Communicating the "I" in Identity.

ONE HUNDRED DAY COUNTDOWN

New beginnings take place constantly. When you thread them together, you get a lasting experience.

I started my 100-day countdown on Sunday, May 28, 2017, a new beginning, to a new beginning, that will culminate on Monday, September 4, 2017; the launch of my website, which includes videos, ebook, blogs and more.

I am a process oriented person who believes strongly in the fact that only humans tell stories. It then makes sense that I will transmit the narrative of this exciting process as the days progress.

This is a perfect example of the process; I can countdown my progress.

70 days to go: Friday, June 26, 2017 

The process is the communication of who "I" is in our identity. It’s all about identity. And it’s all about communication.

We establish ourselves in the world through communication. We declare: “Here I am!”, from the first breath we take at birth. We proudly proclaim our being with the sound of our voice, our cry.

Think of everything that has happened between then and today as you navigate on social media and read how to create your personal brand. We’re told to be authentic. We are taught how to create our elevator pitch. At the same time, we’re encouraged to be storytellers, and of course, we are shown how to have a work-life balance.

In 3 Ways To Most Effectively Communicate Your Personal Brand, Glenn Llopis writes; “Effectively sharing the total experience of my personal brand with others has involved thousands of hours of self-reflection, introspection and evaluation of my childhood years (which my parents have well-documented), education, career choices, leadership roles, entrepreneurship, and research of my cultural heritage (all of which I have documented). This journey and responsibility to manage my brand and effectively communicate it with others has challenged me to simplify the common themes into two words (Immigrant Perspective), to create efficiency in delivering my message in order to provide the necessary clarity of thought in every word, sentence and lesson – all to assure my personal brand is understandable and resonates with others.”

Llopis is describing his process in understanding who is the “I” in his identity. More often than not, however, we are taught who to be, before we can articulate who we are.

If we are not aware of how our internal identity is engaging in our external environment to come across as that successful brand, or as a successful leader, or as simply “a success”, our communication reflects that detachment.

Each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against ourselves. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

The classic metaphor for self is a house. Try this out: sketch a house, spontaneously and freely. When you have finished, look at the house and notice what you can describe about the house, it's structure, foundation, walls, roof, windows, doors, details such as levels, inside/outside stairs, chimney, paths, fences/gates, curtains/shutters on windows, and so on. What is there, what isn't there? What is your house communicating about your self? You may want to write a narrative about the house to further expand the communication.  

This kind of exploration should be a prerequisite for any further learning on "how to" present yourself to others. 

I don't know how tall I am or how much I weigh. Because I don't want anybody to know my identity. I'm like a superhero. Call me Basketball Man.-  LeBron James