Book review on personal branding
- What was the book about? Did you enjoy reading it, why/why not?
Finding Your Element is an important predecessor to any personal branding initiative as it leads readers to discover their Element: the intersection of natural talents and passions for a life of self-fulfillment. The book answers many questions such as “how do I find what my talents and passions are?” and “what if I can’t make a living from my Element?” which are necessary when creating one’s personal brand. In Ken’s own words in describing Finding Your Element, he says, “It’s about doing something that feels so completely natural to you, that resonates to strongly with you, that you feel as if this is who you really are” (Robinson 2).
I very much enjoyed this book, as there is a sense of personal connection jumping off the pages. It is highly evident that the author went through many personal struggles to find his element and upon realizing his Element; he then devoted himself to his readers to guide them to their own. The author’s use of examples, not only his own but from friends, family members and common folk from all walks of life, provide many personal narratives of journeys to find their Element. Moreover, the author provides dozens of exercises for readers to actively engage readers on their journey to finding their Element rather than being a passive reading experience.
- Did the author say why he/she wrote the book? If so, what was the purpose?
- Is there something in the author’s background that inspired him to write this type of book?
Another facet of the author’s background which inspired him to write a personal branding book is that when he was a four year old boy living in England during the early fifties, he caught the polio virus and went from being a perfectly healthy child to being almost completely paralyzed. He reflects on this period spent alone in an isolation ward, wearing two leg braces and in a wheelchair, as a formative experience and great time for self-reflection. However, he now differentiates two reasons as for why he spent so much time on his own as a child: circumstance and disposition. Not only did he spend time in solitude because of his health condition, but also because of his natural inclinations as child to observe and listen. He describes himself as placid and self-contained, not only because of his circumstances as a child but also because of his disposition.
This realization beyond the circumstances, which limited him, came at thirteen when his brother suggested that Ken be the MC for a theatrical show. Ultimately, his decisions to take the role and step out of his comfort zone, was the first ground-shattering experience in finding his element. He states, “I did it because I’ve always believed that you have to move toward your fears and not away from them. If you don’t exorcise them, they can haunt you long after they should have faded” (Robinson 4). Through this role as MC, which traveled across the country to perform, he realized that he could face the public despite his braces and speech impediments. His personal journey from being physically hindered to blossoming on stage and finding his element in communicating and performing is the premise on which his book paves the way for a wider audience to do the same.
- Did the book offer valuable ideas or suggestions that will be helpful in your own personal branding? Explain; is there one idea most valuable in your personal branding? What is it?
The most valuable idea in my own personal branding is the necessity to find my Element. I believe that my personal branding cannot be successful nor fulfilling unless it connects with my Element in a way that truly resonates with me and is absolutely integral to who I am. In this way, the core message of Finding Your Element and resultant epiphany of discovering one’s Element, is absolutely necessary for my own personal branding. The book helped me discover this and will move me forward in my own personal branding. Reading it cover to cover helped me find my Element and in summation this is what it has to offer: “Like the rest of nature, human talents and passions are tremendously diverse and they take many forms. As individuals, we’re all motivated by different dreams and we thrive – and we wilt too – in very different circumstances. Recognizing your own dreams and the conditions you need to fulfill them are essential to becoming who you can be. Finding your Element won’t guarantee that you’ll spend the rest of your life in a constant, unbroken state of pleasure and delight. It will give you a deeper sense of who you really are and of the life you could and maybe should live” (Robinson 144).
Bibliography
Robinson, Ken, and Lou Aronica. Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life. London: Allen Lane, 2013. Print.
