Life can wear you out and become stale. You can feel like you’re going through the motions and getting nowhere fast. At this point, it’s time to make a change, gentlemen. This may mean a new career, lifestyle, passion, or relationship—you should grab the bull by the horns and reinvent yourself.
Who is that person you’ve always wanted to be? Sure, a huge life change like this can seem daunting, but you can do it regardless of your age or stage of life. The first step to making it happen is believing in yourself, whether starting fresh in your thirties, changing up careers in your forties, or finding a new purpose in your fifties or sixties.
Besides believing in yourself, realize that you are representing a brand—your personal brand. Everybody has one. We, as individuals, make conscious and subconscious decisions about the brand we present to the outside world. So, what I want you to do is go to the mirror and take a look at yourself. What do you think of the brand that you are representing and presenting? Are you happy with it?
Even if you’re not reinventing yourself, we all need to periodically tweak and modify our personal brand to elevate it a notch or two. For instance, as we mature and grow personally and professionally, we must continuously adjust and analyze our image and brand. Think of it like this: You’re climbing the corporate ladder and moving up. If your image is not adjusting or climbing with you, you will be at risk of not receiving promotions. Even relationships could pass you by.
Case in point: how many of you dressed like crap in college? I know I get it; I was there. I was a complete train wreck and didn’t know whether or not I wanted to dress like a dirty hippie or keep it real. I lived in a completely dirty crap-hole with five other guys, and my car was beat up with all kinds of trash and junk tossed in it. But what can you expect during that phase of life? Sound familiar?
Here’s the deal. Once I graduated and entered the real world, I quickly realized that my image needed a serious overhaul. If I were to be taken seriously and succeed in life, I needed to project success to obtain success. I may not have known exactly what success looked like, but I knew it didn’t look like a dirty hippie in a filthy teal car.
So, what about you? Are you still living, dressing, and driving like a college kid? Your income and status levels may have increased, but you’re stuck in a personal brand rut. So my question to you is: what will you do about it? Bingo! That is right. You will make the needed personal brand modifications to ensure that you consistently and constantly present the brand of success. The way that we’re going to do it is to break the personal brand down into four specific categories.
First, you need to determine what well-groomed means to you. Then, develop a grooming regimen and execute it regularly. Maybe you’ve been growing a big, bushy goatee or even growing your hair out. Maybe you’ve had the same old, tired-ass hairstyle for the past ten years. Either way, remember that your hairstyle, like clothing, can go out of style. You need to ensure you’re changing it to be viewed as current. People will pay more attention to you and take your view more seriously with the proper grooming.
Alright, gentlemen, if you were rocking a big, bushy, out-of-control beard, guess what? You may love it, and chicks might love it, but the personal brand that you are presenting may send the message that you’re a little bit sloppy and possibly a slacker. Gentlemen, you’re growing, so your grooming regimen must also grow. If your grooming habits don’t represent your brand, you must fix them.
Your wardrobe is a direct extension of your brand. Think of it like pretty packaging. What you wear, the colors you wear, how your clothes fit, and your body are all part of the equation. After you’ve built the foundation of your wardrobe, you should consider investing in higher-quality clothing and having certain items tailored to fit you better.
Now, I’m not saying just run out and spend a bunch of money on expensive clothes or a bunch of logos or labels. Replace and upgrade items piece by piece. Once you start getting into higher-quality clothing, you will observe a significant difference. The fabric is much nicer, softer, and more luxurious, and the construction is also better. A lot of times, the fit has been perfected. Bottom line: Your wardrobe definitely is part of your brand.
Your domicile is your house, apartment, condo, crib, whatever you call it. It’s where you live, but more specifically, HOW you live. How you live is definitely part of the brand equation, and I get it. When you’re first starting out, you’re moving in and up. You might have several roommates with a hand-me-down couch, and you’re sleeping on a futon that smells like a foot and has stains. Right? But then you start doing a little better and only have one roommate. Someday, just maybe, you might have a beautiful place of your own. Well, here’s the deal.
It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment or castle — if somebody walks in and it’s a filthy, dirty, and stinky mess, your personal brand execution is over. You have failed. Your domicile needs to be clutter-free, decorated, and taken care of. A man’s house is his castle. Make sure that yours looks appropriate because it definitely speaks volumes about you. I firmly believe that if you live in clutter, confusion, and chaos, the rest of your life will be that way, too, metaphorically speaking.
What you drive speaks volumes about your brand. Now I know that when you’re starting off and don’t have much money, you may be driving a clunker like I did. When you upgrade, you must decide what car you will drive to represent your brand. The epitome of success was a Corvette because I absolutely loved my little red Matchbox Corvette when I was six years old. However, the car’s brand is not the most important aspect. The most important aspect is how you maintain your car. Is it clean on the outside and inside? Is it free of trash and clutter? Those are the important parts of this part of your brand.
Reinventing yourself takes time, and it won’t happen overnight. Start believing in yourself, then update and/or upgrade your brand. These two steps are vital at the beginning of your journey and make all the difference in your success. Then, break down your big goals into smaller objectives to increase your chances of success. Also, reward yourself as you achieve these objectives to keep yourself motivated. Keep working through your reinvention process — life is too short not to be all you want.
