Should my social media be ME 👨🏻 (personal brand), or should it be my COMPANY 🏢 (corporate brand)?
Short answer: Both. But who has time for that?
And we will play the game, “If you could ONLY pick ONE…which would you pick?” Well, if I could only pick one…I’d pick a personal brand all day.
Let’s take an example: Jocko Willink.
Here’s the short version of the rise of Jocko’s brand:
Jocko was a Navy SEAL…
Jocko started a consulting company…
Jocko wrote a book…
Jocko was interviewed by Tim Ferris, Joe Rogan, etc…
Jocko blew up and capitalized with social media…
Jocko grew a MASSIVE personal brand…
In turn, Jocko’s consulting company blew up…
Then, he used his notoriety to launch Jocko Fuel, Jocko Publishing, Origin Clothing, etc., to name a few.
If you dive deeper, you’ll see that every brand he owns has a social media presence. But NONE of them come close to his personal brand. And it doesn’t matter what he starts; it’s successful because of his personal brand. He could launch Jocko teeth whitening tomorrow, and it would crush it!
So here’s the way to look at a personal brand: It’s FIRE 🔥
And the market(s) (where you earn money) are logs 🪵
Some of us have a candle… 🕯️
Some of us have a torch… 🔥
Some of us (Jocko) have a fireball from outer space… ☄️
Don’t get lost in my metaphor, but…
The size of our fire (personal brand following) determines how many logs we can burn (money we can make).
You can point this fire anywhere and burn almost any log if your fire is strong enough.
So I say… Go personal brand. And if you have time or can hire it out, keep a minimal corporate social media presence.
Takeaways:
If you have the time/money… build both but focus on your personal brand
A solid personal brand opens you up to a lot of opportunities
Don’t forget to build the business!! A personal brand is good at starting fires, but awesome service and good leadership keep the fire going.
Building the Human:
Chasing Mental Acuity
I’ve been in the health/fitness industry for a long time, and I’ve noticed something over the last few years… Every product or method is promising “mental acuity” …
Red light therapy… mental acuity
Cold plunge… mental acuity
Sauna… mental acuity
Ketones… mental acuity
New special coffee… mental acuity
Supplement you don’t need… mental acuity
Now, I’m not saying these things DON’T improve mental acuity. I am saying that it’s interesting to see the marketing of products lead with mental acuity. This is not the norm from days past.
Perhaps we all feel a little less sharp?
My two cents: We are getting dumber. Our phones have shrunk our attention spans to seconds. We can’t concentrate. We avoid deep & challenging work.
Opal (a product I happily recommend with no kickbacks) put together an ad that hits hard. The algorithms run away with our brains, and we barely stand a chance.
So, if you are seeking mental clarity, try this…
Exercise near daily, with a few days being vigorous/high-intensity
Spend less time on social media (use Opal)
Try an activity that requires focus – Reading, writing, meditation, etc
Try it for 7 days, that’s it. That may be the only brain upgrade you need.
Try Harder:
The Try Harder LAWS
‘TRY HARDER’ can easily be misinterpreted. Let me clear it up with the TRY HARDER Laws…
LAW #1 – To TRY HARDER, you need to make an attempt in which failure is unreasonable. Plan and prepare to a level that will make failure very unlikely.
LAW #2 – TRY HARDER in each of the 6 pillars: finances, spiritual life, health/fitness, relationships, business, and personal life.
LAW #3 – When TRYING HARDER, never do so to the detriment of another pillar. To TRY HARDER is to span effort across your life and not max it out in any one pillar.
Takeaway?
Don’t hear what I’m not saying.
Don’t use the TRY HARDER motto to burn down any part of your life.