5 Lessons from teaching personal branding classes for five years

Looking back on my career, I would say my greatest contribution to the business world is a book I wrote called KNOWN. The choice is simple because nearly every week, I get a note from somebody telling me this book on personal branding changed their life or business. It’s rewarding to see that my book is even being used as a textbook in universities! But even with the framework of the book, I saw that some people were still getting stuck. So I started teaching personal branding classes, and anyone can sign up for this course.

Over hundreds of hours of instruction, I’ve learned a few things myself. Here are five lessons I’ve learned from teaching these personal branding classes:

1. The hardest part

Step one in the process is defining what you want to be known for, which is harder than it seems!

In my personal branding classes, I call this defining your “sustainable interest.” This is different from a hobby, a passion, or a dream. It is the intersection of your talents with a need in the world.

People tend to get stuck in these ways:

Over-thinking it.

You’re never going to get it right at the beginning. You just need to take your best shot and follow the plan…