Package Your Genius Personal Branding Podcast

Do you remember your favorite teacher from when you were in school? Or a teacher who could make a subject you usually didn't like come alive? Or better yet, a teacher who could break down a subject in a way that could make you understand even when others couldn't?   And they may have been saying the exact same thing or reading from the exact same textbook as all the other teachers who taught that subject, but for whatever reason you could just hear it better from them?   Well someone out there is thinking the exact same thing about you.   Someone out there needs to hear your area of expertise, but they need to hear it from you.   Even though there are already people who are saying some version of what you're saying, or doing some version of what you're doing, there are still people out there who still need to get the goods from you.   Why is that?   I can't explain it. Just like you can't explain how two cooks can follow the same recipe but turn out completely different dishes. Even though both taste good, on

I recently attended an organizational effectiveness training retreat for an organization I'm a member of. One of the most powerful things I learned was how easily an organization's culture can get off track, and how possible it is to get things BACK on track.   So think about an organization you're a part of, or even a relationship you have with someone to make it easier to imagine. If you have one bad interaction with someone, you may say "Oh we had a tiff," or "we didn't see eye to eye..." and you chalk it up to a misunderstanding, but the relationship isn't over.   If you have two or three bad encounters, internally you go on alert. You may start to rethink the relationship and even say "We're not in a good place..." But once you get into the four-five range with negative encounters, you're in the red zone. In the training, our facilitator said that 5x is a DECISION that this is how we will deal with each other. This is our culture.   But what I find fascinating is the same way you can make a decision to n

Harlem BY LANGSTON HUGHES     What happens to a dream deferred?         Does it dry up       like a raisin in the sun?       Or fester like a sore—       And then run?       Does it stink like rotten meat?       Or crust and sugar over—       like a syrupy sweet?         Maybe it just sags       like a heavy load.         Or does it explode?    

How do you show up when you come to win?   For some reason, we all know how to prioritize our work assignments, our money, our kids, even our health - but when we think of our gifts we go blank.   We get ourselves out of bed and out of the house every day, but suddenly can't figure out how to motivate ourselves to get started.   We multitask, manage multiple calendars and juggle conflicting schedules for our teams and families, but we can't figure out how to find the time to make our dreams happen.   We put together scrum boards and complex project flowcharts, but when it comes to our gifts, we can't figure out the first step to take.   But we need to attack our gifts with the same energy we bring to the places we already excel.   Look at what you're doing well, where you're winning, what you're getting right.   What are your typical patterns?   How do you show up when you're ready to win?   For example, one of the things I feel like I am getting right is cultivating my children. So when I look at how I move

Why does it even matter whether or not you package your genius?   Who cares if you explore what you're meant to do?   What difference does it make if you don't share your genius with others?   Those are the questions I want to explore with you today. Because before I can make the case that you should package your genius, you should first understand what's at stake if you don't.   I believe the mandate of being human - what's written in our genetic code or whatever makes us homo sapiens vs some other species - is to find what we were put on this Earth to do. Your mandate as a human is to fulfill the assignment and complete the mission for your specific journey, your specific life.   That is what I whole-heartedly believe.   But if we're honest with ourselves, our life missions have likely been evident since childhood or adolescence. We've heard the call. But how many of us answered and chose to walk down the path our calling was leading us to?   I can remember being a student in middle school and then again in

If I handed you the deed to the land that contained a diamond mine, how would you feel? Maybe you'd feel excited thinking about your good fortune and your riches, but after you thought about it, would you know what to do with it? Would not knowing overwhelm you? Would it make you walk away?   No way.   You'd do some research, call an expert, and figure out what one does with a valuable diamond mine. You'd figure out who has the equipment to extract the diamond, which people had the expertise to get it out, what the process is to get it up to commercial standards, and who the best buyers are for your specific type of diamond.   You wouldn't throw up your hands and walk away just because you don't have the technical know-how to get these diamonds out of the ground, when you know they're valuable and people want them.   But that's exactly what most of us are doing with our gifts.   We've all got raw materials, but the problem is we don't know how to refine what we have, we don't have the equipment to extract it,

Sometimes you have to take a different route to get where you're trying to go. And while you may not like the idea of alternate routes - especially if you're a recovering perfectionist like me - you must admit, the route doesn't matter all that much. Because if you end up still reaching your destination, who cares how you got there?  I had to learn (still learning!) to give myself grace when the journey doesn't look picture perfect. At the end of the day, all that should matter is that I end up where I originally wanted to go - or someplace even better.  

No season lasts forever, but in every ending there's a chance for some new beginning - if you keep your eye out for it. Whether you're watching something come to an end, or you're ready to start a new chapter, what is it your season to do? Meico Whitlock who I interviewed on Episode 41 - (How to harness your focus and set priorities) and Episode 63 - (How to Create a Vision for Your Life) taught me about the importance of being intentional with your time and setting finite priorities for each season. As Meico teaches in his Mindful Techie courses and programs, once you identify your life vision and mission and set your specific goals, it's important to set no more than two priorities for any given season.  I'm excited about the intentional energy I'm putting behind my writing in this season, and I can't wait to see where that will lead. But I'm clear that it's truly time to prioritize writing after seeing a significant opening in my calendar related to my kids' school.  Again, as one season ends, another

Sometimes your genius needs a break.  And you shouldn't feel bad about it. In fact, you'll likely move further ahead, instead of falling behind as you may imagine. Rest helps you work smarter not harder - and I'm with that! I learned this summer not to beat myself up for needing and taking rest - but to celebrate what happens to my mind, body and relationships when I take a step back and nurture myself in the way that I need. How often do you take the break that you need to rejuvenate yourself? What's your favorite way to rest?    

Change is hard, especially if you like tradition, routine, or growing accustomed to the way things are. Change can also be hard when it's public-facing. You have all those prying eyes to consider. What will people think? How will this change their perception of me? But what I've learned from experience is this: when you make a big change - say your hair color, or even your job - it may register briefly to outside world, but after that, humans do what humans do. Adapt. While you're fretting on and on about that big change you're afraid of making, once you make it, most people will barely notice. And if they do notice, the decision you lost sleep over will likely only register for an instant. The new you will become the current you. And the past you will be all but forgotten. So if the changes we're stressing ourselves out over only register for a brief moment in time, why are we putting our lives on hold, failing to make the changes that could add more fulfillment and happiness to our days? Is there so

I've seen a few posts recently about saturation - one post about there being too many courses. Another post about there being too many coaches. Both posts discouraging people who'd never coached or created courses to even try.   Because saturation.   But saturation doesn't matter when it comes to having a better solution. A more convenient solution. A more you solution.   When you think about coaches and courses simply as education, it makes me wonder why no one ever asks why there are so many schools?   We have public neighborhood schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, Montessori schools, private independent schools. Co-ed schools, single sex schools. PK-12 schools. Middle school only schools. High school only schools. And let's not even get started on college options - from community, to state university to small liberal college to prestigious Ivy League.   No one blinks at education options when we think of children. It's considered an unspoken truth and fact of life that children must be

Today is the first day of July, the first day of Q3, and the official halfway point of the year. Since we only have six months left in 2019, if you've had time to reflect on the six months that have passed, you may be lamenting on how far you are from the goals you set in January.   (Or you may have crushed your goals completely, to which I say, yay you!)   But if you are nowhere near where you thought you'd be, consider this your pep talk - it's time to get back in the game.   I'm here to let you know, all is not lost.   Even if you were asleep from January - June, you can make up the difference with the months we have left. You simply need to revisit your goals, tweak your strategy, and decide what you're going to do differently.   But first, realize you're not alone. According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year's resolutions is said to be about 80 percent, and most lose their resolve by mid-February.   I for one am guilty of hopping off the consistency train. At the end of May,

Making yourself visible means nothing if you're not willing to close the deal. And yet, I see so often high achievers who are willing to teach others what they know, but unwilling to let people know how to take the next step and pay them. But if you want to grow your brand, increase your salary and add commas to your business revenue, you have to sell yourself. You have to sell yourself in meetings and mid-year reviews. You have to sell yourself to your network and potential customers. You have to sell yourself to the viewing audience of the tv segment you're on. You have to sell yourself from the stage. Here are 6 things to keep in mind as you set out to sell yourself: Decide on what you want, quantify it, write it down. I've said before, there's power in writing your goals down. I don't know what the science is, but I can tell you that it works. Go after what you want. If you want 4 new clients, make a list of 10 people who may be interested in what you're doing and call them up. Speak up and let

Visibility is important, but I don't believe in visibility for visibility's sake.  Media interviews, speaking engagements and social media content have been my method of creating inbound opportunities - opportunities that come to me.  In the last few months, visibility has yielded the following: a bulk book order from a Fortune 100 company's subsidiary a semi-conductor company invited me to develop a personal branding talk, and ordered a bulk order of the book a devoted listener of the PYG podcast referred her mentor who joined the PYG Academy countless coaching clients have said "I saw you in Forbes..." or "I heard you on Sirius XM...." A client who saw me speak at a conference in 2015 has been a client everyday since It's worth it. Visibility helps you avoid feast or famine so your client pipeline never dries up. To get started with your visibility efforts, follow these three steps: Think about the audience that buys what you're selling. What do they watch? What do they read? What events do they

We all know we should say something to be seen and heard, but...what? How to find your thought leadership ideas is a topic I'm extremely passionate about, as most people are so close to their brilliance that it's hard for them to see how they can package it for other people. Here are a few ways to know what you have to say if you're "too close" to your genius" AGGRAVATION. Look at what irritates you or aggravates you - this could be the basis for a powerful Op ed. SOLUTIONS. Look at the problems you solve. How can you create tactical content to help others? CONTENT. Look at your existing content: if you speak, can you turn your deck into the basis for a book? If you write articles, can you turn them into a talk? YOUR INSPIRATION. Look at when you first started doing what you do - what inspired you? What stories do you remember from that time? YOUR AUDIENCE. What audience do you serve? Who was the first person representative of that audience that you remember helping? When you're clear on a starting po

I've said it before - and I stand by the statement. You have to make the case for what you've done in order to get what you want now.   Simply having the epiphany that you want to use your skills differently is not enough - you need receipts to back up your claims if you want people to pay you.   But where I see most people getting stuck is they fail to look at the evidence and results they're closest to.   The unpaid work, the help you lended a friend, that time you totally helped a family member regroup, save money, or plan the vacation of a lifetime.   Most people think that if their results aren't tied to paid work, they don't count.Or if they're not tied to formal training, they don't count.   But all you need to have evidence that you can do what you're telling people you can do is a repeated pattern of success.   Whether you trained for it or came by it naturally, if people keep showing up to get a solution from you and you keep delivering, this is work you're capable of being compensated for.   When y

In my book Package Your Genius, I break a successful personal branding process down into 5 steps - get clear on your genius, make the case for what you bring to the table, define your big ideas, make yourself visible, and last sell yourself.   Today I want to dive a little more into that first step - getting clear.   In terms of getting clear on your genius, I've talked a lot about following your energy and assessing what information your energy is giving you. Typically, the work we find energizing is linked to our most purposeful work - this is the internal way we can assess which path to take. The other way is looking at external factors, or what the world is mirroring back to you in the questions you hear most often or the requests for help you regularly receive.   But lately I've been thinking about two other questions you can use to zero in on what you're meant to do, or at least what you can package and make money from right now.   The first thing is to think about what you've been able to successfully

Yesterday I talked about the power of speaking your dreams into existence, and how IF you've verbalized your desires, your mind subconsciously sets you on a path to achieve the things you want to do, even if you've lost your nerve or don't feel confident.   Well looking over my written goals for 2019 has given me a window into how powerful writing your goals down can be even if you don't set out with an intentional plan.   I didn't realize it before reviewing the goals, but I'm on track to reach them.   I won't go through them all, but a few of the goals I wrote down at the beginning of the year were 1. To double my revenue 2. Take 4 vacations - 2 domestic, 2 international 3. Double my podcast downloads from last year 4. Quadruple my book sales from last year   At the halfway mark, I just happened to look at my full list of annual goals and realized that I've already accomplished a few of them in some way. The most interesting thing though was that I didn't reach the goals in the way I'd originally planned to

If you've been listening to the podcast, you know I've been in Italy for the past week or so, and it's been an amazing trip, I've had a great time. But I was reflecting on the fact that I almost didn't come. About six weeks ago,a friend asked me to join her in Italy since she'd be traveling here for a conference. I did something I normally don't do - I didn't hesitate. I said yes.   I've been thinking about ways to get more adventure into my routine, because I've been head down grinding on behalf of my family, and my academy programs for the past two years.   Taking a vacation or traveling anywhere internationally used to be on my mind all the time, but in this new season, it has been completely off the radar for me. And funny enough, I've written the words adventure and travel in my journal and on my vision board, but haven't made the time to create any intentional plans.   So when my friend asked me if I'd like to meet her in Italy I just said yes. I had to make sure my husband would be in town to cover the

On episode 100, I briefly shared the concept of being an activator or a maintainer.   Understanding whether you’re an activator or maintainer can help you figure out the best way you’re called to serve others if you’ve decided to package your genius by working with people.   Do you know which one you are?   As a start, activators tend to feel very energized up front; they’re excited and often have the ability to transfer their energy to others. Activators get people unstuck and projects off the ground.   Activators can focus intensely for a pre-determined set of time, from an hour to three months to a year - as long as there's an end in sight. They appreciate knowing the starting point and ending point up front. Some are commitment-phobic.   Activators like brainstorming, getting projects off the ground, being a part of the creation process, and tend to lose patience if projects or problems linger without ever reaching a sense of completion or resolution.   Maintainers, on the other hand, don’t find the day t