Social Media Success through Personal Growth?

Enlarge, Excel, Evolve
3E Model for Personal Growth/Holistic Personal Branding

(Dedicated to my sister-friend Jennifer Sertl who inspired me to refine my philosophy and helped me connect, enlarge, excel and evolve. Like an elder sister she has held my hand from the beginning of my social media journey in 2008.)

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When I talk of the necessity for personal growth to be successful on social media, my audience often gives me a puzzled look. Then I give a smile and begin the explanation of my approach and philosophy, “Enlarge as a Human Being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Branded Being.”

At a national/international level we are talking of sustainable development, at an individual level our goal should be to constantly strive for Sustainable Success.

Step 1-ENLARGE as a Human Being

1. Personal growth should be the starting point and it continues through the journey of life.
2. The more you promote yourself, the more you are seen as a navel gazer and a person trying to prove himself/herself. Keep looking for areas of improvement, keep looking inside for things gone wrong and keep looking at the positive side of people. 
3. Instead of filling your emotional and ego tanks, fill the tanks of others. Enlarge and nurture your network too and you will end up getting enlarged yourself. I once posted on Facebook, "People believe it, when someone else is appreciating you & God comes to your rescue, when someone else is praying for you."

Step 2-EXCEL as a Social Media Being

1. Social media is a glasshouse in terms of transparency and hence it can be very difficult to hide your true personality for long. Unfriend and remove connection options are easy to use. Social media is primarily for sharing and not selling.
2. We should not forget social media is media too and we need not cause permanent damage to our reputation because we are temporarily upset.
3. As you start growing as a person, the results are visible sooner or a little later. Your network starts respecting you for your traits; be it wisdom, knowledge, caring attitude and so on.

Step 3-EVOLVE as a Personal Brand(ed) Being.

1. You have already created a personal brand to a certain degree. Now the brand needs to evolve and grow and the time has come to communicate and refine the brand. Once you have become what you aspired for, you need to communicate what you are.
2. Ask your connections and friends to give feedback for your ideas and business concepts. 
3. On a lighter note, growth and evolution never stop until you become the enlightened Buddha. As we grow and evolve, we also get an added responsibility of helping others grow and evolve.

I invite you to Enlarge, Excel and Evolve along with me. Let us add Joy and Sustainable Success to each other's lives.

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Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant and Social Media Trainer with a holistic touch. He is based in New Delhi, India.