One of the most satisfying things about my personal brand coaching work over the years has been helping people reclaim their power to make things happen. While you may assume visibility or income are the biggest benefits of building a brand, in reality the idea that we all have agency – the understanding that we don’t have to wait for things to happen to us, we get to make things happen — is the biggest revelation.
This disconnection from personal power is understandable. From the time most of us begin school we are bombarded with instruction, directions, and rules. It makes sense. We need children to understand how to follow rules in order to maintain order in society. However standard education sometimes makes you more adept at taking orders than thinking critically about what steps you should take next. As you leave the classroom for the workplace, you may have followed the rules to get ahead or maintain your position in the organization, but feel completely lost without a script.
Unfortunately, layoffs and job loss are often the first time many people are forced to think critically about how they will make things happen in their careers. They may be forced to think creatively when they are in need of financial resources, need to get their careers back on track, or want to bring additional income.
When you’re forced to make something happen after only building a muscle to follow rules, instructions, or guidance from others, you may find the muscle to make things happen is weak. After a lifetime of following a prescribed path, the advice of teachers, parents, mentors or the unspoken rules of an industry, you may find it difficult to suddenly trust yourself to make things happen. But the ability to make things happen is a muscle and it can be strengthened if you work on it.
Whether you have to start making things happen on your own or due to a layoff, here are some ways you can exercise the muscle.
Tell Your Story and Share It Publicly
As a brand strategist, I often encourage people to get to the heart of their story and tell it either online or in a public forum. Deciding what your story is and having the willingness to share it with strangers may feel daunting at first. But it is an incredibly powerful exercise.
Telling your story doesn’t have to be all-inclusive – you don’t have to write your full life story for it to be meaningful. Start by telling the story of a specific journey, for example your career journey, your fertility journey, or your journey to move from one city to the next and why you made that choice. Still too daunting? Tell the story of your week or even of your morning. Just start storytelling to connect with others. The resulting connection is where the magic happens.
Publicly Teach Others Something You Know
Everyone can teach something. It’s incredibly empowering to identify what you know that others don’t and what you can share that may help others.
It’s important that you’re doing this teaching publicly. It’s great to mentor others and share advice in one-on-one settings, but the true power comes from inviting others in so you can share your wisdom intentionally. So aim to teach people in a group format that requires them to sign up in some way.
You don’t have to monetize your lessons if you don’t want to at first. It’s certainly not necessary. But teaching something you know will begin to put you in touch with your unique expertise and force you to claim that expertise publicly. You may inadvertently position yourself as a subject matter expert in the process.
Convene People Around Your Interests
One of the most powerful ways to get a sense of your power to make things happen is to convene other people around an area of interest. Whether you’re bringing people in your network together to fellowship around a shared love of coffee or tea, or bringing people together around a book and author you’ve found interesting, or convening people around a conversation you simply want to have, it’s instantly energizing to connect with others in a community. Building community itself is a power move.
Building the muscle and reclaiming your power to make things happen only requires a willingness to start. Whether you’re telling your story, teaching what you know, or gathering people around a shared interest, each action reinforces your agency. Your sense of power grows with each action you take.
The more you practice putting yourself out there and seeing the results, the stronger that muscle becomes. Eventually, you won’t feel the need to wait for guidance from others; you’ll feel more empowered to make moves that can move things forward on your own terms.