Be Yourself vs. Be Someone Else

This concept came up in a Clubhouse Room I was recently participating in (Personal Branding Mastery), and it continues to be a struggle in the personal branding space. Hence, this blog post.

When it comes to personal branding, a lot of people think it’s a marketing tactic; an activity in showing up a pre-defined way to achieve what they want.

Except it’s not.

Our world of perfection and overly edited interactions has convinced us that there is a specific way to be to have a strong personal brand. And quite honestly, our own inadequacies have contributed to it as well.

But the power in a personal brand does not come from perfection (which isn’t actually possible). It comes from a genuine celebration of who we are. Which in turn creates a level of confidence in sharing our gifts with the world.

Let’s explore the concept a little deeper.

The Pull To Be Someone Else

The calls in the marketplace are endless; I see it almost daily (especially on Facebook).

“I created a [fill in the blank resource] to get you all the [thing you’re looking for]! Who wants it!”

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All of these stories have been created to convince you that person knows the ONE way to get you results. But even if it DOES do what it promises, it does it for THEM.

You are not them.

At the end of the day, these stories have been created to SELL you something. And at the core, what they are selling is a concept that you aren’t good enough and you need something else to be whole and complete (or achieve what you want).

Except you don’t. And every minute you believe that, it creates a level of personal disempowerment.

But, Tracy! It seems so easy!

This is the crux of the problem.

It seems that the easiest path is to just do it someone else’s way. The “proven way”. BUT, unless that way is 100% aligned with who you are, the likelihood of you being able to execute it the same way is low (or even non-existent).

And when you dig a little deeper, if you had to trade your personal values for their success, would you?

OK, you’ve convinced me! I’ll be myself. But how do I do that?

The Struggle To Be Yourself

It’s a question I hear often. And besides the constant messaging to the contrary (as described above) that has separated us from the answer, one of the other primary limiting factors is that we FORGOT how to be ourselves.

The great news on this point, is that there are clues.

The things you get passionate about. The things you get frustrated about. Your joy. Your pain. These feelings are windows into the real YOU.

But wait a second, Tracy! I’ve gotten really good at trying to AVOID my feelings!

Again, something society has taught us, which pulls us farther away from being ourselves.

And like anything, it takes PRACTICE to get good at it.

I know it sounds weird to say it takes practice to be yourself, but it does. AND, it takes commitment.

Practice Makes Permanent

One of my Dale Carnegie instructors shared this concept with me and it’s always stuck; because I don’t believe in perfect, but I do believe in the creation of new habits based on new behavior ;)

But how do I practice being myself?

My greatest advice in this area is to learn forgiveness.

Sometimes, you will show up and try something that doesn’t work. You’ll write a post that no one reads. You’ll go live and no one will watch. You’ll stumble over your words in a presentation. You’ll trip walking up on stage.

And guess what this type of behavior shows? REALNESS.

Real human behavior that isn’t based on perfection, but authenticity.

So forget about the mistakes you MIGHT make. You will definitely make some. And if you have the best intentions of adding value to people, that will only ADD to your personal brand, not take away.

Forgive yourself for not being perfect.

Celebrate yourself for learning and growing in an authentic way.

In Summary

As I mentioned in the opening: power in your personal brand comes from a genuine celebration of who we are. Which in turn creates a level of confidence in sharing our gifts with the world.

You can’t try to be someone else and be genuine. They are mutually exclusive. So, if you want to get to the place where you are confident sharing what you’re all about, and by means of that, to a place of power in your personal brand, the only path is to Be Yourself.

After all, is it really a personal brand if it’s not about YOU?

If you need a guide you support you on the path to being yourself, let’s chat.