Read Time: 6 minutes

A wise man once said:

That man’s name is Marshall Mathers, who you might better know as Eminem

You’re probably thinking, this is only his 7th newsletter and he’s quoting this maniac of a rapper? AJ must have lost it by now. Maybe. Or maybe this is an insightful view in to the reality of perception

Perception is “what ever you say I am”

For better or worse, perception will always be a hard nut to crack. Celebrity gossip channels and high profile court cases use this to their advantage. They craft stories around pieces of information to help sway the “court of public opinion”.

Consider the story of Joe Exotic, star of Netflix pandemic hit “Tiger King”

Do any of us REALLY know what happened? Enough to make a ruling on whether or not Joe Exotic belongs in jail? The romanticized story is enough to get people’s attention and FEEL a certain way about his trial.

Unfortunately, the truth doesn’t really matter to most

Another word that can be used in place of perception? BRAND

The “brand of you” is who people see YOU as on a daily basis. Doesn’t matter if you are a famous actor or a bank teller. When someone mentions your name, a vision of you pops up in their heads. It’s the way they see you. This may be VERY different than how you see yourself.

There are ways to understand & control the perception (brand) of you

This is an exercise I do with those I mentor at work. It can be very eye opening to see how differently you see yourself compared to how the world views you.

First, consider the following questions. They’ll guide you through this exercise. In the second step we’ll look at a few different perspectives to answer these.

• Without using a title or project name, how would you be introduced to someone new?

• What is something you are known for?

• What is an area or skill set you excel in?

• “When I have problem X, you are who people call” - what is that problem?

Second, gather answers in 3 different ways

1. Answer these based on how YOU think you’re perceived TODAY

2. Answer these based on how YOU would LIKE to be perceived in the FUTURE

3. Find 3–5 people in your circle of peers and ask them to answer for you

Finally, take a look at the results from the second task. Be willing to keep an open mind & learn something new

• #3 is your TRUE brand, how the world really perceives you

• Difference between #1 & #3 are how well (or poorly) your view is aligned to truth

• Difference between #2 & #3 is the work you need to put in to fix your brand

This is your ACTION plan

Additional Resources

There is a TON of great content out there on branding & how to build your own. These are 3 videos I found to be really insightful and well worth a watch!

• Ryan Serhant - What is your “And” (7:01)

• Chris Do - Personal Branding—Most Important Thing You Do (57:42)

• TED - 5 Steps to Building a Personal Brand You Feel Good About (6:14)

One Final Thing! 👋

I really love hearing from you guys and am always looking for feedback. How am I doing with this newsletter? Is there anything you’d like to hear me talk more (or less) about? Which aspects of the newsletter do you enjoy the most?

Hit reply and even just say hi!

I’d love to hear from you & I respond to every email!

Thanks for reading!

~ A.J. Zampella ✌️

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Little about who I am and what I’m here to do:

15 years in tech & 20 years as a DJ

Mid-career professional trying to thrive in work and life

I spend 100s of hours figuring it out so you can learn in <5 minutes a week!

Other Interesting Things Around the Web I do:

• Free DJ Sets/Mixes on Soundcloud - Yes I still DJ pretty often too

• #AJsBookClub - Big Book Guy. We talk about “success focused books”

• Grim & Grind - My clothing line, all things Creepy & Caffeinated