Celebrate the brand called You

We usually think of brands as being something specific to companies or products. We’re all brands, each and every one of us. And we’re all unique. As Harry Beckwith points out in his excellent book “You, Inc.,” a can of soda pop contains four major ingredients, while a human being contains, just for starters, 46 chromosomes and so many nuances that not even two fingerprints are identical.

Harry implores us to stop trying to make ourselves appear to be something more than we really are and instead just be yourself. The best brands, after all, the ones we love the most and resonate with the deepest, are authentic. That’s why we love them so much. As Beckwith puts it, “They have endured because people have learned they are credible and have come to trust those brands to be what they say they are; great brands have integrity.” That doesn’t mean we should be complacent. We can still set goals and strive to achieve new skills and new levels of competency, but we should always do so without pretenses.

As you sit back and relax with your family and friends this Christmas holiday, take a look at the qualities that make you who you are. Be comfortable with that, because it’s what the people around you already love. They appreciate the good but bad, excellent but flawed person across the table from them. Just like those who are loyal to brands they look to for products and services, the people who know you are loyal to you.

So, be authentic. In a world of social media, many of us try too hard to compete with all the other individual brands out there. Instead of competing, enjoy and celebrate what you bring to the world. After all, your individual worth is what Christmas is all about. It’s why a baby was born in the town of Bethlehem so long ago.

Merry Christmas, and may the next 12 months prove to be your best year yet.