We all want to become more authentic and true to ourselves.  When searching for a career or calling use these techniques adapted from the movie and book to help you find it.

Eat

Find pleasure in your craft and journey.

Nourish your soul with things you find pleasurable.  What things move you and create a positive emotional reaction?

Research and shadow someone in your desired field.  Just like when you’re eating something new, try it to see if you like it.

Fill your mind and soul with new experiences.

Pray

Go inward and still your mind.  Begin writing about your ideal career situation.

Envision it and don’t censor your writing.  Let it flow and you’ll soon see patterns emerging.

Distract yourself from stress by listening to a meditation or soothing music.

Get a massage, and feel tension melt away while opening your mind and heart to new inspiration.

Pray on it – if it comforts you.

Love

Love the process

Know that you’re not just searching for a career, you’re looking for yourself.

Don’t pass negative judgments on your ideas.  Say yes to them and think them through.  Give them a chance to develop.

Love yourself unconditionally and surround yourself with loving and supportive people.

You don’t have to travel across the globe to find yourself.  You just have to be present, open and welcoming when you decide to show up.  Embrace your positive emotions whenever they are present and make note of any patterns that emerge.  Such as, “I get so excited talking to people about how to market themselves better” or “I love making floral arrangements and personalizing them for others.”  When these patterns and positive emotions occur they mean you’re on the right track.

Leading the discussion, was “America’s Marketing Motivator”, Kathy McAfee and Image Consultant, Mallory Mason.  They led a well-rounded discussion on the importance of managing your brand from the inside and out.  It was a lively and intimate experience on how we create, sustain, and market our personal brands.  Including the biggest lesson of all — if you don’t manage your personal brand, others will do it for you by running with their first impressions and judgments.

Additionally, it is extremely important to be consistent with your brand instead of being scattered.  Many people go to conferences and have multiple business cards for each of their businesses and interests.  What this does is confuse people and dilutes your brand.  Instead you must find a common thread and define your brand handle.  In 2 or 3 words, sum up your brand.  For Kathy McAfee, it’s “America’s Marketing Motivator”, for a participant who was an executive assistant it was “The Go To Person.”  For me, it is “Coach’m Up Boni” because I empower others to rise up from their current situations to reach higher levels of success.  What is your brand handle?

Finally what I took away from this wonderful event, in addition to the great women I networked with, was the importance to be authentic.  Don’t compromise your values for others because when you are authentic, you build trust in your personal brand.  I am excited to be a panelist at Xcel, Inc’s next networking event in August on the topic of “Owning your Career.”  You can bet that I will have my brand handle ready and my personal brand in my soul.

First take an inventory of your skills — all of them.     Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle.  On the left-hand side title it “Hard Skills”; on the right-hand side title it “Soft Skills.”  Both are important aspects of your overall value in the marketplace.  Hard skills represent easily transferable, tangible, and technical skills.  For example, your education, computer skills, certifications, designations, mathematical ability, software skills, statistical analysis, sales forecasting etc.  Soft skills are equally important but harder to measure because they are intangible and subjective such as being a leader, dependable, optimistic, patient, methodical, collaborative, persistent, diligent, competitive, honest, etc.

So now without censoring yourself write down what all of your skills are.

Next make a separate list of who you respect and admire.  They can be from the present or the past, from your family or from history.  This helps you understand who you are and  the traits you admire in yourself.

Once you determine whatand who you value, I want you to spend some time asking yourself why?  Work through this question and you’ll be surprised at what comes to the surface.

You need to be able to define your value for yourself and embrace it before you can market yourself to others.

Many of us experience a crippling fear or anxiety when venturing into the unknown.  For some of us, it’s applying for a promotion or a new job.  For others, it’s starting your own business and putting yourself out there.  What should you do when faced with this?  Get out of your head!  That’s right, stop thinking about the problem and instead listen to your body.

The moment you feel the fear, analyze where it’s sitting.  Is it an ache in your head, a rock in the pit of your stomach, or does it feel more like butterflies?  Is your heart racing? Are your shoulders tensing up, or is your stomach tightened? Do you feel faint?  Stay with the feeling even though its uncomfortable because in a few moments, you will start to calm down.  It will pass like a wave and you will realize that the fear was not as big as your mind played it up to be.

Homework: Begin to break down your fears and have a reality check. On a piece of paper, start listing your fears when it comes to your career or business.  Get them out on paper and they begin to lose strength and power over you.  Afterward, write a few action steps that you can take to alleviate some of these fears.  Don’t make them too extravagent because then you won’t implement them.  Make them simple and attainable.  If you need to ask for help on a specific problem, determine who that should be.