EPTWhen I consider the possibilities that I have, and the chances that may lie in store for me in the future, I can’t help but remember that the people who invest a lot of time in themselves to become a better person, will be more prone to getting these chances due to sheer performance and exposure. Something that interests me a lot, is the fact that with a good approach, any person who has the passion to work for their dreams, can reach their goals in time. Over time, my drive to become better than before has led me to the point where I am now. Aelonius, my personal brand.
In order for us to understand the concept of a personal brand, and how my approach on life changed due to this, I would have to start off by quoting Wikipedia.
Personal branding is, for some people, a description of the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands. It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging. Further defined as the creation of an asset that pertains to a particular person or individual; this includes but is not limited to the body, clothing, appearance and knowledge contained within, leading to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable. The term is thought to have been first used and discussed in a 1997 article by Tom Peters.
Personal branding often involves the application of one's name to various products. For example, celebrity real-estate mogul Donald Trump uses his last name extensively on his buildings and on the products he endorses (e.g., Trump Steaks).
Personal branding often involves the application of one's name to various products. For example, celebrity real-estate mogul Donald Trump uses his last name extensively on his buildings and on the products he endorses (e.g., Trump Steaks).
One may wonder, what is the benefit of a personal brand? For me, the term resembles the desire to unite all my interests, quirks and personal preferences into one identity which accurately describes what I do, and why. See it as a method to put myself out there as a professional and be reachable in an easy fashion. But why and how did I start working on my personal brand? In order to understand the present, I have to present some facts about my past. Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve had the interest in computers. I remember when I was about five years old, that I used to play “Wacky Racers” on our old 386 desktop. From here on, I’ve always been interested in gaming, but since back in those days the majority of games were in English, I ended up getting a lot of English practice daily. If we fast forward to approximately 2004, we would arrive at a point where I was an avid gamer, concentrated on the more social aspect. Nothing in my eyes beats the amazing feeling that you can play with friends in China, Australia, Africa, America and Europe as if they were sitting next to you. Being an achievement-driven person, I felt that I had to carve out a name online. This is where the start of my personal brand began. By concentrating my efforts to figure out which name I would use, my path to creating the ‘brand’ Aelonius was starting.
But where does the name come from. Initially, I was looking for a semi-Latin name, or a name that at least gave an impression of something unique. Walking through my home town, I always would ride past a big windmill which carried the name “Aeolus Windmill” in Dutch. In my pursuit of something unique, I saw the character combinations and I felt I wanted something similar. The name I wanted to work on, had no other meaning behind it. Eventually I came up with Aelonius, and I have used it since.
Over time, people start to see the meanings behind certain impulsive decisions they made in the past. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it’s bad, but in this case I figured out that the name Aelonius had two more meanings. At first it is a sort of anagram. Not a direct switch, but it comes close. If you look closely at the word, you could see that it has the hints of the word ‘Alone’ which describes me pretty accurately. As a person, I often operate best if I have relative freedom on my work. A form of independence is needed for me to be able to stay engaged. Over time, this approach is working well if you combine it with group-based work. The learning process will be lifelong, and it’s always a welcome challenge for me to take up on. Secondly, the name ‘Aelonius’ consists part of my real name. If you’d add the characters “Mich” in front of the pseudonym, you’ll get “MichAelonius”. This is something I discovered after I used the name for a long while already.
When you work on a personal brand, you need to realize that this brand should be a reflection of the things you want to show to those who view your personal brand. What you express, has to match with who you are and what your passion is, for when you do not, your brand will be weaker overall. Myself I feel that various points should be expressed clearly. For example, I am a person who values the straightforwardness that I have. However, for some other cultures this straightforwardness is so different than their culture that people perceive it as rude. That’s a challenge, as my personal brand is built on that principle. If I do or do not like something, I will be vocal about it. The way you express yourself is the key here. Aside of that, my personal brand is always something in which I try to show that my life is a rolling film. Everyone has it’s script and acts to it, but it’ll be up to me to decide which scripts affect me and how. It’s a never-ending cycle of changing, adapting and adjusting, with the aim to strive for perfection in the things I do. While I am a perfectionist, I do not wish for perfection in the world. I just work for perfection in that which I do, and always strive to improve myself.
In the last few years, I’ve enjoyed my education pretty much. I am doing something that I find interesting, and which helps me grow as a person much more. In the end, I may not remember all the theory, but I will remember all the changes that I experienced as person. For those who do not know, I am currently studying Information Security Management, a course where we concentrate on the management aspects of information Security. Think of me being in a position in 10 years, where I write down the proper regulations and procedures for organizations to keep your money, your medical records or any other information secure from outside interferences. There’s plenty of time to explain this to a much deeper level of detail, but I feel that this blog is not a place for that.
During my third year, I had the opportunity to move to China for a period of approximately 6 months, where I would be able to follow an internship at CHECK-IT, a company run by the Xiamen University, and multiple Dutch universities. I instantly felt this was the approach I had to take in my education, as it was so completely radical that it lied on the edge of insanity. Eventually, I moved to China for a stay of six months, in which my personal development had a massive growth. I’ve gotten much more patient in life for example. Before I went to China, I was pretty stubborn and self-centered. Now I do not want to say that I do not have remnants of this left, but the trip changed me into a more calm and accepting person. That I have ‘flaws’ to work on, does not elude my view at any time. When I look back at the period that I was in China, it was also the period where the idea for my graduation started to form. I wanted to taste more of Asia, like a delicious dish that you really enjoy. In China, there’s a lot of very intelligent people. People who are smarter than me by far if they get their intellect cultivated properly. But that also made me a little uneasy, because China had so much potential. Their educational system wasn’t up to par with the long-term changes to sustain China. It also made me consider to start looking more deeply into the cultural differences between the two worlds.
However, to do this I had to do something radical yet again.
Slowly the idea of South Korea began to crystallize in my head. From a purely business perspective I would’ve had the opportunities to choose between China, Japan and Korea. I would be able to go back to China, and experience more of a country I really adore. But from that same business perspective, I realized that if I would go to either Korea or Japan, it would be a much bigger asset on my resumé, aswell as personal development. My choice was quickly made. While Japan seems interesting, I felt that my place in this world would be much more like Korea. It’s a magnificent country from all that I know, and every Korean I’ve met makes me consider to move permanently to South Korea more and more.
As I wasn’t able to go to Korea first, I decided to try and indulge myself in all kinds of things that the Korean culture has to offer. This included watching Drama’s and listening to Korean music. At the moment I am trying to learn Korean but due to time constraints I am not getting much further yet.
Sometimes, you just can not express why you want to do something, and Korea has this effect on me. I feel it’s a place where my talents would be useful, and it is a place I find very interesting to move to. This is also why I am currently working on obtaining an internship for next year, so that I can move to Korea for 6 months. Possibly I stay longer after, who knows.
One thing I do know very well, is that the desire to become a bridge between the West and East is getting stronger each day. My ideal job would be to work on a multi-cultural level where I do my best to combine all the views from various cultures to get an acceptable middle road. This is also what I ended up doing in my personal brand. I am currently redesigning the ‘brand’ to match this desire, and my goal to eventually work in such a situation. If it means I’ve got to change my career in order to achieve the greatest task I can envision, then I will do what is necessary.
Only when I can embrace cultures and connect them, I can become that which I desire.
A vital link.
TL;DR: I strive to connect cultures in my future career. This blog just describes how I approach it.
