“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard
In the last days, looking at my social timeline, I have seen so many posts on 2016 predictions: Marketing, CRM, Social Media, and Content marketing predictions.
All this “future” made me feel so melancholic, that I decided to look back at the past and try to find something meaningful for me.
It is extremely intelligent to learn more from the people that came before us. It is clear that the Medias and the tools we have now are different, but we are still human beings and we can learn a lot from great personalities of the past.
This time I decided to pick an amazing woman: Coco Chanel, I always thought she was such a strong and classy woman and she was one of the best businesswoman we had in the last decades.
In few years, she built up an empire, with her trademark suits and little black dresses, fashion designer Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today.
That is why I think she could be of great inspiration for all of us for 2016. She was an icon, she build an empire by herself and she left us with a lot of personal branding tips.
She could be considered a great Personal Branding Coach to learn from.
I decided to pick these 5 personal branding advices that could help us out in 2016
1 – “In Order to be Irreplaceable one must always be different”
They will always remember your originality; people will remember how you made them feel, and not always, what you said. Try to think differently, out of the box, do not conform to the rest of the world.
2 – “Success if often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable”
As I also wrote in other posts, failure is part of everyone’s success path. Try and try, do not be scared to try all over again and if you fail, remember it is just one-step further to your success.
3 – “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door”
Do not be stubborn, if you are facing a wall, this will remain a wall and it will not turn magically into a door. Move to another project, do not be stuck in a an unchangeable situation.
4- “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”
As Alber Einstein said : “If you can not explain it simply, you did not understand it well enough”. Simplicity is key on projects, presentations, on business plans. Keep it simple and you will succeed. You will look elegant, smart if you could explain it in a simple and charming way.
5 – “If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.”
This is probably the one that I love the most. You can reach the stars, dream big always, do not listen to others, you can make. If you are willing to take risks and you believe 110% in yourself, you can do it. Sky is the limit!
What are your personal objectives for 2016? Share them with us.
P.S. Be nice to me it is my first English post (if you find mistakes please let me know! I will be happy to correct them.)
Petra
If you want to learn more on Coco Chanel here some websites:
http://www.vogue.co.uk/person/coco-chanel
http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/gabrielle-bonheur-chanel-1092.php
http://www.lifetimetv.co.uk/biography/biography-coco-chanel
and even her secret life: