Back in March, I did a survey and you told me that you wanted more free stuff. Since then I've obliged every month with a free conference call class -- the most recent of which covered Your Personal Brand. Here's a link to the recording:



Now, as someone recently said to me on the phone, we can make this easy or we can make this hard.

And while I usually choose easy -- because that often means using my strengths and existing in the effortless part of The Zone -- today I'm choosing hard.

I know.

Easy would be writing a blog post about personal branding using the outline I created for the class because 1.) I got all that stuff prepped and ready, 2.) I could write on autopilot and then go take a walk, and 3.) the resulting post would probably be widely read across the internet due to the subject matter, leading more people to my site, increasing my traffic and making me a transitory niche celebrity.

But that potentially well-read post would be derivative. There wouldn't be anything new in it. Nothing that would make anyone who listened to the class sit up and say, "Whoa!"

Which is what I endeavor to do. People tell me they enjoy reading what I write because I take things they already know and make it thought-provoking. I help people look at things in a new way, I'm told.

Guess you could say that's part of my personal brand.

So, to be true to my brand -- thought-provoking, insightful, useful -- I have to choose hard over easy today.

Your personal brand -- which really boils down to the value you bring to others plus your integrity -- may, sometimes, require you to choose hard, too. In those moments when easy is in direct conflict with what you stand for. And what you want to do.

And who you want to be.

Listen to the class. Do the exercises. Understand your personal brand, then make sure that you are using what you've learned consistently -- in your resume, in job interviews, in your blog posts, across social media, in your life. And watch as your life opens up to you.

Because being conscious of your own personal brand is really about living in alignment with your integrity and what's best about you. And when you're truly in alignment that way, life becomes easy.

Except in those instances when you choose hard. Which, come to think of it, is really quite easy.

Completely personal note. Some may remember December's post Make Mine A Whopper where I disclosed that I'd been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Good news -- got the all clear this week. Thanks to all of you who have kept me and my health in your thoughts and prayers. Your powerful support was integral to my recovery. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.