The personal branding no one talks about

If you think of personal branding as showing the world who you are, what you know, and what you stand for, you have the right definition, and I’m not trying to change that. There’s just also another side to consider: the one where you become the audience.

We are aware that our actions shape how others perceive us. But an even stronger, less-talked-about effect is how they shape what we believe about ourselves.

We are many versions of ourselves—body, soul, spirit, ego, inner child and more. With every action, we build a reputation with these parts of us too.

And that’s harder, because while you can curate what others see, you can’t lie to yourself. You always see you.

Just as people’s perception of us shapes what they expect from us, our internal selves only begin to trust us when we consistently act in line with who we say we are. But if we consistently break that trust, even in private, the fraud that we become eventually finds it way out. When it hasn’t, we feel empty, knowing we are lying to everyone else.

For me, it’s been a game-changer to also define ‘personal branding’ in that literal form of ‘the brand I am building with my personal self’.

It’s hard but I am trying. That’s all I ask of you too.