The Key To Building a Strong Personal Brand Comes Down To This 1 Thing:

How many times have you heard someone say, “Just be yourself” in your lifetime when you’re stuck, stressed, or anxious???

A lot of times it’s a nice thing to hear, but not the answer we’re looking for in that moment. We want something more concrete — something actionable.?

But there’s a reason we’ve heard the phrase “be you” over and over again:?

It is the answer you’re looking for.?

The key to building a strong personal brand is authenticity.?

Which is why "being you" is the best thing you can do.

I always had lofty goals and high aspirations. But it wasn’t until I started listening to myself, practicing self-care, ending toxic relationships, and trusting my gut that my career, and personal life, started manifesting the way I wanted them to manifest.?

Over the past few years, I’ve built a brand for myself on social media and beyond which has led to countless opportunities personally and professionally. And I did it by being true to myself —?which is why I launched a high-performance advising service to help others do the same with their personal goals.?

Sometimes, “being you” isn’t as easy as it seems —?especially when you need to find yourself. So, here are three easy steps to find your authentic self, and build a strong personal brand through authenticity.?

1.) Deprogram?

For most of us, society influences a majority of our decisions and behaviors.?

We’re trained to go to school, use the degree for a career, work for a company, have a family, build wealth, spend money, among other things.?

A lot of us follow that path, but end up in a job we don’t like, or in a toxic relationship. It doesn’t work out the way we thought it would, and we blame everyone else. But just because something isn’t working doesn’t mean it has to be that way.?

It wasn’t until my late 30s that I woke up and asked myself what I’m doing with my life. As defined by society, my life was perfect. But internally I was suffocating.?

I started to question my marriage, my choice to have kids, my job — every decision I had made up until that point. I felt like I had rushed through everything because I “had to” since that’s the path people expected me to be on. I gave power to forces outside of my control, and to my insecurities — and I was finally realizing it.?

It was a tough pill to swallow.?

I swayed back-and-forth, making myself feel guilty for taking my life for granted. I told myself I should feel lucky for what I have. I had frequent anxiety attacks.

But I still couldn’t shut that voice off. I knew I wasn’t existing for me. And it was affecting my health, and indirectly the health of those around me. I couldn’t fake being happy, and the constant turmoil prevented me from being the best mom, wife, and friend to others.?

The best decision I made was to deprogram.?

I got a divorce. I quit my job, and started a business. I moved. I cut off toxic family members.? Everyone thought I was losing my mind. They all said it was a phase. But I was finally trusting my intuition, and realized that the change I sought for so long was finally me coming into my own.?

Of course, the change was stressful — but I felt like I was re-gaining control.?

Think about your life right now, and which parts feel as if they’re a result of programming. Identify those areas, and write down what change you seek.?

Then go for it.?

2.) Be Selfish

Being selfish is empowering.?

By definition, “selfish” means self-serving, or basing your decisions solely on how it affects you—no one else.?

Most of us have a harder time putting ourselves first than we’d like to admit. We feel pressured to say ‘yes’ to things we don’t want to do, and put personal goals on the back-burner while giving our time to our job, friends, and family. A lot of the time we think we’re making decisions that are self-serving, but are really driven by how we assume it will affect those around us.?

It’s time to mentally re-define “selfish” to its true, empowering definition of making decisions in your best interest — and get away from “selfish” being a negative thing.?

3.) Share?

When finding the authentic version of you, you need to fully commit.?

A lot of what we see nowadays is clouded by perceptions caused by social media, impossible standards, and false realities — and people are getting sick of it. More and more people are gravitating toward people who share EVERYTHING about their lives, not just the highlights or the good times.?

I’ve realized with my social media channels, the more I peeled back the curtain, the more people related to me and wanted to follow. Instead of building a brand around some false reality of who I am, people get the real, raw me, all day every day. They see the good, the bad, the ugly — which is exactly why it resonates.?

By sharing your mistakes, being open and honest, not caring about others’ opinions of you or what you’re doing, you separate yourself from the bunch as a unique, true-to-self individual others aspire to be.?

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