Lifestyle Design - Telling Your Story
photo by Julien Harneis
One thing I have noticed over the last few weeks giving presentations to people looking for jobs and looking to start their own business is that many of them truly do not know who they are. They are looking for something right now, but when asked what they want to do they say “anything” or “just something.” For business owners I have also seen a lack of passion, with responses to “strike it rich” or “stop working.”
I always ask these people their stories.
Who are you? And does who you are relate to what you are about to do?
I know this economy is tough, and even in a good economy, decisions are tough to make, no bones about it. Sometimes we need to take the customer service job to keep the lights on, but you should always be looking for something more, something bigger that fulfills your life purpose. I had the opportunity to interview John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing for an upcoming issue of the Personal Branding Magazine, and he said that we should always be building our own company. The way he said it though, sounded if that we should always be creating our own story. Something that we can build and snowball to further not only our careers, but our lives.
Some of the best stories that I have ever heard have come from hanging out on Monday night with my homeless friends at Rock For Hunger. The stories they tell lead you to believe they had great intentions but fell on bad luck, or hard times. My task is to turn that story into something that they can build upon, create another chapter and prosper with.
In the spirit of story telling to define our lives and our lifestyles, here is a video I shot last week that details the 3 questions I ask when consulting young entrepreneurs, musicians and others looking to market themselves.
The 3 questions are
- Who are you?
- Who do you want to be?
- How do you want to be introduced?
If you can answer questions 1 and 2, you can build a road map to get there. If you take action on that road map, you create your introduction. All three together form your story and help design your life.
So, let’s chatter. Who are you, who do you want to be and how do you want people to introduce you? Let’s share some stories in the comments and if you need some guidance, let’s work together to build it.
-Greg Rollett
Rockin’ post Greg! This is a great message and a great video. I agree with you that I think too many Gen Y’s don’t know (or maybe haven’t decided) on their goal, their target, and so we’re sort of just drifting until we find that. But once you set your sights on what you want to become you’re absolutely right—building that story and telling it are key.
My old roommate Paul is still the best storyteller I know—and coincidentally the most prolific entrepreneurial guy I know too. Leadership requires you to be a great storyteller—to capture people’s imaginations and get them to support and follow you anywhere—and it’s a great skill to foster. Cheers
Smart observations, Greg. I’ve been struggling with this idea for a couple of years and only now are ethereal images in my head about what I want to do and who I want to be starting to establish themselves as concrete ideas.
What you said about building a story is absolutely true, you have to know what you want to be what you want and you have to be what you want to have a story. Thanks!
That’s great Kristin. It’s never too late to find these things out as long as you eventually do! It’s great for young people to get a grip on this early in their life, but it’s just as eye opening to see veteran workers really develop who they want to be and cultivate a story, its really powerful stuff. Good luck creating your own!
Awesome video, Greg. I honestly don’t think I’ve perfected the image of how I want people to introduce me, so that’s something I need to keep working on. I’ve got a basic idea I guess, but not quite there yet. Thanks for posting this, you’ve given me something to think over for the rest of the day!
@Nate - yea its interesting to think about and for the longest time, my friends and family just had no idea what I was up to. Intros were pretty awkward. It’s great having a clear purpose and direction while still having some diverse projects. I have finally aligned my projects with my core influences and everything else is falling into place.
Let me know how it goes for you, I think you have some great things on tap.
Good points. I think this is one of the difficulties I have with marketing myself. I don’t really know what it is I’m doing. I’m constantly doing several different things, often in very unrelated fields… Maybe I could make this kind of versatility part of my personal brand, but I’m not sure if that can work.
I think you have some valid points there. I think many of us wear multiple hats and putting them under 1 umbrella is tough. My next post is going to focus on this more, but what worked for me was defining who I was and what I wanted my projects/businesses to look like and the values I wanted them to have. When I felt comfortable with that, it becomes easy to build projects that align with your beliefs. Thanks for commenting Shane.
Very potent questions. Using the power of goal setting, written plans, affirmations, visualization, etc can all help you to build a powerful road map to get to who you want to be.
Thanks Greg.
Thanks for dropping by Gordie - now that we know the questions, we have to answer them. It’s the action that makes you a rock star!
going to school with a graphic design degree, i definitely knew/heard all about personal branding. i think it’s hard in your twenties as people struggle to find out who they are and what they want. 4 years out of college and i’m still not sure. i have a general sense of ‘what i want’. who i am is an artist, pure and simple. but how that manifests in my life or career wise is kind of beyond me.. i’ve struggled with not wanting to waste my life in a 9 to 5. i want to be more influential and help people than that. just not sure how to go about it in a creative way.. yet. i’ll be volunteering in india next year then moving abroad to asia. hoping my ‘inner compass’ will help make sense of everything eventually.. it’s sort of been my theory that it’s not about who you want to be, but who you already ARE, and just trying to find your intuition and inner passions to get there/make it happen.
I think your comment is the reason we need to be asking these questions. Even though professions and job titles may change, core values do not. Your beliefs and what you stand for will always be a part of who you are.
Let us know how your trip to India goes and if you want to guest post about the adventure, I think that would be awesome. Best of luck!
Thanks for sharing! In law school I would ask myself “Who are you, and where are you going?” as a way of focusing my goals and priorities. Your questions take that dialogue one step further.
I’ve been developing interview questions for local friends on the verge and mentors in Austin that I admire. Your three definitely will get added to that list. Thanks!
You find out who you really are when you ask yourself questions. You learn to find yourself and set a road to follow. Awesome post Greg
Hey Greg, great post and great blog.
I agree that once you know who you are and who you want to be it’s easier to get there. I did it multiple times when my parents or friends told me I couldn’t because I had no school and nothing else. Today they don’t tell me these things anymore, or at least a lot less. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Greg!
I enjoyed the context of “who I am” in terms of “branding”, “telling my story”. And momentarily, I was saddened about how I’m almost 50 years old and all this time, I never had a story, until now, how depressing.
Then, I thought back a couple of decades ago, of me when I was younger and I had ambitions. I had done just what you said, I was “my story”, I loved the story and being identified as “my story” and once I achieved them - I had plateaued.
I had lost track and become confused, thinking that I’ve spent my past 50 years, not knowing who I am - but that isn’t the case at all!
My story has changed - a few times! The times were different, my beliefs were different, who I was - was different. Now, I am born again! I see the world differently and for, about the 5th time, and with this newness comes the new story.
I think this quote is right on target A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
Muhammad Ali