Personal branding has always mattered to me. This may have something to do with my lifelong journey of seeking approval, but when I became unemployable in 2007, it became a strategy.
When you hear my name, what is the first word that comes to mind?
I guess that it comes from the following list: Starbucks, WordPress, Design, Minimalism, Taylor Swift, Running, Disney.
I consider these words my “Personal 7.”
On any given day, there’s a good chance that I have consumed Starbucks while designing for WordPress, took a run on a nearby trail with Taylor Swift on repeat—all while removing noise from my life as I dream of our next trip to Disney World.
Honestly, that scenario is not an embellishment. It’s my reality.
. . .
A few nights ago, I came across an article by Jennifer Cortland, with whom I had a friendly exchange in a random encounter on LinkedIn. Life seems to work that way.
Given my interest in personal branding, The 3 Biggest Personal Branding Mistakes of 2021 & How to Avoid Them caught my eye.
Everything was going okay until I read this from her:
A great piece of advice I received was from a Mentor who told me, “Share your message, not your mess.” This means that, as the Hero of our Story, we do not share a problem with our Audience until we have context for how that problem developed our Character. Give your problem a bit of time and reflection before you start sharing about it all over Social Media.
These six words, in particular, crushed me:
Share your message, not your mess.
All I am going to say is that I felt convicted and have spent the better part of the last 48 hours thinking about—eh, obsessing over—them.
I tend to overshare, and my wife frequently reminds me that my initials stand for something beyond my name: Big Mouth Gardner.
I digress.
It’s been a while since you heard from me last because I have been channeling most of my energy into Agent Engine. It’s also because I feel like I haven’t had anything interesting to share, which changed this morning. (Naturally, during my run.)
For those of you keeping score at home, here is a simple recap:
The mess: N/A
The message: Share your message, not your mess.
It’s a pretty rad filter to look through as you try to figure out if you have anything of value to share with your 2,281 email followers.
Keep preaching.
