Another good Goop podcast I’ve recently listened to was with Emily Hickey, a seasoned marketer. It goes beyond the Podcast title of Building a Lasting Brand.

I suppose this pertains more to people who have built their business brand as a personal extension of themselves.

Having thought more about it, I think the insights apply to every brand.

Even if you were hired as an external brand builder, you’ll need to connect the mechanics of your actual work to your reason for doing.

Below are some notes from the Podcast that really stood out for me.

Embrace the struggle and the introspection

The urge to create yourself, to become whole, takes struggle and awareness. A lot of meaning comes from wrestling with your light and shadow.

That’s the first noble truth of Buddhism: to live is to suffer. But suffering is the best teacher for discovering your “why.”

Here is a way to get to know yourself – Visualization

That’s why I think knowing yourself—your purpose, your shadow, your strengths—is critical. Without that self-awareness, people struggle.

So how can someone start that process?

I think you need structure. I’m not a therapy person, but I believe in visualization. Einstein used visualization to discover relativity—seeing what you want is powerful. Many people can’t picture a life that makes them happy.

How do you figure out your gifts and talents if you can’t already tell?

By making micro-decisions. I pictured the life I wanted and stopped chasing what didn’t fit. I realized I loved marketing and growing companies—that was my “zone of genius.” I tell young people: figure out what you’re best at among a hundred people. That’s your thing.

I agree. Joy comes from doing what you’re good at. The hardest part is doing what you’re not meant for.

Exactly. And admitting that is freeing.

What are some signs that you’re off-track?

That’s the midlife crisis—when anxiety, boredom, or depression set in. It’s the soul’s alarm bell. You have to be willing to make big changes, which takes courage.

Try Neuro-lingustic programming (NLP) to check the stories you tell yourself

It’s basically about your self-narrative—the stories you tell yourself that shape your reality. It asks, “Have you created a glass ceiling for yourself?” In my case, I had. My family circumstances had built one for me, and I’d kept it in place without realizing it.

So much of NLP is about turning on the lights in your own room—seeing what’s really there. It’s about getting out of your own shadow. Even after reading just the first chapter of that book, a huge light bulb went off for me. I realized I was making decisions out of low self-esteem and fear of failure.

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