Giving yourself space and grace as a personal brand

Out of the blue on the first leg of my trip to New York two a few weeks ago, the captain’s voice came over the P.A. system “Folks, we’ve had some mechanical failure, unfortunately we can’t continue across the Pacific, and we need to return to Melbourne."

The collective frustration of those on board was palpable as we were already a few hours into the flight.

As we made our way back to Melbourne the next announcement was to not be alarmed as the plane dumped fuel via an outlet in the wing in preparation for a safe emergency landing.

It lasted 45-minutes, was fascinating to watch, and I couldn’t help but think of how much fuel prices are, and how costly this whole operation was, not to mention the environmental impact. Yet to preserve the safety of everyone on board, and the viability of the plane, the only option was to jettison it.

It reminded me of how with life things often don’t go to plan, and to preserve the viability of our mental health and personal well-being, sometimes we have to ditch really robust, solid strategies and plans that are “good” to maintain our own viability. Especially when we are a personal brand.

The quality of them is irrelevant. The point is, sometimes life itself is just. so. much.

And occasionally things need to be jettisoned to clear the way for a clean landing, or a calm mind and life.

An assessment of what’s important, without judgment, is so important. Recalibration where necessary, and sometimes even the jettison of something of significant value.

To create the space required to thrive as people in our daily life, or respond to unforeseen incidents.

And to give ourselves the grace to know regardless of the speedbumps or temporary lapses, it's all going to be ok. 

I had several opportunities to do this over the last month – as I experienced the highest of highs, both personally and professionally which made me want to forget and disengage from the “every day” and just “be in the moment” – which was beyond amazing, and surpassed my wildest dreams, actually.

Among many, many extraordinary experiences were being hosted as a special guest at Google HQ in New York. 




And dancing my heart out to my favourite artist of all-time Lauryn Hill, in Central Park NYC along with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, at the Global Citizen Festival which was an out-of-this-world-experience. 

Yet at the same time, these were book-ended (no pun intended) by a myriad of logistical challenges, especially on the personal front and also with my passion project, getting my book out into the world. Both before and after my epic international experience. And family life as well, with it's inherent emotional ups and downs. 

My head was so full, my life so busy – so many pressing needs, on so many fronts, it would be hard under the "old way of doing things" for marketing to get a look in!

I am just SO SO grateful I set the bar super low when it comes to my own personal brand and marketing. Something I’ve found has enabled me to go the distance, and so it’s what I advocate for my clients too.

It’s why I say you need a simple system, so you're not at the mercy of your time and availability - because for all of us, life happens. And it's unpredictable. 

It's also why I say that if your basic marketing system takes you more than an hour a week, it’s not sustainable. And that's regardless of whether you’re a CEO, global entrepreneur with a team, solopreneur, B2B professional building your brand – even a marketing agency!

Everyone is building a brand to support either a business or a career.

The only way it will go the distance is if it’s strategic, simple and sustainable.

STRATEGIC – so it helps your business
It aligns with and moves your forward to your business goals.

SIMPLE – so you actually do it.
Don’t have to do mental gymnastics or go into analysis paralysis, figuring out what to do, or feeling overwhelmed.

SUSTAINABLE – so you truly enjoy it
If it’s a drag, or a chore – or feels hard – You. Just. Won’t. do. It.

Trust me – it’s not just you – this is from my experience of working with thousands of entrepreneurs, B2B professionals, business owners, even marketers!

One final word – even when you do have that beautiful system in place that’s strategic, simple and sustainable.....On top of that you need to give yourself even more grace, and space.

Consistency is your trump card.

And you don’t lose your consistency if you fall off the horse for a little bit. That’s called life.

And you need to give yourself grace and space for that. 

You only lose consistency it if you fall off your horse and then feel like it’s too much or too hard to get back on the horse, so you just let the horse ride off into the sunset. 

This is why you need a co-operative, patient horse - which in this context is a brand building system that's aligned to your strengths, interests, and is super-duper simple – that makes it super-duper do-able for you to “get back on the horse”, even when you’re not feeling it. 

A simple system that actually energises you – not depletes you.

This is a long-term journey, not a short-term sprint.

And countless studies demonstrate that brand building yields way higher ROI than in times of economic boom. But the key is to be visible, clear on what you want to be known for, in a way that feels good to you. 

If you need help working out what your game-plan is, what your horse is, and how to dial into the “one thing” you can do in an hour or less a week, that will help your business, is easy to do and you will enjoy doing – I can help you.

The Marketing Me Experience does just that, in a small, supportive and intimate group of up to 8 people where you are nurtured, supported, held and encouraged for 6 weeks and I will personally work with you to get your marketing set up in a simple, strategic and sustainable way.

With so much individual and personal support, tailoring the experience to your current situation and immediate business objectives. 

Within 6 weeks you will be feeling clear and confident about how you are connecting with clients and growing your community, and by the end of our time together you not only have a clear plan, you're actually implementing it!

What a way to end the year! And to begin the new one!

So send an email if you'd like more details and to grab one of these spots for my final cohort of the year!

The world needs your positive, inspiring message now more than ever – THIS is the marketing that’s working right now to build authentic connections and influence.

So start Simple, be Strategic, and make it Sustainable.

Allow the power of consistency to work FOR you (like compound interest) and do a lot of the heavy lifting as you build your visibility and set your business up for what's to come in 2024.

Most people don't get started or aren’t consistent and so don’t get to experience this – but know that the opportunity is yours for the taking 😊

Love to hear your thoughts too so feel free to DM me and share your own observations, insights and questions with me too.

******
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nina Christian is a Marketing Futurist & Global Marketing Mentor who helps people do their marketing in a more human way. 

She is a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM), Life Member and Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute & AMI State Chair (Vic) and for 20 years was director of Braveda (Winner, Best Marketing Agency, Australian Marketing Excellence Awards).

Several years ago Nina saw the world of marketing shifting – this time as people became their own brands.  With this, she created a new business as a thought leader, combining her expertise in brand building with personal positioning, resulting in a breakthrough praxis known as Marketing Me™.

She has a knack for simplifying the complex which comes from being a hands-on mum to five children, and uses this to turn time-sucking activities into easy-to-follow systems and processes that make a lot of sense and get outcomes fast.

There are different ways to work with Nina based on your situation and organisation size - with all of them you'll see rapid transformation and tangible outcomes fast. Book a chat with Nina here.