I’ve been reminded of elements of my “personal brand” recently. These aren’t unique or even original. But, I knitted together my own thoughts and truths into a framework of living…a brand. So far, in its second year, much hasn’t changed – which tells me it’s at the right level.
Large Corporations might need to create new objectives each year to keep their puppets motivated and focused on making shareholders money. But, my life isn’t that complicated. While change is a constant, I believe it makes sense to have some fundamental truths and beliefs which, while open to discussion and learning that might evolve or eradicate them, are nonetheless relatively constant compared to other daily activities or ongoing challenges.
When I first created my “brand,” I printed them and tacked them to the wall in my home office. I then surrounded my wall clock and creative space with quotes, cards, photographs, letters, or other knick-knacks that meant something special to me. A letter from a friend during a tough time in my recent past; a birthday card from my mom, who died in 2013; a motivating front bulletin cover from Broadway UMC. These kept me grounded, motivated me, and called me to be myself and live fully.
While change is a constant, I also believe being flexible and “living in the grey” of life means changing things up a little, even if just to tell a story a little differently to keep things interesting. (I think I learned this at Broadway UMC, where we are often playing with certain elements of the service or their flow together…)
Turning that soft belief into action is something I owe to my partner Brandon. As a couple getting married in September, we have a lot of change going on – along with continuing to get to know each other and build a life together as a couple. I’m learning more about myself through the process, and at times, this process of living in harmony with someone tests my belief systems or lenses through which I see the world.
And that is a good and healthy thing, in my opinion.
So, being a little more right brained and creative, instead of finding more cards, letters, photos to tell my story or communication a vision…we went with magazine and newsprint clippings. Words, phrases, advertisements, tag lines, photos…all is fair game. We kept things very high level, without timeframes or project plans. It’s more conceptual, more spirit-led perhaps, and open to more interpretation and depth or difference of perception.
And it’s pretty fun to put together.
These are the three panels in my vision board. It’s less “social justice” focused, and more personal – about passions, hobbies, high level motivation with some directional goals. So, it’s “home” now at the office for a couple years until we shake it up again sometime…
Now, I think Brandon should teach “Vision Boarding” as a hands-on workshop at Trade School Indianapolis. If you agree, please comment on this post so we can encourage Brandon to give it some consideration!
