It’s that time of the year again. Everyone has to pick a side. I’m not talking about Trump or Biden, Coke or Pepsi, or Samsung or Apple. I’m talking about whether to make a New Year’s resolution or not. I’m talking about making a promise to yourself that may hold the key to having a great year, but also, if past performance is any indicator of future results, will not survive past 2 to 3 weeks.

To resolve or not resolve - that is the question.

You don’t need to go very far to find tons of articles on how to keep your New Year’s resolution. This is not one of them.

There is only one resolution you need to make this year and in any following year. It’s best to renew it every year so you will stay on course. It applies to everyone regardless of nationality, religion, or gender. It has no age limits and no minimum skill requirements. It’s so simple and so powerful, yet it will never make a Top 10 list of New Year’s resolutions alongside “lose weight,” “stop (insert bad habit),” or “call my mom more.”

The hands-down, all-time, best New Year’s resolution is:

“I choose to be who I am meant to be.”

Allow me to explain. It’s not about picking a vocation - accountant, construction worker, or musician. It’s not about fulfilling a role - partner or spouse, parent, or CEO. It’s not something that can be measured in dollars, likes, or awards.

It’s about choosing to be the person you were meant to be so you can make your best impact in this world. Each one of us has something special inside that is ready to be fulfilled, but only if we choose to embrace it.

Perhaps you’re not convinced there is more for you or you worry the barriers are too much. I don’t know your situation, so I won’t presume to tell you what you should or should not think. What I will share is regardless of where you find yourself right now, you have everything you need already to achieve your fullest potential.

Think of an acorn. Every acorn has the potential to grow into a great oak tree. It doesn’t need to buy anything or change anything about itself. Similarly, you already have everything you need inside you to fulfill your full potential. You don’t need to buy a course or a product, and you certainly don’t have to change who you really are. You are the acorn. You are also the oak.

I will make one concession. Like the acorn, you cannot grow in isolation. You cannot defy the laws of nature or reality. You must be in the world and interact with the world. You need the right conditions to thrive and grow.

However, for most of us, how we connect with the world is not the real barrier. The real thing stopping most of us is we have not made the choice to be who were were meant to be.

Instead, we move along and take the obvious things, the expected things, or the shiny things. These can all be satisfying in their own way, but let's be clear - these are detours from what you are supposed to be. The great thing about a detour is it doesn't mean all is lost. It's just a different path to the same place.

But you have to choose your final destination in order to have a chance of getting there. You may arrive tomorrow, in a year, or you may not fully arrive before your time is up. However, you will have been on the right journey and enjoyed getting closer to your destination by choosing to be who you were meant to be. You will do more of the things that matter to yourself, to others, and the world. What exactly you do and how you do it may take various forms and can change over the years, but you will always recognize it because it energizes you.

So whether you make a standard New Year's resolution or not this year, join me in making the only one that really matters:

“I choose to be who I am meant to be.”

“Be who you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire.”

—St. Catherine of Sienna

Joe Kwon, the Connection Counselor is a leadership coach and keynote speaker who helps elevate careers by unlocking the ability to better connect with yourself and others. Contact him if you'd like his help.

To find out more and to access his podcasts, EZPZ blog and free leadership guides, go to www.connectioncounselor.com.

To learn more about Executive Presence, check out the Connection Counselor’s YouTube series, the Executive Presence Spotlight here.

Image by Galyna Greiss via Unsplash.com

Given everything that’s happening around the world these days, from rampant corruption and violence to growing discrimination, poverty, and social unrest, it’s all the more important for businesses and companies to establish a good brand presence. Chron emphasized how a good brand presence will help organizations build the loyalty of customers. In addition to this, well-executed branding strategies also help raise awareness, enhance credibility, and make it easier to launch new products.

There are many ways an organization can cultivate a good brand presence -- one of which is creating strong connections. That said, here are some tips on how businesses can establish a good brand presence by engaging its audience through various means.

Move with clarity

As with any other endeavor, the key to building a good brand presence is having a clear set of goals. Moving with clarity not only creates direction and guidance but also establishes standards that will measure progress. These things will be highly instrumental in curating a branding strategy that embodies the values of your company, all while touching the hearts of your audience. Additionally, as explained in our post ‘How to Make All the Right Moves So Everything Runs Smoothly’, being as unambiguous as you possibly can, makes it easier for your brand to stay connected with your audience and your employees. After all, moving with as much clarity as possible helps your potential clients to have clear expectations of what your brand can offer.

Establish yourself as an authority

More often than not, customers are hesitant to engage and interact with brands that are unfamiliar to them. And unfortunately, this creates a sad cycle where businesses can’t build a brand because people don’t know them, and people not knowing them is a result of not having a well-known brand. One of the ways to establish yourself as a legitimate business is to register your business as an LLC, as there are several benefits you can glean depending on the state you establish your business in. In this case, when forming an LLC here in New Jersey you enjoy the same protection as a corporation along with the tax benefits of a partnership or sole proprietorship. And by becoming an official company within the state, business owners have reported feeling increased support towards their brand by their local community.

This legitimacy also allows you to have access to the wealth of resources that the state provides to businesses in New Jersey aiming to market to wider audiences. In some parts of the country, choosing the right business structure can be as important as maintaining a reliable and highly professional image. For instance, entrepreneurs based in Ohio can easily gain a following if they perfectly embody such values since the prevailing mentality in the state is “buy local in Ohio.”

Collaborate with others

We’ve all heard of the adage “No man is an island” and believe it or not, this also applies to businesses. As a budding business, one of the foolproof ways you can establish a good brand presence is by collaborating with reputable brands. Forbes explained that these organizations can serve as mentors to your growing brand and introduce you to their audience. In most cases, such partnerships can also result in knowledge and idea-sharing, as well as brand exposure and awareness. While networking and collaborations are highly encouraged, it is important to first ensure that, of course, there is no conflict of interest between you and the other brand, so as to ensure a harmonious partnership.

Be responsive and easy to reach

In a world where the main channels of communication are social media platforms and instant messaging apps, it isn’t surprising that customers expect brands to be just as reachable as their friends and family. There are many ways you can live up to this expectation. One of the most popular methods is by doubling down on social networking sites. An example of a brand that cleverly utilizes such sites is Azazie from San Jose, California. Bridal boutique Azazie leverages Instagram by asking their brides to share their experiences with the brand and tag the shop on their every picture. Such a strategy not only showcases how reachable Azazie is but also enables the organization to harness the power of social proof through testimonials and personal images from clients.

How to Increase Your Chances of Having the Best Career

We all have physical needs that if not met, will put you in danger quite quickly. These include, for example, food, water, shelter, and sleep. Without these, you will not survive for long.

However, there is more to life than getting our physical needs met. To feel truly alive, several emotional needs must also be met. These include, for example, belonging, agency, purpose, and connection. Without these, you will not experience the fullness of life.

If you stop and think about it, we spend a large part of our adult lives at work. For many people, work provides a large portion of their physical and emotional needs. It's no wonder that when people suddenly lose their job or retire even, this can send them into a tailspin. It is also one of the reasons why when we feel stuck at work, it can feel like torture.

One tradeoff that comes with working for a company instead of yourself is that someone else gets to decide how far you advance. What this means is no matter what you do, if those "deciders" don't want to advance you, you will be stuck. After a few rounds of this, your career can start to feel like a sadistic, rigged game of Monopoly. No matter how hard you work, how much you contribute, how much value you provide, the result is always the same. It's like year after year, you draw the same Chance card -- Go directly to Jail, Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200. To add insult to injury, you see others move past you as they draw a very different Chance card -- Advance to Go (Collect $200).

I'm not here to judge whether what is happening to you is right or wrong. My only goal here is to point out the way the game works because if we choose to play the game, we should know the rules.

However, there is one important difference between Monopoly and our careers. While we cannot control which Chance card we will draw (i.e., we cannot control what others will decide), we can stack the deck in our favor. The way we can do this is by developing Executive Presence.

Have you ever wondered what really determines how far most people go at work? You've probably seen lots of "good" leaders get stuck and "bad" leaders advance. What is going on here? For most people, it's not our technical ability, character, or loyalty that determines how far we advance. It's not even how much we contribute to the company. At the end of the day, it all comes down to what the "deciders" think about your ability to lead. Who will get the next assignment, opportunity, or promotion?

Will it be you or Jack? You or Jill?

This is why Executive Presence matters. It's not about having a title, the best clothes, or the deepest voice. It's about how other people perceive your ability to lead. Whether they are right or wrong is, at least initially, sort of besides the point. It's about getting the chance to prove them right or wrong. Most people would like to at least be given the chance to fail, but the stakes are high, so only a few are chosen. Never being given the chance is demotivating, demoralizing, and can even be heart-breaking at times. In order to avoid falling into this rut, it is important, no matter what level you are at, to cultivate Executive presence, which I define as follows.

"Executive Presence is the ability to inspire confidence that you can lead well in a given situation."

Simply stated, "deciders" give opportunities to people who they believe will get things done. Period. If they don't believe you can, you won't get the chance. Executive Presence is not just a nice to have, it is the ultimate key to unlocking your full career potential.

What this means is it is never too early to cultivate Executive Presence.

Executive Presence is the engine that powers your career.

When it stalls, so does your career. In the articles that follow, we will discuss how to generate Executive Presence so you can drive as far and as fast as you would like. The other option is to sit in the back seat while others drive past you. The choice is yours.

Let’s get moving!

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This article was adapted from the new leadership book, Unlock Your Executive Presence: Feel Like a Boss. Find it here, along with other books from the Unlock Your Leadership series.

Joe Kwon, the Connection Counselor is a leadership coach and keynote speaker who helps elevate careers by unlocking the ability to better connect with yourself and others. Contact him if you'd like his help.

To find out more and to access his podcasts, EZPZ blog and free leadership guides, go to www.connectioncounselor.com.

To learn more about Executive Presence now, check out the Connection Counselor’s YouTube series, the Executive Presence Spotlight series here.