Personal branding

Personal branding is basically the way you market yourself to the world. Your personal brand is what other people think of you. In some ways it’s outside your control, but you obviously have some influence over it..


Characteristic of a personal brand

Clarity: You must be clear about who you are, what you stand for and what you offer your clients. WHY do you do what you do? You have to be able to communicate this verbally and visually in a clear, easy-to-understand manner.

Authenticity: How congruent and aligned are you with the real YOU? In our hyped, cluttered world, people can smell a fake from miles away. They are yearning for transparency and real-ness. When your brand message is clear, authentic and aligned with your values, AND you walk your talk, you’ll attract a large following of the people you are meant to work with.

Remarkability: What is the tone and intention of your brand? Can someone see and FEEL your brand personality within seconds of engagement? It’s okay to step out of the box – in fact, it’s your uniqueness and point of difference that will set you apart. You’ve got to be willing to separate yourself from the “safe and comfortable” herd and be a little outrageous. Fearless, really. Seth Godin calls this your “Purple Cow.” Brown and white spotted cows are a dime a dozen, but a purple cow, now that’s remarkable.

Energy: Everything is made up of energy, and your brand is a living, breathing organism. With every interaction, your clients are picking up on subtle energy cues. If you don’t have any real passion for what you are doing (or you’re doing it for all the wrong reasons), your lifeless brand will sputter along, wheezing and gasping for air. On the other hand, if you imbue your brand with passion and oomph, your brand will be irresistible.

Emotional Connection: Emotions make the brain sit up and pay attention. In order to have a truly powerful personal brand, you have to understand how you make your audience FEEL. Someone once said, “People won’t remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.” This is the core of an influential personal brand. In order to resonate strongly with your target market, you’ve got to make an emotional connection. The most powerful question you can ask yourself is, “How do I want people to FEEL when they experience my brand?”

Consistency: I see it all the time; entrepreneurs putting the cart before the horse, marketing to everyone and anyone, before developing a solid brand foundation. In order to be consistent with your brand message and your marketing, you first have to create your brand platform. Take the time to identify your brand attributes and target market, develop your compelling message and create your unique offerings of value. Once you have a clear foundation, then and only then are you ready implement consistency across all of your marketing channels – from your website and blog, to workshops, speaking engagements and social media platforms.

Distinctive Design: People make a decision about you and your brand within a few seconds of initial contact, so first impressions do count. We process through our eyes, so design has a keen emotional and memorable impact on the brain. Design will speak for you when you aren’t present and has the potential to stimulate a meaningful emotional response. Make sure that your visual branding elements are not only consistent across all media (business card, website, advertising, collateral materials, social media platforms etc.), but they are conveying the message AND the feeling you want your brand to evoke.

Social Engagement: Is your brand sparking any conversations? If not, then you haven’t found your Purple Cow. A powerful, authentic brand is an act of social engagement. YOU are making the conversation happen. You are participating, connecting and collaborating.

How to deliver a good Presentation

When a presentation time presenter must avoid reading slides & presenter has to prepare well before he/she delivering. Presenter’s voice must be cleared, and he/she must address the last row in the audience so your speech can hear to the audience.

Belbins Team Role Test

The results describe that the completer is responsible for the team’s achievements. Completers are concerned when errors are made, and they tend to worry because of their controlling nature. The completer is also known as a finisher because they are most effectively used at the end of a task. The weakness of a completer is unnecessarily rushing the planning stage of a project and Reluctant to delegate and worries too much. Most of the above results are same with my strength and weaknesses. Because I’m keen on finish work.

  

Time Management (Don't give 1 minute more or 1 minute less)

                                  

Time is a limited factor in our life. We have only 86400 seconds per day to spend. So Time Management is one of most important factor in our personal life. We failed to manage our time Regularly Because of procrastination

Procrastination

Procrastination is avoiding doing things that need to be done or leaving things undone for as long as possible.

                              

We have to avoid procrastination to manage our time.The following steps we can practice for manage our time

• ·       Set goals
• ·       Determine study time as well as free time
• ·       Prioritize your work
• ·       Maintaining a Diary

How to overcome the problem of reading Study texts

Reading a study text is a boring thing to do as a student, but specially as a University student we have to read text books regularly. A reason behind a success student is reading study texts and grabs knowledge. As a student we can overcome this problem by practicing the SQ4R method

SQ4R Method

Survey

In the first step take a couple of minutes to skim the chapter. Don't read it. Look at the chapter objectives, topic headings, picture/diagram captions, key words (if any), and read the summary.

Question

As you survey the material, ask the questions about what you will be reading and what you will try to answer. Turn the headings and subheadings into questions. These questions give you a real reason for reading and will help you concentrate on the subject you are reading.

Read

Now you should read actively with these certain questions in mind and attempt to answer the questions and organize the material. These answers will be the important facts and details. Read everything in a chapter including any of the visual aids such as picture captions, graphs, charts, etc. Note any words or phrases that are italicized, underlined, or in bold print The tendency in reading is to keep going, but you should stop at the end of each section to see if you can answer the questions you asked at the start of the section.

Recite

Summarize the main ideas, in other words, aloud or to yourself, after finishing a page. Check the comprehension and make sure you have the correct information. Do the same for the major points after reading each section or chapter.

Rite

Once you've understood the material and can summarize it in your own words, the next step is to record the information in some way. Some common methods are to highlight and/or mark the text, or take notes, or some combination of both. Whichever method or combination of methods you choose critical to remember to read and understand the material first, and then go back and record.

Review

When you’re done reading, skim back over the chapter, or read your notes. Then check your memory by reciting and quizzing yourself again. Make frequent review a key part of your study habits.

What is the best strategy for note taking?

There are two strategies for note taking

1. Cornell Note Taking System

                                     

Cue column- The space to the left of the vertical margin should be reserved for a cue (or recall) column. You should not write in this area during the lecture, while you are taking notes. The cue column is not created until you review your notes.

Note Taking Area- The space to the right of the vertical margin is where you actually record your notes during the lecture. Pick a note-taking format with which you are comfortable there are no hard-and-fast rules for this aspect of the Cornell system

Summerise- The area below the horizontal margin near the bottom of the page should be reserved for a summary of the notes on that page. A summary is brief at most, only a few sentences. The page summary provides a concise review of the important material on the page

2. Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a visual ideation technique in which an individual explores all aspects of an idea using a visual map or diagram. Mind mapping can be useful when facilitating a creative process or brainstorming session. One advantage is that it allows individuals to explore ideas uninterrupted.

Which strategy is more useful?

Note Taking strategy can be vary from one person to another. Because its depend which side of the brain person use regularly .if it is right side means person is creative and left side means person is more logical .logical people suits the Cornell Note Taking System & Creative People suits Mind mapping.

How to know which side of your brain use regularly?

Download the brain.exe file through this link- http://eye.snu.ac.kr/~jejoong/favor/accessory.htm,  and answer the question and they will provide a result.

My Result

SWOT Analysis

Strengths       ·Good Lerner from mistakes         · Computer Literacy       ·Time Management       ·Team Worker        ·Documentation Skill       ·Motivation       ·Reading Skills       ·Practical thinking	Weaknesses        ·Oral Presentation Skills        ·Communication skills        ·Note taking skills        ·Research Skill        ·Writing Skill        ·Laziness
Opportunity       ·study a programing language       · join to toastmasters to improve    presentation Skill          ·Do a part time job related to CIMA studies(in an audit firm)	Threats       ·Public transportation constraints       ·Time Constrains       ·Higher Expectation from parents

How to effectively answer questions in your exam?

I’m usually write paragraphs in the answer script, but the lecture told us the art of writing in the examination. The better method is point by point writing with an example. So it can help to show our arguments properly, and examiner will never miss your valuable points. I try this method in P3W in course examination; I think I’m successful in that occasion.

Google Active Listener Test Results

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law- If anything can go wrong, it will
                        

  If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong

Origin

     Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981, (a project) designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash.One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it."The contractor's project manager kept a list of "laws" and added this one, which he called Murphy's Law.

Bloom's Taxonomy

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. During the 1990's a new group of cognitive psychologists, lead by Lorin Anderson (a former student of Bloom), updated the taxonomy to reflect relevance to 21st century work

Remembering-Retrieving, recalling, or recognizing past knowledge from memory(recall information). 

Understanding-Explain ideas or concepts.

Applying-Using information in another familiar situation

Analyzing- Braking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships

Evaluating-Justifying a decision or cause of action

Creating- Generating new ideas,products or ways of viewing things

Components of a Portfolio

Self evaluation & profile sheets.

A profile of technical & vocational skills you've developed.

An up to date list of training & courses

Certificates (achievements, exams etc)

An up-to-date list of your work experience

Your curriculum vitae  (CV).

Your idea about where you’d like to be in 7 years time & what you need to do to achieve this

Examples of your work & interests

Degree certificate & transcript

Personal statement

Day 5

Today discussed about how to grab opportunities in industry level. When you're applying for a job company requires specified skills such as good communication skills, presentation skills, leadership skills, creativeness, etc. When you want to climb up in the company you must be capable of risk taking when an opportunity available otherwise your colleague will take that chance, Confidence, Commitment, leaderships are the attributes of risk taking.

Day 4 (Creativity and personal Qualities )

Mr Rehan explained there are two types of knowledge implicit knowledge and the explicit knowledge. Simply implicit knowledge is something you know but can't explain to another person. Explicit knowledge is something you know, and also you can explain it to another person.

Today’s discussion was about creativity and non-creativity. Creativity means “The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, and relationships, and generate meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations.” In a simple term's creativity can define as think out of the box. Creativity helps to success; the best example is anything,lk because they think creatively and design their E-commerce website and they success in the field. 

Later part we discussed some personal qualities. These personal qualities can develop through your Fine-tuning skills.

Awareness - knowledge or understanding of a subject, issue, or situation

Self-motivation- Ability to do what needs to be done, without influence from other people or situations. People with self-motivation can find a reason and strength to complete a task, even when challenging, without giving up or needing another to encourage them.

Commitment – An agreement to perform an activity in the future under some circumstances. 

Time management- the analysis of how working hours are spent and the prioritization of tasks in order to maximize personal efficiency in the workplace 

Determination-  The act of making or arriving at a decision and not given up the task until it success

Positive thinking - is the act of thinking good or affirmative thoughts

Perseverance- steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Day 3 (Skills and can imperfection create perfection)

Today the lecture was started with a surprise. Mr. Rehan told all students to prepare an airplane from a paper and after that he told to throw it to the White board, but there are few closest to the target but anyone cannot achieve the target. After that he guided all students to prepare a new one, and he told to fly that paper airplane. That one is more successful. The basic idea of this concept is the transformation of skills.

Skill means it is a learned activity and something you can develop through practice and reflection.

These are few types of skills.

Study skills 

Study skills are the abilities and approaches that can be developed from knowledge. The followings are the five study skill component.

•  Self-awareness and self-evaluation
•  Awareness of what is required
•  Methods, organization, strategies
•  Confidence and permission
•  Familiarity: practice and habit

Soft skills

Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects.

• Positive Attitude
• Flexibility/Adaptability
• Good Communication Skills
• Time Management Abilities
• Problem-Solving Skill
• Self-Confidence

Transferable skills

Transferable skills are the skills and abilities you have acquired during any activity in your life.

• Plan and arrange events and activities. 
• Delegate responsibility 
• Motivate others
• Multi-Task

Hard skills

Hard skills are skills that you learn over time or through your life

Ex-Technical skills

There was a debate in the later part of the lecture. The topic was can imperfection create perfection. There are both sides of this topic. If a person considered as a good lecture or a teacher, this topic was not valid because if a person can’t teach if he or she not good at it but in the world, anyone is not perfect, perfect mean ideal standards. Another side of the topic is if a person is a self-learner when he or she identified his imperfection and work hard on it and then the person can overcome their imperfections.

In the world there are two strategies, one is working on weaknesses and other 

Day 2 (Punctuality)

The second day of lecture was in the morning session, and three mates came late to the lectures, and Mr. Rehan got real annoyed, and he said punctuality is a most important thing in a life.

Punctuality is the characteristic of being able to complete a required task or fulfil an obligation before or at a previously designated time. As a student’s we need to improve our punctuality because when we entered to the industry level, we need to meet so many deadlines. If you are a punctual person, it’s become easy to handle deadlines, as well as being punctual show's respect and consideration for others. Punctuality also shows you have self-discipline and organizational ability. Being more punctual is all about good planning and organization and knowing when to act.

    “Punctuality is the soul of business”

                   Thomas Chandler Haliburton

As a human being we can’t be punctual at every time. Because there are lot of unavoidable reasons, but if you are on time eight times out of 10, then you are a punctual person, but if you are late more often than this, then your punctuality could do with a helping hand.

Today we got our Individual assignment. Lecture discussed about the assignment. It includes following two subsections.
                           • Research report & presentation of research
                           • Reflective portfolio report

There are six topics, and I selected Economic Impact of Outsourcing. We have to deliver our findings in a formal presentation.

Reflective portfolio is second part of the assignment. A portfolio is a collection of evidence that represents achievement, learning experience and analyzing skills within a module/course or programme of study. Portfolio will help for identify our strength and weaknesses, and it will encourage self-learning.

LFS day 1

My second semester started today, in the second semester I must follow 3 modules. Today the last lecture is on the learning for success (LFS) module. The lecturer was Mr Syed Rehan and he identified me in the class room because he taught me in the previous semester.

Today the lecture is on the introduction of this module and he started the introduction with joke, he said this module is not like ERD it is more practical than ERD, he said that because we found very tough to create ERD diagrams in the past semester. Mr Rehan display the content of the module and the study plan for this module.as I think LFS is the key module for BIT students because we have to do lot presentations in the industry level. As I think this module teach us the art of communications in verbal and nonverbal. He briefly tell about assignments we have to follow but not a long one and he told to create a blog site and maintain it .he said he will cheque the blog site regularly via “greasemonkey chord” .I am bit interested about what is greasemonkey chord but I fell tired today and I keep in my note to search it on a another day.