“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
― Gandhi
The attainment of success is something absolutely worthwhile. However, turning into an epitome of values and morality is something each one should aim at for success does not come on its own but is very much dependent on values. An increment in personal values accounts for an increment in the degree of success. Hence, it makes more sense to work towards personal branding rather than enhancing one’s success rate.
In a world governed by material wealth and greed, it may be said that your income is the reflection of your value in the marketplace. However, such a comparison is petty and can be absolutely reductionistic, objectifying man and attributing his value only to that of his assets. But then, the good news is that one can gain control over this phenomenon by finding ways to offer more value to the marketplace and consequently, increase one’s success and income. This serves to be a great personal branding strategy.
What you’ve accomplished thus far in your life as a student is the outcome of the value you’ve provided. Your outflow determines your inflow. Personal branding, one’s relation with other people is relative to the value one carries. A business, job or family bears value depending on the value one attributes to it. Self-branding then becomes the key to success in the social realm.
It is possible for you as a student to be undervalued or overvalued in different contexts. But it is never right to get emotionally overwhelmed and act up on those emotions when undervalued. For example, you might have years of experience in your field of expertise but it seldom means that people are looking for it. What people are looking for is the value your experience can provide, not the experience itself.
Therefore, as a student, you need to have strong personal branding in order to succeed and stand out from your classmates or peers of the same generation. One way is to become an expert in a certain area while the other way would be to develop knowledge and skills in a wide variety of areas. Skills cannot be limited to a particular job but should also include soft skills. Just knowing the solution to the problem is not congenial unless one knows how to express or explain it in words. Branding yourself is essential as a milestone on the pathway of success.
The observable universe has a lot to teach us about its patterns, laws, phenomena, and mysteries, but we can only learn as much as we as students are willing to accept. Personal branding, personal growth or branding yourself is the best way to bring more value to the marketplace, and grow your wealth.
Generally, we tend to associate high income with success judging an individual on the basis of capital gain. We rarely stop to ponder whether the individual is contributing to add value to the marketplace or community. Hence, we fail by aiming towards making more money instead of focusing on becoming more valuable.
A diamond is but a piece of carbon and gains its value only when cut, thrashed, rubbed, and polished. It is natural to complain about the economy, the job, the government, or the lack of income. But how exactly does one improve if all they do is complain? World leaders or successful people in the world have become what they’ve become not because they chose to be bogged down by the challenges they faced. They did not find solace in sitting and complaining about the situation. They instead decided to take charge of the situation and work towards improving themselves, thus, converting even the most adverse of situations into profitable ones. And this is them indulging in a personal branding strategy.
The most potent personal branding strategy:
If you are on the lookout for tips to indulge in efficient personal branding, the following personal branding strategies might come to your aid.
- Students who want to succeed at the next level must include growth in their daily plans. A consistent value increment must be a routine personal branding goal. Increase your income by increasing the value you offer to the marketplace.
- Age is of least importance in the realm of personal branding and so always remember that you don’t become valuable by just hanging around for years. A plain desire for money will not get you to your goal. Personal branding coupled with adding value to your business will lead to better monetary prospects.
- The marketplace needs your skill, not your needs. So, if you don’t feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. You can’t sell a product to a customer by stating you want to get rich. Your agenda is your own and the customer is only interested in how valuable the product or service is. Branding yourself and your business must be all you work towards.
- Put in more work on yourself. Work hard. Indulge in branding yourself. The only person you are in competition with is the person you were yesterday.
- Nothing is more valuable than time, especially when it is invested intentionally and wisely. If you are a writer, invest your time in reading books, writing more content, and honing your talent. Stop wasting time on the overflowing crap found in social media. Try to be irreplaceable. Only by investing time, attention, and energy on enhancing your skills, can you top the personal branding charts.
