a company or organization. However, the art of rebranding doesn't belong solely to corporate citizens. Boiled down to its bare essentials, rebranding (when concerning oneself) is the act or strategy of changing- hopefully for the better. It's a strategy that many people unknowingly employ; others desperately need to employ; and we all should strive to employ at some point in our professional lives. After all, you are the CEO of Self as they say.

I propose that it might be easier to keep your resolution if you take a step back and think of it as your own personal rebranding campaign.  Once you're in that mindset, the most important question you'll need to answer for yourself is "was my campaign successful?" In order to find that answer, start by asking yourself these questions:

1. What problem am I attempting to solve?
2. Have I outgrown the world's current perception of myself? In other words, does my brand, in its current iteration, tell the wrong story?
3. What do I want to convey? And to whom am I trying to convey it?
4. Who exactly should care about my brand?
5. Is the goal of my rebrand to create a stepping stone or mark a milestone?

Answer these questions, but before you begin, remember that campaigns take time. Yours will be no different. It will not be a quick, overnight, sudden change. It is a strategic deployment of efforts over a course of time that will create a renewed perception, and more importantly, produce a renewed version of you.

Then nearly a year from now... you'll be on the verge of a new year... and you’ll ask yourself “how successful has my rebranding campaign been thus far?” And your answer will be “so far, so good!” And having found your resolve; having made good on your self-promises; having overachieved, you'll stop in the midst of reveling and ask your not-so-informed friend, "hey, what's your New Year's Resolution?"