Package Your Genius Personal Branding Podcast

PYG 118: Your martyrdom is no excuse

Harlem
BY LANGSTON HUGHES
 
 
What happens to a dream deferred?
 
      Does it dry up
      like a raisin in the sun?
      Or fester like a sore—
      And then run?
      Does it stink like rotten meat?
      Or crust and sugar over—
      like a syrupy sweet?
 
      Maybe it just sags
      like a heavy load.
 
      Or does it explode?
 
 

PYG 117: How you show up when you want to WIN

How do you show up when you come to win?
 
For some reason, we all know how to prioritize our work assignments, our money, our kids, even our health - but when we think of our gifts we go blank.
 
We get ourselves out of bed and out of the house every day, but suddenly can't figure out how to motivate ourselves to get started.
 
We multitask, manage multiple calendars and juggle conflicting schedules for our teams and families, but we can't figure out how to find the time to make our dreams happen.
 
We put together scrum boards and complex project flowcharts, but when it comes to our gifts, we can't figure out the first step to take.
 
But we need to attack our gifts with the same energy we bring to the places we already excel.
 
Look at what you're doing well, where you're winning, what you're getting right.
 
What are your typical patterns?
 
How do you show up when you're ready to win?
 
For example, one of the things I feel like I am getting right is cultivating my children. So when I look at how I move and the energy I bring to cultivating my kids, I notice I do a few things every single year.
 
I do a few things:
 
1. Challenge the kids and raise the bar and keep standards high. So often we limit ourselves so I try to push them further than they think they can go so they can understand their own capabilities and learn not to limit themselves.
 
2. I cultivate them regularly. I try to find seasonal activities - classes, camps, lessons for them to take and try. I want them to get used to doing and trying new things. I want them to get accustomed to being engaged individuals who are connected to their personal talents and their larger society.
 
3. I personally keep learning -  I seek out books, articles, podcasts and other ways to learn how to be a better parent and guide.
 
4. I find partners who can help me take them to the next level. I know I don't know everything, so I look for teachers and instructors who can inspire them and mentor them generally or around a specific focus area.
 
This is how I show up when I come to win. And because these are my kids and I only get one shot at raising them, showing up to win is non-negotiable. And as such, it's become second nature to me. And because it's second nature to me, I see it as proof that I can build a success strategy for any domain of my life.
 
As can you.
 
If you are successful in any area of your life, which I know you are as a high achiever who listens to this podcast, you have the power to dissect your own personal recipe for success.
 
When you show up to win, how do you move?
When you show up to win, what is your formula to get results? When you show up to win, how do you motivate yourself to get things done?
When you show up to win, how do you organize your time?
When you show up to win, how do you find the money to invest when you need more resources?
 
So with that solutions-oriented, strategic mind, I want you to think through how you can approach your gifts, your calling.
 
Don't just use your organizational skills, your strategic mind, your resourcefulness and creativity to accomplish your tasks at work - use those skills to get your own stuff done, too!
 
You've got to figure out how to show up FOR YOU the same way you show up for your job or your clients.
 
When it comes to you, you've got to figure out how to show up to win.

PYG 116: Callings call

Why does it even matter whether or not you package your genius?
 
Who cares if you explore what you're meant to do?
 
What difference does it make if you don't share your genius with others?
 
Those are the questions I want to explore with you today. Because before I can make the case that you should package your genius, you should first understand what's at stake if you don't.
 
I believe the mandate of being human - what's written in our genetic code or whatever makes us homo sapiens vs some other species - is to find what we were put on this Earth to do. Your mandate as a human is to fulfill the assignment and complete the mission for your specific journey, your specific life.
 
That is what I whole-heartedly believe.
 
But if we're honest with ourselves, our life missions have likely been evident since childhood or adolescence. We've heard the call. But how many of us answered and chose to walk down the path our calling was leading us to?
 
I can remember being a student in middle school and then again in high school. I loved my English classes. My classmates and teachers were all convinced that one day I'd be a famous, important writer whose words would touch millions of people.
 
Somewhere along the way, I bought into the idea of "the starving artist" and decided I couldn't be a successful writer without starving first. So while I always knew that I was sent here to write, for years I didn't do it.
 
Can I tell you, that despite my successes as a PR person and a coach, until I finally sat down and wrote Package Your Genius I didn't feel at home in my success? There was always this lingering static - I can't quite describe it - but it was like a cloud hanging over me. And it was as if the cloud was saying "I mean, this is nice and everything...but when are you going to write your book????" As if nothing else I'd done mattered for real.
 
And then once I got that book out there, just like that, the dissonance cleared. The cloud passed.
 
Now, I will be honest. The dissonance is definitely back. But this time I'm crystal clear on why. I know I have more books to write. I know I have more messages to leave this planet while I still have an Earthly vessel that can help me accomplish what I'm here to do in this realm.
 
Callings call.
 
So expect it to feel a little uncomfortable when you're not picking up the phone.
 
It's like that feeling that you forgot to do something important, but you can't quite put your finger on what that something is. Or when you make out your list for the store, and you go and you shop, but you know there's something you forgot - even though you got every single thing on the list - something is still missing?
 
It's like that.
 
And answering the call is the opposite. Instead, it's the feeling of a stocked pantry, or of all the bills being paid, or all the doctor's appointments scheduled - the feeling that nothing is falling through the cracks.
 
But when you willingly deny yourself the opportunity to answer the call or, to use my term, "package your genius" you create an internal sense of restlessness that will haunt you.
 
And that restlessness will continue to haunt you until you honor - in some way - what you were put here to do.
 
Restless.
Unsettled.
Uneasy.
 
Until you pick up, you may not be able to put your finger on it, but you'll always get the sense that SOMETHING is missing.
 
 
***
 
Got dissonance? I would love to help you clear it.
Check out Package Your Genius if you haven't read it yet.
Pick up the companion workbook - a tool I made to help you think through the questions that can help you get closer.
 
If you need help remembering how to answer the call, I'd be honored to support you this fall in Package Your Genius Academy. Visit the site to learn more and apply.
 
 

PYG 115: Don't waste your raw materials

If I handed you the deed to the land that contained a diamond mine, how would you feel? Maybe you'd feel excited thinking about your good fortune and your riches, but after you thought about it, would you know what to do with it? Would not knowing overwhelm you? Would it make you walk away?
 
No way.
 
You'd do some research, call an expert, and figure out what one does with a valuable diamond mine. You'd figure out who has the equipment to extract the diamond, which people had the expertise to get it out, what the process is to get it up to commercial standards, and who the best buyers are for your specific type of diamond.
 
You wouldn't throw up your hands and walk away just because you don't have the technical know-how to get these diamonds out of the ground, when you know they're valuable and people want them.
 
But that's exactly what most of us are doing with our gifts.
 
We've all got raw materials, but the problem is we don't know how to refine what we have, we don't have the equipment to extract it, and we're unfamiliar with the process of bringing our raw materials to market.
 
So we make excuses for not taking the first step.
We proclaim to be too busy, but when we find ourselves with extra time, we don't do it.
We say we don't know how to get started, as if that's a good excuse.
We console ourselves with stories - we're not business-minded, we're not great with computers, we're terrible salespeople, we're bad with software.
 
But no one who is business minded, great with computers, great at sales or software was as good as they are today on the first day they tried it. And most people figure out what they need to know - just enough of what they need to know - in order to get the train moving.
 
Which is what you need to do.
 
It's what I need to do, because I'm guilty too.
 
The days keep passing. The weeks, months, and years are all adding up, and it's not getting any easier to be a beginner.
 
So today's as good a day as any to start. Think of a small way to get started - a small way to tackle what mentally feels like a bigger task than it likely is.
 
For me, it's the book about how parents and teachers can use my work to support the talents of kids. I've had this book concept on my mind and heart for over a year, so practically, how can I make it happen?
 
First, I can make a top level outline of my chapters, which I've done.
Next, I can outline my subtopics for each chapter which I've yet to do.
Then I can write a subtopic each week until they're all done.
 
Easy.
 
Notice that I didn't get into the weeds of how I'll manage structuring the book, getting it edited, published and marketed yet because all of that is irrelevant right now. I need to create some momentum first so I can feel what it's like to be moving in this direction. I need to get some small personal wins first and prove to myself that I can finish it before I even need to clutter my mind with more to dos.
 
But this is what most of us do. We get so overwhelmed thinking about the book marketing that we don't even take the time to get still and write. Or we think about where we'll find office space before we have a stable block of customers. We're worrying about things too far in the distance instead of doing what we can do now.
 
So do what you can do.
 
If you've been saying you're writing a book, make an outline and write a few chapters.
 
If you've been saying you want to start a business, land yourself a handful of clients and get into a rhythm to see how you like it. Business may not even be for you. But you'll never know until you have a taste of it.
 
If you've been talking about starting a podcast, record three episodes then figure out the rest. Trust me, all of it is a mere google search away.
 
Don't be afraid of being a beginner. But don't you dare walk away from a diamond mine because you don't know how to extract the gems out of the ground.
 
Don't be afraid to do a little on how to make your dream happen. Think of the payoff.
 
***
 
Mining and refining raw materials is what I do. It's my passion to help you extract the gleaming gems that I know are inside of you and help get them ready for the marketplace.
 
If you know you have valuable gifts inside you, but you are unclear on all of the how - how do I figure out what to focus on, how do I describe it to people, what do I charge - you NEED to get yourself into our visibility academy where we can work on it together.
 
Enrollment is open now for the academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.
 
 

PYG 114: Alternate Routes

Sometimes you have to take a different route to get where you're trying to go.
And while you may not like the idea of alternate routes - especially if you're a recovering perfectionist like me - you must admit, the route doesn't matter all that much.
Because if you end up still reaching your destination, who cares how you got there? 
I had to learn (still learning!) to give myself grace when the journey doesn't look picture perfect.
At the end of the day, all that should matter is that I end up where I originally wanted to go - or someplace even better.
 

PYG 113: What is it your season to do?

No season lasts forever, but in every ending there's a chance for some new beginning - if you keep your eye out for it.
Whether you're watching something come to an end, or you're ready to start a new chapter, what is it your season to do?
Meico Whitlock who I interviewed on Episode 41 - (How to harness your focus and set priorities) and Episode 63 - (How to Create a Vision for Your Life) taught me about the importance of being intentional with your time and setting finite priorities for each season.
As Meico teaches in his Mindful Techie courses and programs, once you identify your life vision and mission and set your specific goals, it's important to set no more than two priorities for any given season. 
I'm excited about the intentional energy I'm putting behind my writing in this season, and I can't wait to see where that will lead. But I'm clear that it's truly time to prioritize writing after seeing a significant opening in my calendar related to my kids' school. 
Again, as one season ends, another begins.
I hope that was whatever season is ending for you, in the clearing you'll see the opportunity to finally pursue the purpose that's been pursuing you. 
Keep me posted...
 
***
Speaking of seasons, it's ENROLLMENT SEASON for Package Your Genius Academy!!! We're enrolling for both of our group programs - the Personal Brand Visibility Academy that focuses on building a purposeful personal brand, and the Maximum Exposure PR Mastermind. 
If you're interested in putting some intentional energy behind your personal brand, apply for the visibility academy.
If it's your season to build momentum and land media exposure apply for the PR mastermind. 
 

PYG 112: Your genius deserves a break

Sometimes your genius needs a break. 
And you shouldn't feel bad about it.
In fact, you'll likely move further ahead, instead of falling behind as you may imagine. Rest helps you work smarter not harder - and I'm with that!
I learned this summer not to beat myself up for needing and taking rest - but to celebrate what happens to my mind, body and relationships when I take a step back and nurture myself in the way that I need.
How often do you take the break that you need to rejuvenate yourself? What's your favorite way to rest?
 
 

PYG 111: What's keeping you from making a change?

Change is hard, especially if you like tradition, routine, or growing accustomed to the way things are.
Change can also be hard when it's public-facing. You have all those prying eyes to consider. What will people think? How will this change their perception of me?
But what I've learned from experience is this: when you make a big change - say your hair color, or even your job - it may register briefly to outside world, but after that, humans do what humans do.
Adapt.
While you're fretting on and on about that big change you're afraid of making, once you make it, most people will barely notice. And if they do notice, the decision you lost sleep over will likely only register for an instant.
The new you will become the current you.
And the past you will be all but forgotten.
So if the changes we're stressing ourselves out over only register for a brief moment in time, why are we putting our lives on hold, failing to make the changes that could add more fulfillment and happiness to our days?
Is there something big you're ready to change? A relationship? A job? A service?
Your life is not set in stone. You can change all of it, with one swift decision.
The world will go on.
What's keeping you from moving forward?

PYG 110: Is your lane already saturated?

I've seen a few posts recently about saturation - one post about there being too many courses. Another post about there being too many coaches. Both posts discouraging people who'd never coached or created courses to even try.
 
Because saturation.
 
But saturation doesn't matter when it comes to having a better solution. A more convenient solution. A more you solution.
 
When you think about coaches and courses simply as education, it makes me wonder why no one ever asks why there are so many schools?
 
We have public neighborhood schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, Montessori schools, private independent schools. Co-ed schools, single sex schools. PK-12 schools. Middle school only schools. High school only schools. And let's not even get started on college options - from community, to state university to small liberal college to prestigious Ivy League.
 
No one blinks at education options when we think of children. It's considered an unspoken truth and fact of life that children must be educated, so an overwhelming list of options is what we've come to accept.
 
And when it's time to choose an educational model for our kids, we buckle down and look at what makes the most sense for our children and our family situation.
 
Can we afford private or is public more our speed? What type of programs do they have for STEM? What's the art instruction like, my kid's super creative. We appreciate options when we look at them from the vantage point of giving our kids the best because we understand each child and each family is unique and has different needs.
 
Children grow up to be adults, and their education needs evolve but don't disappear.
 
And if you're a lifelong learner you already know that.
 
That's why new books come out every day: there are constantly new ways to explain old problems, more modern methods, more up to date approaches.
 
Which is why there are so many courses and coaches on the market. Since the economy is dynamic and changing, we need more people lighting the way not less. More styles of instruction, not fewer. More diverse voices and content, not the same old same old.
 
In Todd Rose's book Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment, he talks about among other things what he calls the Standardization Convenant. He shares that after the Industrial Revolution, we reached peak standardization - everything had to be uniform. But now we're entering a new era - the age of personalization.
 
 
One of the premises in the book is that in the era of personalization, education and work will be personalized - which we are already seeing with the advent of different types of schools and for adults, courses and coaches.
 
The proliferation of coaches and courses then, is a natural response to this new Wild Wild West of personalization: people who have been educated in the standardized way have to relearn how to listen to themselves and uncover what they're good at.
 
People are more and more interested in investigating what unique difference they can make with their lives - not how they can fit into a role that was designed for just anyone with a certain set of skills to fill.
 
So the next time someone sows seeds of doubt around your new course or coaching venture - and even if you're the one doing the sowing, remember that as our economy and society shifts from standardization to personalization, the need will likely grow for good coaches and course creators and guides - if you don't like the term expert - who can light the way.
 
If that is you and you have a message to share, don't miss the wave.
 
***
I break down a 5 step process for personal branding in Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand that starts with brand clarity. If you haven't ordered your copy, grab the book and companion workbook to get clarity on your personalized career path.
If you're ready for PR results, and want a PR team that won't be happy until your face is splashed all over tv screens and newspaper pages, apply to join us in the Maximum Exposure Mastermind.

PYG 109: Feel behind on your goals? You can turn this year around

Today is the first day of July, the first day of Q3, and the official halfway point of the year.
Since we only have six months left in 2019, if you've had time to reflect on the six months that have passed, you may be lamenting on how far you are from the goals you set in January.
 
(Or you may have crushed your goals completely, to which I say, yay you!)
 
But if you are nowhere near where you thought you'd be, consider this your pep talk - it's time to get back in the game.
 
I'm here to let you know, all is not lost.
 
Even if you were asleep from January - June, you can make up the difference with the months we have left. You simply need to revisit your goals, tweak your strategy, and decide what you're going to do differently.
 
But first, realize you're not alone. According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year's resolutions is said to be about 80 percent, and most lose their resolve by mid-February.
 
I for one am guilty of hopping off the consistency train. At the end of May, I looked at my annual goals and felt a little demoralized; I simply was not on track with many of the goals I'd set.
 
But in true Amanda fashion, I had some surprise "sleeper" wins that helped me close out the month, the quarter, and the first half of the year in spectacular fashion.
 
Here's what's been going on:
One of my goals for the year? More international travel.
But for whatever reason when I set the goal in January, I failed to book any tickets or plan any trips. Fast forward to May: a friend asked if I could join her in Italy on the heels of a big conference she was attending for work. I said yes, spent an epic week in Italy in June, and just like that, my travel and adventure goals are back on track for the year.
 
Another goal? Double my podcast downloads in 2019. As June approached, I could see I wasn't on track to meet that goal. I had exceeded last year's numbers up to this point, but doubled them?
 
Not quite.
 
Then by chance I went looking for parenting podcasts to help me navigate a few issues with my kids as puberty is setting in, we're switching schools in the fall, and I need a more effective way to communicate with my soon to be teenaged son. I randomly met a parenting podcaster at a media event in mid-May. She's doing a challenge to record an episode every day this year, which inspired me to challenge myself to publish an ambitious 30 episodes in 30 days.
 
While I set out to do the challenge because I was inspired by the parenting podcast, I inadvertently boosted my podcast downloads due to the sheer volume of new episodes. And just like that, we're back on track and back on schedule to reach the 2x goal for the year.
 
Sidebar: I learned a lot about epic productivity, motivation, and building habits during that challenge and will share the lessons in a future missive, but for now, here are a few of my favorite episodes:
 
PYG 108 - You have to sell it
PYG 100 - What are you willing to create?
PYG 99 - Muscle Memory
PYG 97 - Making yourself at home on a new level
PYG 92 - Build a brand library so people can find your ideas
 
Another big goal? Land media exposure.
 
June was an exceptional month for our PR clients in Maximum Exposure.
After two months of crafting ideas and pitching, I was honestly getting a little worried that we hadn't had more media wins. So at the beginning of June, I decided to further examine our process to figure out what might have been missing.
 
We focused more on breaking news, increased our time spent on research, and changed the order of the weekly program touch points.
The result? Our changes worked like magic.
 
In the month of June alone, our students were interviewed or featured by Fast Company, the Washington Post, the Washington Post Express, ABC Milwaukee, V100.7 FM in Milwaukee, ABC 7 DC and Let's Talk Live.
While media exposure wasn't tied to a specific goal I set at the beginning of the year, it was tied to a goal I set when we opened our doors to the program in April.
 
And it was a great example of how sometimes you may plan for a trickle of sustained success over time, but end up with a flood of it all at once - if you can hone in on the right new strategy.
 
At the end of the day - by trickle or by flood - you can still reach your 2019 goals.
 
It may not happen out of the gate, but when you're honest about what isn't working and you decide to win, success can come at you fast.
 
If you're looking at July 1 with a side-eye because you are nowhere near where you thought you'd be by now, remember, you can change your results if you change your strategy.
 
You can make big things happen fast.
 
You can make up the difference in the months we have left.
 
You simply need to revisit your goals, tweak your strategy, and decide what you're going to do differently.
 
If your incremental strategy hasn't worked so far, maybe it's time to do something absurdly different so you can get absurdly different results.
 
Even if you're not blown away by what you've accomplished in the months behind us, get excited.
 
You can turn this year around!
 
***
 
We have one more spot to join us next month in Maximum Exposure. This is a high touch group PR program designed to get you media exposure - interviews, segments and features to pontificate about what you know best.
 
If you're ready for PR results, and want a PR team that won't be happy until your face is splashed all over tv screens and newspaper pages, apply here.