Jon Michail's Personal Branding Masterclass

How to Achieve the Life You Desire

April 07, 2022 Season 1 Episode 31
Jon Michail's Personal Branding Masterclass
How to Achieve the Life You Desire
Show Notes Transcript

We all have dreams, goals, and aspirations we wish to achieve. The tricky part: connecting the dots between what we want and how to achieve those things. In this episode, Jon gives some tips on how you can achieve everything you want and finally have the life you desire. 

Do you want Jon's help to elevate your personal brand? Get in touch here: https://www.imagegroup.com.au/contact-us/

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Let's connect:

Website: www.imagegroup.com.au/
Email: enquiries@imagegroup.com.au
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonmichail-imageconsultant-personalbrandingcoach/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/imagegroupinternational
Twitter: @jon_michail
Instagram: @imagegroupinternational
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Podcast Editor and Producer: Ana Carolina Alves 

Additional Voice: Charles The Voice 

Music: Have a Smoke by Crowander (CC BY 4.0)

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/crowander/night-walk-urbanlo-fihip-hop/have-a-smoke

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0:01
Welcome to Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass. Jon is the founder and CEO of Image Group International and an award-winning image consulting and personal branding pioneer established in 1989. This podcast will bring you old-school wisdom, inspiring ideas, strategies, and hacks for the new tech world. Here you will learn everything about personal branding: the system, the techniques, and the right mindset to have a successful personal brand, image, and reputation.

0:30
How old and today we'll talk about how to achieve the life you desire. What a big, fascinating subject. Before we start, I kindly ask you to rate the show on the Apple podcast. Once you do that, please send us an email confirmation. And we will send you a free ebook, The Real World Guide to authentic personal branding. Cheers. So let's start out a chat. We all have dreams, goals and aspirations that we wish to achieve in this lifetime. The tricky part though is connecting the dots between what we want and how we're going to achieve those things. And I'm going to explain to you what that means. And what that means specifically, is getting really clear that I'm going to share with you in this podcast around why, as the first point, why do you exist? And that won't be a question to ask, Why do you get up to a bed every morning? You have a choice, right? Okay, you could stay in bed all day. But why do you get out of bed every morning? You know, what is it that drives you? What is it that gets you to consider what you're going to create that day? And this is the point of our conversation today. So I'm going to explain to you how we're going to get there. And certainly, give you some tips on how to do that in the most effective way. That I know. And certainly that our clients are put into action. And I've seen the successful themselves.

2:06
So let me share with you some truths, we complain that we don't have enough money in life, not enough romance, not enough success, not enough joy. But what happens, every time we do that we're pointing fingers, and we're blaming outside of the problems that happened to us. And of course, what that does is makes life that much more difficult. So the concept here is really the first point is, you know, how do you take responsibility, responsibility for what you do. So we need to understand and keep that at the forefront of our minds. That greatness exists in all of us. It's simply up to us to pull it out of ourselves, meaning it's already there. You know, in the times, it's been so deeply buried, that you have no access to it. But with the right framework, certainly with yourself, maybe with a friend, maybe with a professional, you can draw out some of that greatness that you don't see in yourself. Because you know what something is really interesting about all of this. And this is a bit one of those, you know, little secrets, we are actually not very good at analyzing ourselves. We have all these opinions about everybody else. But when it comes to ourselves, we're not very good at that. And there are many reasons that we do that. But that's the reality, we're not so good at picking what's going on with ourselves. So this is the key here to at least be open to that possibility. Because if you're not open to that possibility, of course, nothing happens.

3:52
And we all want to have the ability to create the life that we want. That's a fact. We just need to learn how to do it. And unfortunately, you know, the traditional education system doesn't teach you any of that. You know, it's not designed for you, you know, the traditional education system is not designed for you to have a great life. It was designed specifically, you know, do the training, get that piece of paper, get a job, that's fine for getting a job. But what we're talking about here is a life that's actually beyond the job. So there is no magic formula, but I will give you some more tips that will help you to get closer to your final objective. But the only caveat there is only if you're willing to take some action. So as I noted earlier, step one is this talk no less than 100% responsibility for your life. So let me explain that. It's your promise to yourself. If you're willing to break promises to yourself, how do you expect the world to see you from the perspective of credibility, if you're breaking, you know, the responsibility number one that is to yourself? So what we say there is, obviously, be responsible to yourself and accountable. And this is very important, because if you've noticed, in the culture that we live in today, society as a whole, you know, it's always a blame game, you know, it's a blame game. It's constantly if it's, you know, the big narratives out there is all about victimization. It's all about somebody else's fault. It's never looking in the mirror and saying, How the hell did I create this in my life. So it's always about blaming somebody else blaming circumstances, blaming the government blaming your taxes, blaming, blaming, blaming, you know, and that's, that's fine if you want to do that. But as we all know that that's certainly non-productive, and certainly does not create the possibilities that you're probably looking for in your life, it actually probably takes you further away from your goals, as opposed to closing. Step number two, find your purpose. And by that, I mean, really learn how to live your values. Now we're all in different pathways in our lives. So depending on our age, you are, obviously, if you're 15, it's totally different to being 25, or 35, or 45, or 65, for that matter. So all these, what we would call is paths in life, and the journey that comes across your values might be in a different place at that moment in time. But your values are everything, your values are what you picked up in your family, what you picked up in your education, and what you picked up from a societal point of view. The interesting concept here, you will ask, is this in reference to finding your purpose? And your core values? the question you want to ask yourself is this is my core values congruent with what society tells me to do? I might call values congruent with my life and my family. And if they are not, it takes responsibility then to say, hey, you know what, I'm gonna create my own destiny here and choose my own path, and possibly, you know, have the choices to make another U-turn if I have to, to go another way. Because this is essential, you know, life is not your job. Okay? Life is about you living with joy. And, of course, of course, how the whole concept has been set up, it's all about your job, job, job, job. And of course, before you know it, you know, you're not living your true purpose anymore.

7:46
So the key here is to do a little bit of exploration, I'm not saying it's easy, you know, and it sounds easy. But it's, you know, at times, depending, you know, what your experiences in life have been, you know, for some people, they're a little bit more difficult than others. But whatever pain at times people hold on to, the more you can release that, the more you become free. So certainly, I'm a big advocate of doing everything possible to release that trauma included. Step three is about being clear about what you want. And if you're not clear about what you want, obviously, you're going to get something that you're going to end up not being so happy with. So getting clarity on what you want is important. So on a simple level, getting clear on what you want is, of course, we mentioned, obviously, your overall personal life getting clear about that, that's relationships, you know, designing your life, from the point of view of what type of relationships you want, you know, what type of relationships you don't want, and I'm talking about one on one hand, and universal, you know, and there are some hard lessons sometimes when you go down that track because obviously, we know that relationships is one of the hardest things in life to get right. It's to get clear on what you want. So relationships is one that's so personal, then you got your career, you know, get clear about your career, just because you've studied, you know, you're graduating you got a double degree or whatever, does not mean you're actually stuck with that profession. You know, your opportunities. And I would strongly recommend this, if, if you're not happy in your current career, or the, you know, the choices you made in your studies, it's okay, you can always start again, nothing wrong with it. So be very clear about that. And it's not a waste, right? It's whatever you've done along the way, it's part of your journey. So look at it from that perspective. And number three, that sort of link with Korea is your business if you intend to go into business now, of course, we're big promoters of business because, from an entrepreneurial point of view, we believe it's the opportunity to create your own destiny. Now, that doesn't mean that's easy, you know, and that's where you know, entrepreneurship and responsibility go together because you will not survive if you're not responsible as an entrepreneur, certainly not in long term. 

10:10
So get clear on what you're looking for, you know, what is it that really drives you a gate. And we know that in wants and needs, most things are related to sex, money and power if you really want to be crass about it, and very simple about it, but the reality, you know, and the way you want to look at that, when I just shared with your sex, of course, is relationships. Money is obvious, you know, money and wealth creation. And then, of course, power is in this context, personal power. This is about being empowered, as opposed to actually using power over people. So this is the key here. And of course, any true leader will tell you, you know, specifically, it's about building people up not bringing people down. And if you do experience people that bring you down, obviously, that's not leadership, that's toxic behaviour that you want to quickly get out of. Step four, if you want a different outcome, of course, it's changing your behaviour. And that's again, one of the hardest things to do. Because why we're conditioned when grain from an early age to follow the rules of the game, very rare, do get people to break out of those norms. But I'm giving you some tips today. And the more complicit you are in your behaviour, the more you don't at least question things, the more you can predict that your path is very certainly predictable. But also the outcomes are fairly well, the world is predictable. Anyway, so pattern recognition. If you study patterns long enough, you'll see that it's all predicting behaviour that's taking you down a particular path and similar results. The behaviour aspect is also one of the hardest because it's so ingrained in you that to get even feedback on it gets very personal. And you get very, you know, generally, people would get very, very touchy around it. And I understand that right. No one likes to be criticized, no one likes to be given, you know, hard feedback and so on. But sometimes, and I can't stress this enough from, you know, age-old wisdom, concept. Tough love works. Okay. Tough love works. And if you are not into that today, and we're living, remember, we've just gone through COVID, we've got a war going on right now. Okay. We don't know what's around the corner tomorrow. Okay. Tough Love is essential. Here. There's no mucking around, ladies and gentlemen, it's about getting your act together. And part of that behaviour shift also means resilience, you know, getting basically really comfortable with what's going on. And I understand, you know, what does that comfortable mean? Or what I like, what's going on in the world? Well, if you're going to get comfortable with the uncomfort of your being, and what's going on around the world, you're going to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, if that makes sense. Hopefully, I've made my point. So that's one of the keys. Yeah, changing behaviour, though, is not easy. It's a daily practice, you know, and it could be something simple. It could be you start the morning with a meditation, you know, it could be starting the morning, with some exercise, it could be starting in the morning, with some journal writing, whatever it is for you, whatever it is for you, as long as it's different. You know, from yesterday, you're actually altering your step by step in very incremental, small steps, your behavior. But it could also be that as simple as, you know, combing your hair differently, you know, that's how simple it is. I don't care where people start, as long as they're willing to put up their hand and say, You know what, I'm willing to look at this because whatever I'm doing is not supporting my future moving forward.

13:49
And finally, let's talk about step five, how to stay motivated on the way. Now, this is a hard one, also, because to stay motivated in a world full of depression and negative news and specific disinformation and misinformation and fake news. It's not easy, okay. It's not easy at all. So how do you stay motivated? Well, first of all, again, it's, you know, the most important thing in your life, is you. That's it, that's the way it works. Okay. Number one is you from an individual perspective. Anyone that tells you otherwise, is actually fibbing to you. So the idea here is how to stay motivated. Because how do you empower your partner, your family, your community, your business, your country, if you're not motivated yourself, okay? So it's about you know, how to build that energy in you on a daily basis that gets you to stay motivated and get you in a position where you go out there and create what's best for you. And with all the negative stuff out there, and this is another tip for you if that's affecting you Fine, fine, do not ignore that you cannot ignore things because they will chase you. So what you do with that is take five minutes in that hour, you know, and let it roll out, you know, there's some screaming, bash some walls, I take that chair, I don't know, whatever works for you get it out of the elegant system, and then for the next 55 minutes in that hour, stay motivated in creating what you're looking for. And that's the key here, you know, and of course, if you can't do it by yourself, ask, you know, ask a friend, a colleague, but definitely look into it. Right? And the sooner you look into that, the better for you, if that's an issue for you, and I'm only suggesting if it's an issue for you, if it's not an issue for you, hey, we've got nothing to worry about. But it takes a lot of courage to get on this track about trying to find out, you know how to have a great life. It's not easy, okay. But it takes courage. It takes vulnerability. It takes a lot of spirits. Next time you meet somebody, you know, what a spirit mean? What it's about heart. Okay, if there's no heart in the person that spirits dormant, I guess. So you're going to look at the heart. Is there a hard day? And of course, certainly, from my perspective, if there is no hardly anyone I'm dealing with, I don't trust them. Bottom line, what about you.

16:19
So let me share a story with you about how I've helped the client achieve the life he desired. By the way, life design is really a journey. So certainly to this moment in time is very, very happy. But let me share with you what's happened, this particular gentleman studied, obviously, law, went into law school, got a double degree, got another degree in business after that, and of course, got his desired position on one of the biggest law firms. But what he discovered after being there for 15 years, you know, so this is, this is not two or three years, it was a while, what he discovered was that particularly partners at the firm, we're not interested in actually promoting people on their merit, they're more interested in really getting somebody to spend all this time and effort there, you know, I 2530 years. So they can then become partners, and specifically, feel like they've, you know, reached the mountain. So what I discovered along the way was, there was no freedom to express himself, no freedom to bring his spirit out, and definitely no freedom to position and brand himself. And, you know, getting self known, because the intention was, you know, really just staying your job, do the work. And you'll be fine in, you know, 2530 years, he discovered after a while, obviously, you know, been doing this for 15 years, that Hey, enough is enough. And what happened from that was specifically, you know, throw a bit of work. All the things I mentioned today, you know, changing behaviours, reconditioning his mindset around his future. And so what we did was we repositioned him into a new position with a new firm, that had an entrepreneurial spirit, and really valued some of his skill sets, as opposed to actually suppressing them. And what that did was, of course, he went for this new position. And over time, he became a partner, and today is a partner in a law firm, that specifically not only brings him a financial return that he's very happy with, and he's got other benefits that he did not have previously, but he gets up every morning feeling alive. And this is the key here, you know, so this is a key here, or what is it that's going to get you up every morning, feeling alive? And if it's not there, no point blaming, you got to ask yourself, What am I doing that specifically has created this. And if you do that, you're the first step to transformation. And this is very, very important. So you know, I like to ask hard questions. In reference to that, I can give you many, many more stories of clients. But I also have a lot of empathy and know how difficult it is for a lot of people. Because we are so conditioned in this racket going on in society that you know, we're supposed to follow all these rules that are times you don't go against the human spirit, that at times we don't even know who we are. So the sooner you discover that the better for you.

19:49
So thank you for listening, and I do hope this episode gave you some insight and inspiration. As always, if you need my help with your personal brand journey please email me, and I'll be happy to work with you. The email is on the description of the episode. You can find more about me on social media. You can follow me on Twitter at Jon_Michail on LinkedIn as Jon Michail and on Facebook as Image Group International. I'd like to thank you all I look forward to next week. Have a great week. 

20:23
Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass" Podcast is sponsored by Image Group International, a global team of practical, digitally savvy personal brand and image strategists, based in Australia, committed to maximizing your impact, influence and authority in the business world.   To learn more and apply for your personal coaching, seminars and group workshops please visit imagegroup.com.au or call 1800 631 311.