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Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich
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  • Post category:Guest Blog

by Taz Burwaiss

Respect Yourself has asked me to write about the topic of knowing yourself, and how this relates to your career. I’m really pleased they’ve asked me to write on this topic, as it’s a hugely important topic in the world of business and marketing.

When I launched my personal branding and career consultancy Rocket in January 2022, I thought it was going to be the biggest thing in town. It’s been a few months now since launching, and unfortunately, this has not been the case.

There are a few reasons why my side business hasn’t been an instant success. I’m not going to go into all of them. But I am going to touch upon one important point. And that’s the issue of having a niche.

When I launched my business I went against my own advice. I thought to myself that my product is suitable for EVERYONE. That was a mistake. By targeting everyone, I ended up targeting no one. Your business (or career) needs to have a specific focus in order for your messaging to become meaningful. So I then made the decision to refocus my brand into a specific niche, in which I chose sustainability.

This now gives me more of a focus. Rather than messaging Tom, Dick and Harry, I’m now only focusing on people who relate to the world of sustainability. Instantly, we now have a strong mutual interest.

I picked this niche for a few reasons:

  1. it’s something I love and am passionate about
  2. it’s something I’m experienced in and knowledgeable in
  3. it’s something the world needs
  4. it’s a potentially profitable industry to sit within

This methodology uses the Japanese concept of Ikigai, which translates as “Reason for being”.

Ikigai-EN by Nimbosa
Ikigai-EN by Nimbosa under Creative Commons license

How to get to know yourself

There are three tips that I can share with you here when it comes to getting to know yourself.

TIP 1: Ikigai

Use the concept of Ikigai to help guide your thought process.

TIP 2: Take the Myers-Briggs personality test

This exercise will help get your brain warmed up, and point you in the right direction.

The personality test scores you based on each side of the psychological and emotional spectrum. The criteria largely focus on:

  • Mind: are you Introverted or Extroverted
  • Energy: are you Structured (have an ’employee’ mindset) or Intuitive (have an ‘entrepreneurial’ mindset)
  • Nature: are you a Thinker (you tend to make decisions based on reason and logic) or a Feeler (emotions play a large factor in how you make decisions)
  • Tactics: to what extent you are a Prospector or a Judge

The best thing to do is to take the free personality test and find out which personality type you are.

TIP 3: Deep reflection

It’s also important to be able to think clearly for yourself.

Typically your mind is in either one of two states.

Firstly, the default state of mind is the ‘focused state of mind’. This is usually between 8:30am and 6pm. This is probably the worst time to do any kind of creative thinking or reflecting. Your best bet during this state of mind is to simply just be productive. You should ideally already have a to-do list of tasks already pre-scheduled, so during this time you should be cracking on and getting stuff done.

The second state of mind is the ‘relaxed state of mind’. This is usually first thing in the morning (so perhaps allow yourself to have an extra 5 minutes in bed when you wake up to allow yourself to think), in the evening, and on the weekend if you have the weekend off to do something relaxing like a day out. This is the best time to do your creative/reflective thinking!

About the author: Taz Burwaiss is an experienced digital marketing professional with over 12 years of corporate experience. He is also the Founder of Rocket – personal branding and career consultancy that helps people:

  • Discover meaningful careers, and do the work that they love
  • Protect their mental health, allowing people to be happy and thrive at work
  • Create personal brands, helping people market themselves
  • Discover exciting flexible job opportunities, to help optimise work/life balance
  • Support candidates through the job application process
  • Gain clarity on how to communicate sustainability more clearly

You can find out more about Rocket via the Rocket website, and follow Taz on Twitter @TazBurwaiss

image: Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich : Public Domain