The Consistency of Should

I really should practice yoga every day.  I really should write more, blog more, participate more.  In yoga, in social media, in pretty much every sector of my life (personally and professionally, and in all the places that overlaps), I've noticed that I should / could / ought to do more. 

When I think about it, I tell myself that consistency is the big challenge.  And it's something people often write about in reference to branding, blogging, and pretty much everything else.  So clearly this search for consistency is a human endeavor. 

But I'm pretty weary of the word should.  Should usually tells me something funny is going on.  Should usually indicates some sort of judgment call, some sort of negative judgment. 

When I say I should do this, be it practice yoga or write a blog post, what I'm really doing is judging myself for doing (or for the inclination to do) the opposite.  When I say they / he / she should do this, even if it's probably a good idea (like wearing a helmet while riding a bike), I'm usually judging the fact that the person or group of people is doing the opposite.  

Why is it that should seems to be the more reliable constant? 

Six Pixels of Separation of Self: Building Your Personal Brand with Mitch Joel

First session I attended, bright and early Saturday morning, was Mitch Joel's talk on personal branding. He compared the idea of a personal brand to toothpaste out of the tube--it's already there, may as well slap some branding on it!

He walked the audience through personal branding in three conversations:
1) internal conversation
2) one-to-one conversation
3) one-to-many conversation.
What's the purpose of these conversations?

We say a lot without saying a lot. You should know your story the same way PR folks are taught to know your brand messaging. When you're out there communicating that story to others, you need to listen more than you talk--think of the difference between advertising and [good] PR, one way versus two way communication. You need connections and community to gauge your brand--your personal brand is more than you, it's how you're perceived.

Six Degrees of Separation?
1) establish yourself as an expert
2) be seen and known as a leader
3) be known as an innovator
4) separate yourself from the competition
5) gain professional stature
6) build your image

Build your brand by investing in yourself and community. It all sounds like self help, but I keep wondering how much of this I would say, slightly differently to a client.

But returning to me--Mitch got me thinking about the huge differences between how I define me and how other people in my life define me.

How do you define you? Just you? Is there one thing you can point to as the most important thing?

Lots to think about!