Enlarge Excel Evolve-The Story






Story 24

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 Brand.” 



Background
February 2011. As an upcoming personal branding professional, I was creating and curating content from fields as diverse as storytelling, personal development, and social media & online branding on my social networks. And one fine day, Jennifer Sertl, my personal development coach nudged me during a Skype chat and asked me about my focus and context. 

It set me thinking and I thought hard. Was there a connection between the topics I was talking about? If yes, how are they connected? I found personal branding professionals across the world try to differentiate themselves from image management professionals, as they talk about personal development as a part of personal branding (unlike image management). Then I came across Time magazine’s article on personal branding, which defined personal branding as “Part life coaching, part management consulting, personal branding applies the language, philosophies and strategies of Madison Avenue to the brand that is you.” 

I was getting clearer about my focus, and now I needed a framework which could put the pieces together. And then the phrase ‘Enlarge Excel Evolve’ flashed in my mind (representing a holistic approach to personal branding, where personal development is the starting point of the journey.) Enlarge or personal development is a very broad concept though, hence I have chosen the focus as wisdom on social media. (Personal Growth, Wisdom & Social Media Success

The next natural step was to do the detailing and the diagrammatic representation of 3 E. 

The Logo 

I wanted to help professionals develop as global brands with a global mindset, hence the globe was kept in the centre and the 3 E’s formed a circle/ cycle around it. The green colour of 3Es represented sustainability and the cycle represented the fact that the ‘Enlarge Excel Evolve’ was a cyclical and continuous process. 




The Three Steps

The next step was to write the details of each step and what they involved.

Step 1-ENLARGE as a Human Being
Personal growth should be the starting point of the journey and it continues through the journey of life. 

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. 

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
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. 

We should not forget social media is media too and we need not cause permanent damage to our reputation because we are temporarily upset. 

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.
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. Ask your connections and friends to give feedback for your ideas and business concepts.

So dear readers,  take charge of your life and your story. Keep enlarging, excelling and evolving and remember, “The Show must go on.” 

Detailed Description 

(I express my deep gratitude to my coach 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. To know more about Jennifer Sertl's 

3R (Resilience, Responsiveness and Reflection) philosophy, click here:-Agility 3R)


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