Implement the 1-Centimeter Rule to Fast-Track Your Career Growth

Strategically positioned personal brands go further, and we wanted to share the 1-centimetre rule from Sallee Poinsette-Nash , which is a simple way that you can position yourself to go further, faster and attract more aligned opportunities.??

Let’s start with a metaphorical ruler and a few questions.

• What is your 30cm goal?
• What are you looking to achieve?
• Are you clear on the key thing you would like to accomplish first?

Take some time to think about these because it’s important to not only know what the goal or outcome is, but to then amplify it before coming back to the present.

Where would you like to see yourself a year from now?

Now, focus on one thing that you would like to achieve in the next 12 months, then ask yourself:

• What is the highest and biggest version of this?
• Are you keeping your goal?or yourself small because of any?perceived?limitations of where you are in your career today?
• Does a slightly?bigger version of your goal feel out of reach given your current situation?

Dream bigger

Regardless of how uncomfortable or far-fetched it feels, push your desired goal all the way out to 30 centimetres on your ruler. This is the biggest version of it.

• Now ask yourself, how does this feel if it’s my reality?
• Keep amplifying that goal to the biggest version possible which will be just before you reach a point where it doesn’t feel good.?

For example, if you’d like to be an author, and amplifying it to be ‘a globally recognised bestselling author’ feels great, then that’s a much better goal!

Go back to the version of your goal that feels good because that is going to become your 30 cms on the ruler. You must visualise where you want to go before you can start working on it in the here and now. After this initial exercise, shift your focus from the future to the present - this is your zero cms?because once you get a clear picture of where you'd like to be, you can start to make progress.

Never position yourself exactly where you are today

If you position yourself exactly where you are today, that’s all people will see. If you position yourself 5 centimetres away from where you are today, you’ll feel like you’re dishing out large servings of BS (and so will other people!) But by positioning yourself 1 cm (or one step) away from your?current version, you’re going to start shifting your reality, shifting how others see you and you’ll be opening yourself up to new opportunities.

Let’s go back to the earlier author example. So, you want to become a globally recognised bestselling author, but you haven’t put a single word to paper. What does positioning yourself 1 cm ahead look like?

• When friends and family ask what you’ve been up to lately, you could add “...and I’m currently thinking about writing a book” to your response.
• You could put posts out on social media or share relevant, on-topic articles
• You can join an online community of writers to learn more about how to become an author

The 1 cm rule has accountability built in, because you can only say that you’re ‘thinking’ about something for so long, or tell the same people several times, before you you'll have to do something to move it on!

Take one step, or centimetre, at a time

Still with the author example, you've been telling people that you're thinking about doing something for a few weeks but now, maybe you have:

• Started writing an overview or an outline chapter structure
• Drafted an article for a blog or an online publication
• Joined a writers community

It's time to move along the?ruler!

You can stop saying you’re thinking about it and start saying that you’re working on it and by taking one small action to move yourself closer towards your goal, you'll have moved 1 cm so you'll now need to adjust your positioning (online and offline) to be 2 centimetres away from where you started, yet still 1 cm away from today's reality.?

This process continues all the way along the ruler. However many steps you take or how many centimetres you move, how you position yourself should always stay one step ahead of your current position.

As our 'author' example, when you’ve written the first few chapters you can start putting it out there (on social media, in conversations and amongst your network) that you’re looking for publishers, a literary agent or other writing opportunities, and because the people around you know where you're heading, you'll find that they start sharing articles, recommendations and opportunities with you. And you can use these newfound helping hands to move you forward much faster than if you keep your goals to yourself and no-one around you knows where you're going.

By using the 1 centimetre rule when it comes to your personal, career or leadership positioning, you’ll take others along on the journey with you. They are always a centimetre ahead of you, and they will create the momentum that you need to keep you moving along that ruler towards your end goal and a reality that feels great!

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Visit the?Brandable & Co website?to find out more about building a personal, career or leadership brand.