Is It Time For You To Re-Brand Yourself?
March 23, 2011 
3 Comments
I was in Walgreen’s today. My back has been bugging me, and when I went to get a massage the massage therapist recommended taking a bath in some Epsom Salts. So that’s what I was in Walgreen’s to buy.
At first, I couldn’t find them anywhere. I mean anywhere — I looked up and down every aisle. When I finally found some, they were in this plain blue Walgreen’s brand box that just said “Epsom Salts” on it. It was some of the worst packaging you’ve ever seen.
It was not sexy or “grab me” packaging. It was just boring packaging that looked like it was left over from forty years ago. Nothing on it, including the logo, looked like it had been updated . . . ever.
Then a guy who worked at the store showed me where there were some other Epsom Salts — lavender Epsom Salts. They were in a bag — a bag with new and modern packaging — and even had a lavender scent to them. It was as if Epsom Salts had become something fancy.
I want you to think about this for a second: How many times have you looked for something in your life, and if the packaging has changed you don’t recognize it? Then do you like the way it feels packaged this new way?
You do. You love the new packaging — the way it feels and looks, and the modern style about it. You like the fact that the company took some time and actually re-branded a product that was getting stale and old.
So now what I want you to do, is to go to a full-length mirror. Look at yourself in that mirror and ask yourself whether it is time to re-brand yourself.
Say it out loud, “Is it time to re-brand myself?” Is it time for you to look at your packaging — both internal and external?
Maybe go through a whole makeover. Do you like what you see? Do you know ways that you want to improve it?
The next question is this: How are you going to go about re-branding and re-packaging yourself, so that you are the person you desire to be and deserve to be? How are you going to do that? What steps are you going to take, and what action plan are you going to have?
Are you going to join one of my seminars, or maybe coach with me? Fantastic. Do you feel like you can do it on your own or do you have other mentors you can go to for guidance? Fantastic. Just be sure you have an action plan for how you are going to go about re-branding yourself.
So the next time into Walgreen’s looking for yourself and you can’t find you, it will be because you don’t recognize that brand new, amazing packaging. You’ll see it by the way people respond to you with your new packaging. You’ll also respond to your own new packaging and think to yourself how cool and powerful it feels to be updated.
David,
I could not help but laugh at how relevant this posting is to my life situation. First of all, I live and work in the town that I was born and raised. I have been working for Walgreens since I was 18 and yes, not much of the private brand product is packaged well.
I have been in the process of re-branding myself for quite some time now. For me it started with just getting out there and breaking my routine of work, school, home and repeat. I learned that the world will give you credit for showing up. Going places and being as personable as I am on the job initially resulted with some of the locals literally walking up to me and saying “hey, you’re that guy that works at Walgreens! I NEVER see you anywhere else!!” One woman even insisted on having a picture taken of us, she then sent it to her daughter… I felt like a local celebrity, it was hilarious!
Re-branding my look has been fun too. For lack of a better term I have always been a petite guy, 5’4″ and a smidge over 100 pounds. My problem in the past was wearing mens size clothing because my own monkey chatter told me that men don’t wear boys sizes. The result was for the last six years at work I was wearing clothes that made me look like a deflated balloon.
A few weeks after getting over myself and getting a few outfits in a boys large which fit me perfectly, I was shocked at how many people asked me if I lost weight, or said that I looked different and they could not put their finger on the reason why. Now I embrace the boys 8-20 section at any clothing store, and I love the opportunities to find unique items (Like a shirt that changes color with your body temperature) that help me to be the very interesting guy I am.
Re-branding myself internally has been a lot more challenging, but the rewards have been beyond measure. In the past year I have allowed myself to become social, embraced my need for independence and purchased my own home, and in the process I have begun to connect with people.
This last Saturday I went to my local Starbucks in the morning, with one of my worst hangovers ever from the night before. I got a vanilla tea and an apple muffin and just sat down and allowed myself to relax and take in what was going on around me. I observed some interesting conversations, and even had one myself with a woman who was waiting to meet someone there. At the end of our conversation she gave me her e-mail and asked me to add her on Facebook, making a comment that it is so hard to find “cool people” in the suburbs. When she said that I could not help but smile and say “yeah, I know what you mean”.
My action plan for continued improvement is to finish the renovations on my condo and get myself moved in ASAP, and finally embrace what it means to be an independent man in the land of opportunity. From there I am going to allow myself to rediscover my passion for cooking, and as I result I am going to have a much better diet. From there I am going to put on at least 20 pounds of muscle with a good exercise routine. Most importantly, I am going to be out there learning as much as I can about life until I finally figure out what I want to do with my life, because being “Walgreens guy” is definitely not it!
When people maybe want to rebuild themselves, a make over is really a must. The most obvious is really in the physical aspects.
My own ritual is to shave my beard and cut my hair.
Obviously the physical aspect is a way to re-brand yourself, but another one of my favorites is on the mental side. Though counter-intuitive, there are times where I go on a “No-Woman Diet”. WTF?
The reason why I do this is to void becoming de-sensitized to the sensations I get when meeting women. So that when I do get back into it, and because I’m a little smarter now, I can pick up on little nuances that I didn’t see before and see what I was doing before and what I’m doing now. All the while going back to basics and having fun with the sensations as if it were the very first time, except that the improvements become amplified.