Beyond the Secret
An Authentic Personal Branding Concept that Goes Far Beyond Wishful Thinking
Dr. Hubert Rampersad
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“The Secret” was launched by Rhonda Byrne in 2006 and says that thoughts have an energy that attracts like energy
and you attract into your life whatever you think about. This tool refers to what
Buddha said: "What you have become is the result of what you have thought“. It suggests the following:
“your dominant thoughts will find a way to manifest. …Whatever you focus on the most is what will be most attracted to your life.
..Once you are aware of this law and how it works, you can start to use it to deliberately attract what you want into your life…
Like attracts like…You get what you think about, whether wanted or unwanted…You are a living magnet…
You get what you put your energy and focus on…Energy attracts like energy…it has it roots in Quantum Physics.”
But just focusing on your dominant thoughts, wishful thinking about what you want to achieve, and trying to become rich quickly can lead to an ad-hoc, short term, and cosmetic success, and on the other hand it can affect your Personal Brand negatively and can ruin your reputation. The Secret is an unstructured process. It can be a selfish and a greedy business and can make you a big looser if you don't reflect your true character, don't work hard, don't deliver and perform continuously, and don't live and act according to your authentic self.
Remember also what Gandhi said: “ To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest” . Who you really are, what your dreams are, what you care about, what you are passionate about, what you want with your life, etc. should come out and be embedded in your vision/dream, brand, and Personal Balanced Scorecard as described in “Effective Personal and Company Brand Management; A New Blueprint for Powerful and Authentic Personal and Company Branding” (Rampersad, IAP, 2008) and in my article “ Authentic Personal Branding' published at www.brandchannel.com (January, 2008). You should act, behave, perform, and deliver accordingly in order to get what you want in a more enduring and sustainable way . If you are holistically branded according the introduced authentic Personal Branding concept, y our brand will get energy from likeminded brands and will attract success, people with similar beliefs , and opportunities that are a perfect fit for you, much more effectively, than just focusing on your d ominant thoughts only.
As a result of this, attracting success will be much easier and sustainable. By aligning your vision and destiny with your Personal Brand you will fulfill your intense desires in a mystical way and will live effortlessly and become happy. This is no secret. In the boxed text below I introduce “ Beyond the Secret ”, which will help you realize your dreams and brand desires in a more sustainable, enduring, and harmonious way.
Beyond the Secret (© Hubert Rampersad)
- Get very clear on what you want with your life and formulate your Personal Ambition and Personal Brand statement based on this; Ask for it, wish it, dream it, formulate it, and fix it in your mind by using an introduced integrated breathing and silence exercise. This exercise will assist you to fix it in your mind. List in your Personal Ambition statement what you want to achieve. You must accept personal responsibility for everything in your life. Determine what you intend to give in return for what you desire and give it all your positive energy.
- Visualize your Personal Ambition and Personal Brand; visualize the end results in your mind during the breathing and silence exercise and visualize it after this exercise as a metaphor (drawing, paint or logo).
- Formulate your Personal Balanced Scorecard (PBSC) for carrying out your desire and to make it a reality. Translate your Personal Ambition and Personal Brand into your Personal Branding strategy and an execution plan in order to make it a reality. List what you must do to achieve your brand and personal objectives. Specify how you are going to measure success at each step along the way. Based on the PBSC you will be accountable for your results.
- Feel it, allow it, believe it, accept it, be open to receiving it, and enjoy it by implementing, maintaining, and cultivating your vision, Personal Brand, and PBSC according to the introduced Plan-Deploy-Act-Challenge (PDAC) cycle. Live according to the PDAC cycle and focus your thoughts upon the things you desire which are related to your Personal Ambition and Personal Brand, with great feeling such as love, passion, enthusiasm, and gratitude. Feel and behave as if your desire is on its way. Feel yourself already in possession of your desire. The feeling, love, passion, and courage related to your Personal Ambition and Personal Brand will create the power of attraction. Read your Personal Ambition and Personal Brand statement every day. Follow your heart (your vision/dream and Personal Brand), your head (your PBSC), and be passionate about and love what you do. Accept a larger challenge which is in line with your improved talents and skills and get on with it. Enjoy the experience and document what you have learned and celebrate the successes.
Remember this:
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Dr. Hubert Rampersad is president of TPS International (USA). This article is based on his new book “Effective Personal and Company Brand Management; A New Blueprint for Powerful and Authentic Personal and Company Branding” (Information Age Publishing Inc., 2008, USA). He can be reached at: h.rampersad@tps-international.com, www.Total-Performance-Scorecard.com
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