What is your desired brand?

- So, in the last movie, we talked about your current brand, which is how you're known today, and most likely you probably haven't given that a lot of thought until right now. I'm going to give you an opportunity to control the future by asking you to go with me for just a moment to a place that might feel a little uncomfortable. I want you to imagine the end of your life. I want you to imagine that those of us who knew you and worked with you and loved you and supported you, maybe fought alongside of you, are standing around at your funeral, and we're remembering your life.

What do you want us to remember about your life? Do you want us to remember your military decorations or your achievements on Wall Street after you left service or do you want us to remember who you were? When I went through this process for myself when I started my own business, it really turned my life around. I didn't want to be remembered for awards and financial gain and achievements in business. I wanted to be remembered as the kind of person who gave back, who was generous, who was grateful, and contributed in meaningful ways.

Likely you're thinking of some of those things too. It's important to have a clear picture of what you want the end to look like. And I get that it feels uncomfortable, but think about it. Think about what that experience for the people who remember you is going to be like. Here's why it's so powerful: because when you can picture the end and you know where you're starting from, then you can simply re-engineer your career backwards. In building your personal brand, when you have a clear idea of what your desired legacy, your desired reputation looks like, you'll discover this is the most powerful part of the process.

This is where you take control back, where you can create the path from here to there that gives you all those decision-making tools to know who to partner with, what companies to work for, what companies to work with, what kind of people you want to be aligned with, because you know what you stand for and how you want to be remembered. I'd actually encourage you before you move on to the next movie to pause for just a moment and really reflect on this. It's uncomfortable, but think about how you want to be remembered at the end of your life, and what kind of a person you want your career to reflect that you were, what your values were.

Before you move on, take a moment and just think about that.