Day 355: The Brand of You

Read a great excerpt today from Krugman's book "End This Depression Now!" on HuffPo.

He discusses the draining effect long-term unemployment has on economies, and on people. And he's right about a lot of it.

It's Day 355. I have that big interview soon, but I also got notification of passing the first hurdle of a local prospect, and sent my resume yesterday to another local lead for which I should be a strong contender.

So it's been almost a year. I've had some down days. I had one the other day, because it HAS been almost a year, and I got a little stressed over the pressure of this big one coming up.

Then I realized that all I can do is the best I can do, and that it's not going to always be about who is best for the job. This is something I've touched on before.

I hate egotists. We all have ego, and we all have moments when we puff up and get a little full of ourselves. That's OK. It's OK to feel proud and accomplished when you get a promotion, you get positive feedback on something you've done, you make someone happy, you do something good.

It's not OK when you walk around like your God's gift to the world. Get over yourself.

I'm one of those who are not great at self-promotion. I just find it kind of gauche. But there are times when you have to promote the brand of You. You have to.

A job interview is one of those opportunities.

I'm the ONLY person who knows precisely what I am capable of. And here's the big secret: I'm capable of being a star. Several years ago I was in a job that I was well-qualified for... overqualified, even... I made a football analogy to my supervisor about how a coach wouldn't try and turn a Hall of Fame running back into a lineman. The supervisor seemed offended that I thought of myself that highly. Or maybe it was the questioning of his coaching.

Some people are happy to be linemen. I was a lineman when I played football. But I thought I should have been a tight end... someone who can do more.

It's OK to think like this. In fact, you SHOULD think like this. You should always see yourself as capable of more, as an eagle among the sparrows. Otherwise you're just settling. You have to think of yourself as ready to be a star, not the understudy.

Some folks are happy being the understudy. Some folks are more than willing to plod along with their average lives and their mortgages and their book club and their kids' soccer games and God bless 'em. Those are all fine and honorable things. But sometimes you want more.

I want more.

So I'm going to be the ambassador for my brand. It's quality. I'm quality.