I recently went through a process with Branding Guru and fellow IowaBiz blogger Drew McLellan.
He was helping me to figure out what my "BRAND" really is.
It was an amazing experience that produced a surprising byproduct... it actually helped me with my work-life balance.
Yup, that's right. The process of clarifying my brand for my various business endeavors helped me to clarify what I do... and just as importantly... what I DON'T do.
Drew hit me with questions like...
- What do you do on a day-to-day basis?
- What do you want to do more of?
- What don't you do?
- What do you want/need to do less of?
- How do people describe you?
- How would you want people to describe you?
We went deep and Drew continued to ask clarifying questions that pushed me.
We boiled things down to a sentence... a phrase... that described what I do.
What was interesting was that this process started to help me to be 100 percent clear on what to say "yes" to, and what to say "no" to.
Isn't that a key to effective work-life balance too?
I'll give you an example. Just this past week, I was approached about an opportunity to participate in a project. It looked like fun and there were some great people involved. BUT... when I lined the opportunity up against what I'd discovered as my core "brand," (what I do) it didn't connect. It didn't line up.
In the past, I probably would have said yes, but then been overloaded by the additional commitment AND wilted because it didn't fully line up with who I am and what I do.
Plus, there's a high chance that the weight of that "bad-fit" obligation would have carried over into my life outside of work. It would have taken away from my time with my family and other important aspects of my life.
So, in this case, I was able to respectfully decline, encourage them and suggest some additional people to consider. Plus, I was able to do it with clarity and no guilt!
Yeah... that felt good.
This concept is even more important right now as things are a little tougher financially for some. If a business starts to experience a tightening of the belt... there is a temptation to try to become everything to everybody. But, as I found through this BRANDING process, it's more important to focus on what you do... and do that with excellence... than try to be everything to everyone!
That will help you to know what to say "yes" to and what to say "no" to.
So... how about you?
How about asking yourself some of Drew's questions?
They may help you with your brand... and they may... help you with your work-life balance too!
Give it a try... and let us know what you come up with!
Photo credit and kudos to: mleak
