Personal Branding = Tenacity
In a meeting with a client this week, we were talking about tenacity. Merriam-Webster defines tenacity as, “the quality or state of being persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.” With that definition in mind, I’ve been thinking about how complicated it might be to be tenacious without personal brand alignment. I share a few of my thoughts below:
Personal Brand = Values + Core Beliefs + Skills/Expertise
When I discuss the basics of personal branding, these are the three main pillars (check out one of my previous articles, An Adventure in Personal Branding for more details on the three). Each of these things are huge drivers of our personal brand.
When we do things AGAINST, our personal brand, they feel really hard. We don’t want to do them because they feel icky to us, and no matter how much effort we put into doing those things, we never feel “good” about doing them. So, without that personal brand alignment, there’s no way that you can reach a destination of being tenacious.
Being Persistent
This one is right in the definition. Part of being tenacious, is being persistent.
When you find that alignment in your three personal brand pillars, there’s a fire that ignites inside you. And that fire is what allows you to be persistent. It’s the thing that keeps you moving when things get hard. It’s the difference between the people who give up, and the people who KNOW they can do it.
How hard is it for you to be persistent doing an activity that you hate? Way harder than being persistent at a thing you love that brings you joy ;)
Seeking Something Valued / Desired
Without doing the work on your personal brand, it’s actually pretty difficult to know what you value or desire. The question, “what do I really want?”, is a question that we so rarely answer in our lives.
We all do things. Every day. But how many of those things are driving you towards a specific destination?
In my opinion, this is also where work-life balance comes into play.
When your work is based around your personal brand and what you are MEANT to do in life, the time that you take in those endeavors is a commitment to that value/desire, rather than a distraction. And this is the reason why so many of us have a desire to leave our 9-to-5 behind, to spend more time on our commitments vs. distractions (a great first step in being tenacious).
In Summary
Historically, tenacity was a word that I would use to describe people who worked really hard at things. It made me think of all the sprints we ran in high school basketball so we had better endurance than any other team.
But tenacity is more than endurance and effort. It’s a commitment to doing what you need to do to get where you want to go.
The easiest way to get there? Choose a destination that’s aligned with your personal brand.
If you’d like to explore what personal brand alignment looks like for you, check out how you can become A Brand That Speaks.
