Tackling personality mindset blocks
“Your personality makes you stand out in the sea of sameness"

During my childhood, I never dared to be totally myself. I have always been the shy, good girl not even trying to be in the cool kids club, but just trying to fit in, period. Of course, I was still in the process of discovering myself and my personality. When I went to university, I experienced again a huge gap between the cool students and me, the dedicated student aiming for good grades. Embarking on my corporate journey, the story continued and I believed I couldn’t show my personality and needed to follow the unwritten corporate rules. In short, during a large part of my life I was mainly shying away from expressing my personality fully. 

And I hear it from my clients and followers as well. They have a lot of mindset blocks that are holding them back from showing their unique personality. And now, after having finally embraced my personality myself (Make no illusions, still work-in-progress), I tell them that it is their personality that truly makes them stand out in the sea of sameness. Your personality - and being true to your personality - helps to make your personal brand stronger.

Let me try to ‘unblock’ some mindset blocks when it comes to showing your personality...

• The fear of looking unprofessional

This is definitely the case if you come/came from a corporate or academic background. I experienced it myself when transitioning into entrepreneurship. When defining my house style I needed to be challenged by Vicky from The Untold to leave the corporate brandbooks with all the rules written in stone behind and to worry less about how everything is supposed to be done.

People think they always need to be business like and to speak and write in a polished and professional language out of fear not to be taken seriously. But actually you need to start showing up more like ‘you’. I have my own way of writing and, as you have discovered yourself, I often write quite elaborated pieces of content… But hey, what can I say? It is my personality! I am The Archer, a personal brand type where the art of observing and, of course, the attention to details are coming together… Other people might have a more outgoing way of writing and that is perfectly ok. It doesn’t make any of us unprofessional, but it does make us authentic.

• The fear of being boring “I don’t have a personality”

Newsflash: Everyone has a personality. People often mirror themselves to others who have an opposite personality: the more reserved people want to be louder and the outgoing people want to be perceived as having their act together. Also, people often confuse personality with charisma. It is not easy to put in words why someone is charismatic. For some it is because of the air of confidence, for others the sense of mystery. In any case, it is a kind of ability to sway others in your favor. The thing with charisma is that you either have it or you don’t. You were either born with it, or you weren’t.

Your personality is different. Unconsciously you already speak certain ‘languages’ that attract people. You must first recognize those languages and then you can leverage them. By learning what makes you fascinating, you will have a stronger ability to connect with people because you understand your own personality better than ever before. I don’t have charisma, but I do know how I can fascinate people with my personality.

So you definitely have a personality and you are not at all boring. Your personality advantages are right there inside of you, ready to be identified, activated and developed.

• The fear of being too vulnerable

A lot of people are scared to put themselves out there and to show their real personality. Because it makes them feel ‘naked’, but also out of fear to be rejected or judged.

First of all, it is not about complete transparency about everything. You can maintain some privacy. You choose your themes that are at the intersection of who you truly are and what people are longing to hear. Secondly, you will turn people off, if you like it or not. There will be people who don’t feel a match with you or don’t agree with you. And that is ok, because you are only looking for people who identify with you.

(If you are struggling with one or all of the above mindset blocks or if you want to find your personality, I can of course help you with my personality assessment and coaching program Your Personal Brand kickstart with Fascinate® based on the personal branding methodology How To Fascinate®.)

Remember that your personality is the only thing you have a monopoly on. It lets people get to know you, like you and trust you. Stop trying to play down certain parts of your personality in an attempt to look more professional or to be taken seriously. Let’s embrace who we are and get rid of our mindset blocks.

Can I remove your mindset blocks? I want to give you that boost of confidence and remove the mindset blocks that are holding you back from showing your unique personality. You do have a personality and you are not boring at all. I can show you how you fascinate people (just by staying yourself) and how you add distinct value with my Your Personal Brand kickstart with Fascinate® program (Available in Nederlands and English!).