In a world that is constantly evolving and changing, the ability to market yourself in a unique way is becoming ever important. George Bernard Shaw envisioned this when saying:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.”

No matter what your circumstance, good or bad, you can use this to better yourself and increase your value to other people. All the negatives and positives in our lives, mixed together, make us who we are. And the beauty of life is that there is no single pathway to success. You can forge that by winning two things:
• Understanding yourself and where you want to go (private victory)
• Ability to connect with people and understand their motivations (public victory)

Both make up healthy emotional intelligence. If you can understand yourself and are able to effectively self-regulate your emotions, you have won half the battle. If you can see things from other people’s point of view and feel what they are feeling, you have won the other half.

Putting these together in a unique way that serves your personality and strengths is what contributes to your personal brand, and how you can adapt to a dynamic world with expanding industries and technology.

Private Victory

Before you can go out and win relationships with other people, having the blueprint down is crucial. Begin with the end in mind, and write down the ideal person you want to become or what you want to accomplish. Maybe it’s being successful in your career or job, maybe it’s having more money, maybe it’s improving your interpersonal skills. Write it down somewhere, in detail, and look at it every day.

Next, be proactive, which includes waking up each day with the gratitude that you are alive and have responsibility over your day to win it, and make it a version that is successful for you. Put first things first – list out the activities that make you closer to your goal, and the activities that you could spend less time on. Leave some time for activities that bring you pleasure and satisfaction for achieving the things you do. But, budget your time in an effective manner that gets you once step closer to the goal that is written down for you.

Public Victory

In all your interactions each day, ask yourself
• Did this person feel better about themselves because they were with me?
• Did this conversation create a unique experience to look back on at the end of the day?

People will like you if you make them feel important. There are many ways to do that:
• Ask them about and talk about things they treasure the most
• Remember their names and call them by it
• Ask them about specific things they have previously talked about.

Taking a personal stake in someone else’s success will make them feel motivated to talk to you and return the favor. Seeing people not as they are, but what they are capable of becoming, will improve that person, and they will see it. Doing this instills in them a belief that being around you makes them a better person.
I know remembering names and facts about people is tough, especially when you talk to a lot of people each day – write this down!

This is what the notes section on the iPhone is for. Taking 10 seconds to do this after each conversation will yield more value than you could imagine.

The unique way you approach the private and public victory is what contributes to your personal brand. Take steps every day to bring yourself closer to realizing the vision you have set for yourself. Take steps every day to win each of your reactions with people. When your name comes up, how will people feel about you?