because what you surround yourself with is what becomes your life.
-Topaz
It becomes who you are. It becomes your brand.
You are your brand. What you bring to your life in terms of attitude, choices, perspectives…all these things are your brand – what people think of when they see you, how you even see yourself.
Having been a portrait photographer for many years, I learned to think in terms of brand a lot and became acutely aware of the fact that in this type of industry, *I* was my brand.
The more I thought about my life in this way, the more I realized it has always been this way. I am my brand. This fact is also true of our own personal lives.
What you surround yourself with is what becomes your life. This is your brand. What you immerse yourself in is what becomes your life.
Are you living the way you want others to see you? The way you want to see yourself? Are you surrounding yourself with what moves your soul?
Are you being true to your brand, the person you want to be? What resonates with you? Is that what you are living?
If you take a step back right now and looked at your life, your home, your friends, your facebook pictures, your instagram, and your pinterest account, what are all these things saying about you? What is what you are reading, doing on the weekend, and who you are spending time with saying about you? Are these things moving your soul? Are you living the story you want to tell?
We often find ourselves living life on autopilot, not following our inner compass…that which moves us.
The most important thing about our brand is not how others are seeing us, but are we being the person we want to be. Are we creating the life we want to live?
Life is about so many things. It is not only about what we do but how we do it? It’s about what we give and seeds we plant.
It’s about…
The words we use.
The hobbies we have.
The way the simple things move our soul.
The style we have.
The jewelry we wear.
The books we read.
The movies we watch.
The art we create.
The words we write.
The people and places that we choose to capture forever.
The way in which we make the little things the special things.
The things we post on facebook.
The attitude we choose every day.
The way we see others.
The way we speak of others when they are not around.
The things with which we surround ourselves.
The art we have in our home.
The music we have playing.
The things we give.
The seeds we plant.
All these things make up who we are. They are our brand.
These all say things about who we are.
Life is funny, though. We often like things we never do. We love clothes we never buy to wear. And sometimes we realize we are not the person we want to be. Life happens to us instead of us happening to life.
The point of all of this is to say….
Live life on purpose.
Surround yourself with what moves you, because what you surround yourself with is what becomes your life.
Sit down and make a list of who you want to be. Make a list of the things you love. This is a perfect exercise for your Inspirational Journal.
Who do you want to be?
What do you love?
Make a pinterest board with styles you love, and then sort through it and find what you are predominantly seeing. Is this what’s in your closet?
What music MOVES you?
What books inspire you?
Start making lists in your Inspirational Journal. Define who you want to be. List what moves you. Be intentional about your life.
Sometimes I see the incongruency in my life between what I want and love and the daily choices I make. And that is the whole point of this exercise. When we become more conscious of what we love and want and who we want to be versus the daily choices we make, it gives us a map. When we have a map, our daily choices will start to reflect where we want to go.
Writing on the wall of life,
~Topaz
It’s amazing how much your posts resonate with me. Probably because I recently decided that some things need to change in our family life. I don’t know how familiar you are with it, but we have a few blog posts about it, and we know it’s not ideal. We have been slowly working on that and we hope that we will be able to achieve our dreams and re-brand our family to have the life we love and enjoy.
I haven’t seen those posts, but I did go back the other day and read your husband’s recent post. My heart goes out to you and your family. That is a difficult situation. I know what it’s like to have something hard and heavy weighing on you. That might be why my posts resonate with you. The words I write is how I get through a day. This is how I create a beautiful life. A life can be beautiful no matter what the circumstances. I still think about your beautiful dodge ball story with your son. That was priceless. You guys are doing something right and something very beautiful. I have no doubt that with the attitude you have that you will achieve your dreams. We are in a very similar place with both of us being in a very difficult place and determined to go after our dreams. I think in some ways it puts us in the perfect place to go after our dreams. It is uncomfortable where we are at. Sometimes that place is what adds the drive necessary to make something happened. We are determined and focused. We have some beautiful days ahead. And we still have a lot of beautiful in our lives today. I’m so glad you are here, Ana Lynn.
I often get stuck in autopilot mode. I love the idea of visualizing myself as my own unique brand, and evaluating my choices and day-to-day activities against that brand. I like that it gives structure to the process of determining my purpose and whether or not I feel like I’m fulfilling it. Thanks for the inspiration!
I loved the idea of carrying that over to my personal life, too, Katie. It makes so much sense when we think of it like that….what we do, the choices we make. It gives it all purpose. And you are right, it gives it structure. I like that.
Great Post! I’m a dirk believer that we are not truly living until we are Living IN Purpose, ON Purpose, and you are encouraging the same here 🙂
Oh, I like that…living in purpose, on purpose. It’s nice to meet you, Tiffany!
I’m so happy I visited your blog :). This post is exactly where I am in life, re~mapping! Your post has given me some great tips to help me work towards the life I want.
Have a beautiful weekend 🙂
So glad it spoke to you, Limeade Gal! It’s a wonderful thing when what is speaking to us, speaks to someone else. Thank you for visiting and have a beautiful weekend, too!
WOW so much to ponder! “Are you living the story you want to tell?” <– That is immensely powerful. I do have a journal where I often write the things I love, the things I need to change, the person I want to be, but I'm going to take to it this weekend and consider some of the many provoking questions posed above.
I'm glad I stumbled here from the SITS Sharefest! Your writing is powerful and I look forward to exploring more.
It really is, Meredith. This is it. This is our life. This day is our life. This is our story. I love that you are already doing this. I wanted to for years, but the perfectionist in me just couldn’t work out the details, but shortly after I started this blog, it just flowed. It all made sense. I love adding to it, and I also love that I have a vision board page in it. I love that page. I’m so glad you stumbled across my blog. I really look forward to connecting more.
I have been thinking a lot about branding in relation to my blog – and struggling to figure out what my blog’s brand is. I think this beautiful post will help me stay true to myself as I do so! Happy weekend! Found this at the Saturday Sharefest, by the way 🙂
So glad it helped, Susan. It really is all-encompassing, and is part of who we are as a person…and who we want to be. It’s a lot to think about. Thank you so much for visiting.
My life is constantly hectic and while I try to read as many posts as I can fit into my day, I rarely get to read any of them. Today, knowing that I have to get ready for the arrival of one of my daughters and one of her sons, who will be spending the weekend with me, I’ve been taking breaks while cleaning my house and when I saw the plethora of links in my email, I just decided to delete all of them, knowing I couldn’t possibly read any of them, but the first one I clicked on was yours and I’m so happy I read it. I’ll be back for more!
Your post was inspiring. I have just come to a point in my life where I’ve determined that for the first time in my life I’m going to be authentically me! That’s saying a lot, considering I just turned 63! Your post came at just the right time. I love when serendipity plays a role in those things that “accidentally” come into my life.
Thank you!
How serendipitous, Theresa! And good for you. I just want to celebrate with you getting to this point point. I turned 50 last year, and something just clicked, and I decided that I was tired of not showing up. I was tired of listening to the voices in my head that had silenced my voice for years. So kudos to us! They should have virtual parties for this kind of thing. It’s wonderful to meet you, Theresa. I look forward to connecting more.
This is beautiful! We so easily forget that we are our own PR. How often to we post or text something on an impulse? How often do we later wish we hadn’t? It means slowing ourselves down, which is a hard thing to do these days. Definitely something to think about. And I love your tips on creating an Inspirational Journal! Visiting from SITS Sharefest 🙂
EXACTLY, Brittany! We must be much more intentional about what we say and do and see if it aligns with the person we want to be, the brand we want to be. Glad you enjoyed this and the inspirational journal. I LOVE mine SO much. I can’t recommend them enough. Thank you for connecting. It’s nice to meet you.
Oh… I think I have found like minded friends. Loved your post. I’ve struggled with blogging because I thought my posts didn’t fit any category. Still, I can’t stop writing. I write from my soul as I learn life lessons and try to draw beauty to me. Thanks for making me feel “heard”
Suzanne
http://www.chapter-two.net
I love when we connect with each other like that. I struggled with fitting my thoughts into a category, too. Blogs can feel very niche, and there is just something in me that screams I need freedom and room to be me. It had to be something I wanted to get up and feel like it still fit every day. It took me years to figure out that led to The Art of a Beautiful Life. This wasn’t my first blog, but I know now this is home. The others were just part of the journey to here. This…I can get up every day and feel like it will always fit. It’s wonderful to meet you, Suzanne. I look forward to connecting more.
I’m beginning to learn I’m not `just` a mom or wife, I’m these and a whole lot more.
I love being a wife & a mom, but I’m a person who enjoys other things, too.
So I am starting to do other things I enjoy, like blogging & reviews.
It was nice to see you at SITSSharefest
I did a writing prompt on my blog.
I love that you said that, Michelle. Being a mom is the best thing I have ever done. Hands down. But I was always me being a mom. I was me long before I was a mom. I love that you recognize you can love being those things but still be you loving those things. I just love that you get that. Thank you for stopping by and sharing that.
Oh, a writing prompt. I will check that out.
Oh my goodness! I so needed this post.I’ve been thinking about this very subject a lot lately. I’m trying to decide who I am. Thank you for writing this.
Love that this has been on your heart, too, Katherine. Have you seen the inspirational journal posts? That is a great place to keep things like this as you define yourself and your brand. I LOVE mine. It’s wonderful to meet you.
Live life on purpose, I love that. I’ve often thought about things this way – that everything I do and say and weave into my story is part of my own personal brand. When I am focused on it, it really does make a difference in how I live my life. Love that Topaz quote!
Exactly, Tricia. All the little things we say and do make up who we are. Being intentional about the story we live, the brand we create, can make all the difference. So wonderful to see you, Tricia!
Your writing is so beautiful, and I feel so uplifted after reading your posts. I feel like I’m at such a crossroads in my life, and I’m trying to figure out who I want to be during the second half of my life. Thanks so much for this thought provoking post.
You just make my day every time I read your comments, Lana. Sounds like we are at a similar place. How great that we can adjust our sails at any time.