Build your personal brand
You don’t need gold chains or sold-out stadiums to be successful like the world’s biggest rappers. Follow this blueprint to becoming a walking brand
PROBABLY AT THE TOP OF THE LIST OF JAY Z’S MOST RECOGNISABLE LYRICS IS ‘I’M NOT A BUSINESSMAN, I’M A BUSINESS, MAN.’
e line, from Kanye West’s “Diamonds from Sierra
Leone (Remix)”, continues to inspire me to this day and it’s encouraged me to take an honest look at how I conduct myself. Sure, this may appear as conceited, but sometimes a little ego is just what’s needed to go a long way when it comes to making a mark in your industry, whichever one you’re in. With this in mind, here are my ve tips to help you build the business of you.
Invest in a better you
Start with relentless selfdevelopment. Commit to it. And I don’t mean just reading books or casually listening to podcasts. To truly become better, you need to immerse yourself in coaching, workshops, and challenges that require you to rise to new higher heights every so o en.
is shouldn’t be done haphazardly – you need to be intentional and it needs to tie into a big vision. What’s the end goal? Every business has a vision of the future. You need one too.
Banish your bad habits
A lot of us are usually good at coming up with big ideas and setting grand goals. We’ll o en work on things to make sure we achieve too. However, we aren’t always as keen when it comes to culling the things that distract us or hold us back.
It could be food or the way you dress. It could be that you have toxic friendships or it could be that you sometimes spend your time unproductively.
e most important thing is that you’re self-aware and when you identify it, eliminate it.
Start collaborating
ink of Aerosmith and Run DMC’S “Walk is Way” or Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” with Ol’ Dirty Bastard. e music industry loves collaborations.
ey give musicians a chance to join two worlds, as well as their artistry, with the hopes of a chart-topping result.
Upskilling and bettering yourself requires input from others. is could be through working with various people on projects, asking someone in your eld to mentor you or even getting a life coach.
e earlier you start looking for these relationships, the earlier you’ll succeed. Every opportunity you could ever want lies on the other side of a conversation with someone else.
Do what you love
Don’t confuse this with being told to blindly follow your passion – I nd it to be useless advice. But if there’re activities you excel at, you tend to gravitate towards them because you enjoy them. Find those things and fully immerse yourself in them. You’ll nd yourself energised and living more harmoniously. is is an extremely practical but also di cult step to take.
Most people don’t even know what they love doing, or even worse: they never take the time to gure out what it is they’re actually good at. If you want to reach the top, you’ll take the time to nd what’ll get you there.
Be in it for the long haul
Before Roc-a-fella Records, Jay-z was selling CDS from the boot of his car. He didn’t wait for a record label to come around and when the big shots rejected him, he decided to start up his own and eventually sign others.
When you have a long-term vision, you make decisions di erently and deliberately. You realise that what you do today is in service of something much bigger. You may doubt yourself o en along the way and there will be hiccups, but you have to trust your intention and the direction you’re moving in, no matter how fast or slowly things happen for you.
Commit to it, man
I don’t care who you are – you have what it takes to take things to the next level in all areas of your life.
But becoming a business – a commodity or brand – isn’t easy and won’t fall into your lap. So, the question becomes: do you want it badly enough?
‘When you have a long-term vision, you make decisions differently.you realise that what you do today is in service of something much bigger’