Missing Motivation: When You Are Too Busy for Your Brand
Blog
January 26, 2017 | Nick Chuvalas - Hondros College Contributor
Everyone has a product that they are trying to sell using their personal brand; real estate services, insurance products, and business skills alike. Along with the product you are selling, you are also selling who you are and the things that you believe in – and who you are can get muddled in the day to day life of work, friends, and family. So it can be really hard to sit down to your computer every day and promote who you are when you are maybe a little too busy to remember. How can you keep a focus on developing a brand when you have so many things to focus on every day?
First off, you have chosen your career for a reason, and it is important to remember in the fog of some of your most busy times that you love and cherish what you do. That will help keep you focused every day all on it’s own. Secondly, your brand is your livelihood – you need it to keep the customers coming or to keep yourself relevant in your marketplace. So it can be detrimental to lose your focus and fall away from your message.
So what can you do to bring your focus back when you can’t seem to keep up? There are things that we can do to make sure that we are focused and driven in our branding. From deeply understanding who you are and the message that you want to deliver, to scheduling time each day to meditate on the business person that you want to become, you want to discover what works best for you.
Understanding Your Message
There is something to be said about understanding your material. In your education, it was the subject that you understood the best that you found the easiest to talk about, answer questions on, and remember for later usage. In some cases, those topics may have driven you to choose your career path, and that is going to give you an excellent advantage in building your brand.
It is important that you feel your message throughout your daily life. Make sure that you are standing for who you are throughout your brand – and if at anytime it feels inorganic or like it just doesn’t fit, don’t be afraid to change it. Don’t forget that – while your personal brand is something that you are using as a tool to build your professional business, you want to make sure that it is something that you believe in. If you don’t whole-heartedly believe in your message, you will not build an effective brand, and you will lose focus more quickly.
So make sure that you believe in yourself and your message. And be sure that you remind yourself of the things that you are fighting for when things get hard – keep reminders near you of the things that keep you motivated near where you work every day, and take a few minutes to think about those things when you feel overwhelmed by stress. And take time out to refresh yourself. Do something that you feel is rejuvenating and spend time with family and friends – don’t overwork yourself!
Spark New Interest in your Career
One of the most important factors in staying motivated is staying excited in your career. Having a spark for what you do every day is obviously going to increase your excitement and the effectiveness of your personal marketing, but getting motivated is easier said than done. What can you do to bring back your spark?
The first thought would be to take a class or get engaged in your industry community. Go to a convention where you can connect with other people in your field that can bring you new ideas to expand yourself and your business. Take a class in a new branch of your field and get inspired to try new emerging techniques in the office. Go online and find communities within your specialization that can connect you to new people and new inspirations to keep your daily life fresh and innovative.
And more than anything, do something that inspires you about your career. Celebrate your company’s success with get-togethers with your peers. Hire a life-coach or a team building professional to work with you and the rest of your colleagues to bring perspective. Go into your community and do charity work to remember the good things that you and your business can do to help those less fortunate.
De-Stress, and Become Less Busy
Sometimes, we all have to look at what is on our plate and consider doing some spring cleaning. Maybe you should create a committee to help you tackle the next big project so that you can focus on having more time with your family. Maybe you should train a new colleague in an area that you feel you can no longer manage effectively to spread out your work. Maybe you need to have a serious conversation with your boss or your team to help them better understand the stresses that you are facing and ask them for help reducing your workplace stress.
While we all want to be the champion in our families and in the workplace, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. Taking a day off that you may have passed up to get the job done may make you feel less motivated and inspired to do your job, and both your family and your workplace will be grateful to have a more rested and ready version of you.
Even more so, maybe it is time to take a vacation that you have been putting off. Getting away with friends or with family to remove yourself from the daily grind to metaphorically ‘stop and smell the roses’ can be the exact treatment that you need to retain your motivation.
Conclusion
It can be so hard to maintain your personal brand when you feel burned out, unmotivated and uninspired. And there will be many times throughout your career where you will feel this way, so knowing yourself and knowing your limits is essential to keeping your focus and maintaining your drive.
So spend time reconnecting with who you are and why you do what you do. Go out and learn more about your industry and connect to people with whom you can share ideas and develop new strategies. And more than anything – stop and smell the roses. Take days off when you have them coming. Take vacations. Get out of the office and take a break. And more than anything, take care of yourself. You will be more motivated and more successful in the end.