How positive psychology can build your personal brand

Personal Branding is often in the media these days. It seems everyone’s at it. Creating a, sometimes well-crafted, public persona that’s communicated to all you meet and populated throughout social media, touching all aspects of your online life, from the tweets you make to the selfies you post.

But this glossy portrayal to the outside world must be consistent with who you really are in order to be credible and sustainable. So how can we create and communicate a Personal Brand that’s authentic and attention-worthy?

Improving happiness and wellbeing

The field of Positive Psychology might hold some answers. Positive Psychology has arisen as an addition to regular psychology to focus on mental health rather than mental illness. It analyses what makes people happy and proposes activities that harness and improve mental wellbeing and happiness.

Your positive Personal Brand

Before you even get to profiling on social media and the style choices you make there’s work to be done behind the scenes to develop a Personal Brand that’s authentically you. And this is where the theories and tools from Positive Psychology can help.

Get into your ‘flow’

What are you doing when you are fully engaged? When you lose all track of time because you’re so absorbed in what you’re doing. This is typically an activity that you’re good at and passionate about. Become aware of this, find opportunities to engage in flow, and share your passion with others.

Practice gratitude

Be grateful for your past achievements, opportunities and experiences. Practicing gratitude for what is and what has been connects you with what’s good in your world and this shines through when you meet people. And be content with your story so far. For others to believe in you, you need to believe in yourself first.

Convey your strengths

Do you know what you’re good at? Often we take our strengths for granted because they come so naturally to us. Identify your top 3 strengths around which you can build your brand story, and then communicate using clear examples of how you bring these strengths to life. Find ways to exercise your strengths every day, whether at work or at home. Using strengths consistently increases satisfaction and builds credibility in your Personal Brand as people connect what they experience with what you say.

Focus on the positives

Cultivating a positive mindset reframes your experience of life into one that’s more positive and fulfilling. Consider your most attractive personality traits and find ways to emphasise them. They are what make you unique. In addition to what you communicate, also consider if how you appear truly reflects your personality. If you have a certain dress code for work, how can you inject elements of your personality into this? Does what you wear give the best representation of you?

Be mindful and present

You need to live your brand for it to be believable. This means tapping into who you are in the present moment. Notice what it feels like to be you. Step into your Personal Brand and really own it. In your interactions with people, be fully present and true to yourself. Not only is this a much nicer way to experience life but it also enables a more genuine connection with others.

Share your vision

Know what’s important to you in your life and in your career. Be optimistic about your future, trust in your ability to make it happen. Share your values and your positive outlook with others. Positive emotions spread, so when you’re excited about your future, others feel it too.

Build a Personal Brand that embraces what’s truly great about you and you’ll attract people and opportunities that are a natural fit.