Brand, Reputation and DOING the work that matters.

I know I here talk about how important DOING things is – to get real life feedback, to connect, to learn.
Getting our ideas out of our heads to meet the world so we connect with our community, so we show up for those we seek to help. But it’s even more important to embrace that it’s not enough to just do better work. We must all of us also embrace branding, reputation and all the work that makes OUR work matter, be noticed and feel relevant for those we want to help.
With all the noise in our world just being the best, or having shipped the best product is not enough.
We must all work on our brand. That the result of that work is NOT up to us. Branding in today’s connected world: For both global around the world brands, as well as your personal brand is:
Other people's expectation of you. The promise you deliver to them. THAT is your brand.
its easy to live in the illusion that they'll get it eventually, if we just do good work.
That they will come if we just build "the right <insert your product>" but it’s not enough.

My experience is that in order for your people to get the maximum value out of your product or “value”
They must get the reputation your brand bring with it from others, not directly from you.

The noise blocks out who's the best.
Seek to be the best for those you serve including do work on marketing, branding, reputation in a way that matter to them.

Don’t seek to gamify what ‘ever platform you're on.
Eventually algorithms will learn and you're community as well. You don’t want to be left obsolete just because an algorithm was updated.

quote: Warren Buffet
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently
What’s your legacy? What are you building for those you serve beyond you?
What is the promise you bring those that connect with what you do?

Go around it.
Dont wait for perfect - Its OK to go around the long way as long as you keep taking steps forward

Be kind to yourself. Dont wait for the perfect candidate, perfect opportunity or perfect idea.

Once you go around and obsticle and you make them pointless they're often happy to help you - making it appear you've walked in a straighter line that you have for an outsiders.

dont compare yourself to others because you dont know the detours they have made to get it done.

Focus on progress, and what's working and what is.

not others and how you think it "should be"

Primilary ask yourself what can you DO, instead of listening to the sceptics in your head?

dont worry about what others think or say if you're not starting by enrolling the top candidate. Few succesful people did when they started. We just fool ourselves by comparing thinking everyone else had it easier to change things that we do. Usually they did not but invested effort anyone eventually making it.

Laser Focus

What are you focusing on right now?

So many of us imagine success as “having it all.”

While that may be true, the way to get there requires focus; giving up a lot of things, disappearing from the spotlight, and building that one thing that will be your contribution to the world--your legacy.

The first step to achieving something is figuring out what you want in the first place. And the more you think about it, the more you realize how much harder it actually is.

What is something that you like, love, and care for? What is something that you love doing so much that you can do it for the rest of your life?

What is something that you're willing to grow and flourish at the expense of momentarily saying no to so many things because it will take a lot of you to turn an idea into a reality?

Every success story begins with a decision to focus on one thing. Constrain how much you are doing at the moment to expand an idea that will have value five years from now, ten years from now. No one will see what you are building. They won’t understand why you're so driven at something or why you are saying “no” to them or to other opportunities.

It's challenging to say “no” because it's so easy to go with the flow, to get rewarded and recognized around people.

But when you start saying no, because you are laser focused on opportunities that align with your goal, you have more room to say yes to the things that matter. You have more energy and mind power to absorb everything that will further you in your direction.

Everything you do is connected. You grow from the right opportunities. You see things that busy people often look past.
Make your timeline something important here and now and you will build something exceptional for those you care about.

Strangled by your own convenience

I know you love your comfort zone

So do I. I go there to rest myself and I have to force myself out, into scary uncharted territory every time

My Personal Trainer say most of us have trouble picking things up from the ground when we get old. Yet a few never have this problem

Because most stop doing it when there is a tool, chair or something to assist with

Those who intentionally do knit their shoes, and move every day done have this problem. for most its that convenience got in the way – making it very inconvenient eventually.

* when I was awarded consultant of the year 2013 out of 7500 consultants I was asked to hold (by consultants seeking the same fame and success) had a few presentations on a few different topics one including "How to increase your value" which often was interpreted as "How do I charge more" which surely is a side effect of the same behaviour.

YET most asking live during my talk always wanted to wiggle back to a convenient answer. Hoping they would get one word they could say when receiving an offer to increase it by 20% without effort.

I then said that would then be the new normal if there was such a free upgrade as no investment needed to get more we would all be doing it explaining that whatever you do at the "negotiation" will only shift it a sliver versus say you have five overs all equally exiting in work. Then the talks would be entirely different but it’s also a lot of more work. Yet in the end, you will have a lot of more options in your life than if you let convenience decide for you.

Convenience pushes the decision you know you need to make to the future

friends not behaving as you want? choose new ones, it won’t be convenient for a while but that space will open up for better people if you are also willing to level up in areas that attract those you want to attract

have empathy for your naysayers

Its uncomfortable buy if we dare to face that I, Ric, am not for everyone then we make better decisions. this was really hard for me, I am such a people pleaser, I really want to help everyone and that everyone love me but what I didn’t understand for 70% of my life was that my behaviour made me pleasant but not truly anyone’s favorite.

* Free stuff and convenience

We often forget the alternative cost we pay for free stuff. Platforms and business rarely give us stuff free as a primary thing.

Their primary thing is often a business selling us. Convenient now but will it really be so for your future self?

like Brene Brown say:
Choose to uncomfortable now instead of resentful later.

“Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you're doing something that others were unlikely to do, because they're hiding out in the comfortable zone. When your uncomfortable actions lead to success, the organization rewards you and brings you back for more.” 

The very thing that feels uncomfortable is probably the thing I should be doing at that moment. The activity that puts me on edge and tempts me to resort to procrastination – that subtle fear is indicating the task is important.

so what to do about it?

I believe in balance. You can’t always be outside your comfort zone. You need to rest, to reflect, to have a place where you ask yourself the scary questions without falling into a deep pit

but in order for that zone NOT TO shrink so much its uncomfortable small, forcing you to stand still and stiff you also need to show up with your whole self in at least a few areas that matter. that matter to you, not society but yes also that matters to your customers so you can sustain it