How to Align Your Career Vision and Brand to Achieve Your Goals

brand career vision Dec 04, 2020
professional black woman thinking

Here we are heading into the end of the year, and most of us are not only looking forward to the end of 2020, but we're feverishly working on our vision and goals for the new year. One of the most overlooked ways to help accelerate those career and life goals you've laid out on your vision board or yearly planner is to ensure your personal brand aligns with your goals.

Your personal brand can become a stabilizing force in an unpredictable work climate. It demonstrates the clarity of career goals that allow you to focus on what's important, be seen as someone who will deliver on what you promise, and showcase your authenticity, which will differentiate you from the rest of the pack.  

While your personal brand is a combination of your vision, values, and purpose, it's often easily reflected in what you wear and how you show up. Your presence is a huge part of your brand. In fact, psychologists have found that what you wear impacts how you feel about yourself and how others perceive you and interact with you. 
 
For example, if you have a career goal or vision of promoting into a senior leadership position or becoming a sought-after speaker, you'll want to ensure you're perceived as a leader or speaker.
 
You must be clear about what you want so you can learn how to leverage what you wear (the most tangible aspect of your brand) to accelerate the achievement of your goals. Keep in mind that your personal brand can either attract more of what you want or repel everything you desire, so as you make a plan for the future, consider how you'll embody that future.
 
If your brand isn't aligned with your goals or your current work environment, you may want to pay attention to that. Maybe this misalignment is sending you a clue that either your brand isn't authentically representing who you are OR where you are isn't in congruence with who you are and what you want.
 
So please pay attention to where it's not working as much as where it is. You may get some valuable data that can save your life and career. 
 
While you're building your vision, work to create the conditions that will help you achieve your goals. In other words, you need to act, look, and show up as if you're already there.  As Leo (that's Leonardo DiCaprio to you) said, "Every next level of your life will demand a different you."
 
When you begin to step into who you want to become, you'll actually feel more energized and purpose-driven both in your image and action. I know intimately well how this works because I've experienced it in my own life. When you become clear about your brand, it gives your career greater meaning and fulfillment.
 
Unfortunately, most people do this backward. Instead of focusing on who they need to become and what they have to do to achieve that goal--which requires an apparent vision of your brand, they list everything they want. That won't make your dreams come true. The universe works with you, NOT for you.
 
You'll want to start taking inventory of what you need to stop doing or get rid of that, causing static interference with your brand perception and your goals. What's not working (and honestly haven't' truly worked in some time)?

What are you doing or not doing that you 100% know it's time to check that? Listen, on the path to success; sacrifices often have to be made. If you're not ready to do a little surgery to remove those things that may inhibit your success, then you need to reassess your goals. 
 
The unpredictability of 2020 has definitely taught us that the workplace can prove to be a fickle and possibly unstable place. However, the one thing that is pandemic proof is your brand. In many ways, it's the bright light that will keep you grounded and focused, able to adapt, and recalibrate when necessary. The reason that's possible is that your brand is YOU. So, as long as it continually reflects who you are at your authentic core, it will continue to develop and evolve with you. When your interests, vision, and goals change, your personal brand must adjust accordingly. 
 
So, what can you do now to align your vision and brand for the new year?
 
  1. Craft a clear career vision statement for your future.
  2. Analyze your image (the colors, style, texture, look, and feel of what you wear) and check to see if it matches your brand and future vision of self. Create a uniform if necessary.
  3. Assess what needs to change, what do you need to give up, or add into the mix to bring these two things in alignment.
  4. Set your goals and make a plan what you're going to do to change, or give up or add to your life to solidify your brand and realize your dreams. 
  5. Incorporate one action step from #4 into your daily schedule to prevent overwhelm and evaluate your progress. 

Once you have everything mapped, be sure to keep it in plain sight. What you focus on expands. By keeping your vision in plain sight, you're more likely to stay on brand and ultimately achieve your career goals.  

Need help with this process or learn how to tailor this process to your unique vision, brand, and goals? Let's connect!

 

 

xo,

Carol

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