We have all said it: “I need more time.”

There are a multitude of decisions you make every day. Some you give more thought than others. How do you know what the right ones are?

Working with an executive coach that specializes in personal branding affords you the advantage of having a qualified professional lead you through a process to develop the best version of you.

You know that feeling when you’re headed for a vacation or going away for a long weekend. You begin to imagine the feeling of leaving the daily routine behind, no schedules or stress, and doing the things that fill you up.

Are you taking a break to recharge regularly?

Over the years I have heard experts say balance is not achievable. I believe it is, although it may be different than what you think.

I think balance starts on the inside: more of a feeling and state of being.

Have you ever done or said something that you wish you could take back immediately?

I recently had a conversation with a leader who overreacted to an individual on her team, in front of her whole team. It was not pretty and she desperately wanted to take it back. Instead, she went into hiding and berated herself for her bad behaviour.

Craig had a fear of public speaking ~ including giving formal presentations to clients. This was holding him back from playing at a higher level both personally and professionally.

His thinking was robbing him of being brilliant.

Julie was recently given the opportunity to play a lead role on a big project. She admitted that even with the success she experienced in her career this project was a bit intimidating. It was bigger than anything she worked on before, she was the most junior person on the team, and the client was high profile.

There are gestures and behaviours that can be undermining your brand success and holding you back. The kicker is you don’t even know it!

It can feel a bit like driving your car with the emergency brake on. You notice your car has no pickup and can’t really figure out why. Until you notice the emergency brake is engaged, you release it and without any extra effort you pick up speed.

The beginning of a year, or even a new month, provides the perfect opportunity to review what you have done well, what you want to improve, and what you still want to achieve in the future ~ in other words, goal setting. You typically create goals to stretch yourself to a grander version of what you have now and you naturally identify and define the goals you want to achieve. But what tends to get overlooked is taking the time to do a personal brand review.

In a recent public session that I facilitated, a participant, April, revealed how her friend Clare had impacted her life in a very meaningful way. She expressed a deep appreciation and articulated the many things Clare did that made a difference for her,