Here Goes Nothing

Type, type, type… delete, delete, delete. Type, type… delete, delete. Type… delete. UGH. Write a blog?! I can’t even write three words without feeling self-conscious about my sentence structure or comma usage. Ask me to express myself in person; no problem. Ask me to write my feelings down on paper (what is this the 1900's?); no thanks. If sending voice messages instead of texts was a thing, I’d be the queen bee.

Then one day my professor made writing a blog a mandatory assignment, so, here we are.

Hello world, this is my blog and I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m supposed to be writing about how this makes me feel. Honestly, it feels a little forced. Like when you haven’t gone on a run in a really long time and despite your brain telling you to get back in bed, you push through and hit the pavement anyway. The thing about that is, it sucks for the first five to ten runs but after that, you feel really freakin’ awesome. Instead of chug-a-lugging through the streets of the East Village, you’re like a bird soaring past storefronts and restaurants — that is, until I see my favorite mac n’ cheese place, then it’s game over.

When we commit ourselves to something, there usually tends to be a payoff. And it’s not always mac n’ cheese (but who’s complaining?). When I first moved to New York City, I wasn’t fully committed to it but once I started putting effort into exploring and making friends, now there’s no place I’d rather be. It was hard work, literally a part-time job, but it made me better.

Moving around place-to-place has put my self-perception and identity to the test. Constantly needing to reinforce who I am and reintroduce myself to new people and places, my personal brand is stronger now than it’s ever been. As I continue to learn more about myself and dive into new adventures (like writing a stinkin’ blog), it’s who I am that keeps me grounded and connected. Our personal brand is so important to who we are and how people see us. Throughout my career (albeit, very short up until now), I’ve come to learn that marketing in the business world is deeply connected to how we market ourselves.

What we say, who we are affiliated with, and why we exist is at its core, our personal brand. The challenges and hurdles we overcome are just tests that life throws at us. Every time, we come out a little bit stronger. Being authentically true to yourself and embracing what you find along the way, is the best personal brand there is. It’s bulletproof, because it’s truly you.

So let’s write this thing, face it head-on and see what we find. Who knows, maybe I’ll actually come out better because of it. Here goes nothing.