Get authentic. How to use Linkedin to influence & plan your Dream Career!

I've used Linkedin, beBee and other social media platforms for over a decade now. But it wasn't until 2016 to 2017 I actually started interacting on Linkedin or beBee

And all those years of interacting with pure bliss has paid off on various occasions. And sometimes it did not!

My first viral post had 1546 comments, 17000 likes and 812 shares. The journey has been uphill since.

It went viral because I shared a problem that everyone resonated with and suggested what alternate options I was opting for, in the meanwhile while I contemplated the problem. I promoted beBee at the time as a beBee Brand Ambassador.

That post is a great example of how I resisted change and how many people resonated with me.

And OfCourse as with any other product or job we may not like something but would have continued using it because it is required and got used to it!

How many of us are in a career or work in a job because we are used it!

It's familiar!

It's the known.

I learned to live with Linkedin because I had liked it so much.

I was unhappy with the changes and the commercial stuff they brought in, which removed or modified many of the free features to premium. But I had to live with it!

As humans we tend to eventually do things even that we are not comfortable with to achieve a means to an end or due to industry requirements or whatever may be the case!

Why can't we plan our Dream Career and Life similarly?

Why can't we try doing certain things that may be uncomfortable at first but actually produce great results later?

We can learn, upgrade our skills and finally live the life we truly deserve but we must be ready to put the hard work in!

If we are afraid, we can always approach a coach or a mentor for knowledge and support, but we must take that first step.

“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is YOU who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”? Les Brown

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma. 

But most importantly you have to trust in yourself that you are capable and can pursue your dreams. 

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith

You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. 

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. 

Don’t settle. 

As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. 

And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. 

So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. 

Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. 

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition " - Steve Jobs.

People care about what can you do for them?

People care about what they can learn from you?

What problem you can solve for them?

Whether you can understand them?

Why do you want to connect with them?

If your profile looks like the 95% of the people out there, how do you stand out? How will you become that Future Dream Self you want to be?

And why do you need to talk to people or accept or send connection requests?

WHILE BUILDING YOUR INFLUENCE/PRESENCE ON LINKEDIN FOCUS ON A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO CAN CREATE A MAJOR IMPACT IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE!

For example, if I wanted to learn more about a particular line of work I would follow top career professionals, CEOs of such organisations, HR & leadership experts in that industry and try to understand what career journey did they go through?

I would read their articles, posts and comments to see if, I can join in the discussed conversations if it interests me or thank them for sharing such valuable information.

You must interact authentically, by displaying your true skills, knowledge and accomplishments!

Why don't most people interact on Linkedin?

It's because they are shy or may have to overcome negative and limiting thoughts that dim their light and creativity or they simply don't know the value of their Linkedin network.

Now when this happens, I would like you to question the authenticity of the weaker thoughts that have crept into the palace of your mind.

It is necessary to catch the critic to build and maintain self-esteem. It requires vigilance, especially when meeting strangers, people you find attractive, situations where you have made a mistake, and where you risk failure or rejection (McKay & Fanning, 2016).

They will see that they are unwanted and leave like an unwelcome visitor!

Don’t listen to others, believe in your own capabilities. You can if you think you can.

Know - Understand - Believe - Execute. The KUBE Loop gives us the basic principles to guide our work. We need to have this loop dancing around our waist to be active and to achieve.

1. Know

Know what's expected of you. We have all the tools in the world. Offline and online to brush ourselves on the work given. To gain the skills we need. Be ready to get to know the things that will keep your knowledge and skills up to date. That will fire up your passion and purpose every day. Be hungry to KNOW and to learn.

2. Understand

Understand the work given to you. If you ask someone to do that work for you, what do you expect them to accomplish? That brings in understanding. Think like an entrepreneur, leader to understand what your company/organisation expects of you.

3. Believe

We have that inner voice on one side it tells us "Your gonna nail this project" and another one that tells us "Your gonna screw up so bad". When you successfully cross the above 2 stages you become confident. Believe you can accomplish the work and that belief in yourself drowns the other negative voice. You are the only person who can make you do things for you. You control your life. Be it at work or your personal life. Believe in yourself. Believe you can learn. Believe you can grow. Believe you can achieve. Believe you are good enough!

4.Execute

Someone once said, just by sitting in the driver's seat. It ain't gonna drive you home.

Execute your thoughts into actions. Your actions into results. Your results into analyses. Your failures into experiences. Your experiences into lessons for self and others. Your successes into motivations. 

Are you ready to untrain yourself and learn?

The point is unless you show people how good you are, they won't know.

You need to unlearn the fact that you were born to be just an employee. Try Freelancing. Try your hand out at being a leader, an entrepreneur, a coach, a trainer, a digital marketer etc.

Some of my career achievements & goals using Linkedin are!

I blog, write, and review great content.

I excel at social media marketing and employer branding.

I hire top talent. I am the bridge between employers, hiring managers and employees and connect them with each other effortlessly.

I find the best purpose driven talent on this planet for top employers, because I know exactly where to find top talent and vice versa.

I Coach: - Identify, train and present top career professionals and job seekers as value driven talent that employers need and get hired to a job, they love!

I use my Linkedin Network to spread knowledge, wisdom, love, change lives and offer great career coaching sessions to enable people live their best!

My mission is aligned with a few of the Sustainable Development Goals

#3 GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

#4 QUALITY EDUCATION

#8 DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH       

Remember the path to achieving results:

·      Invest in yourself

·      Commit to yourself and have an accountability partner

·      Measure your capabilities and work on them

·      Enhance your confidence and courage everyday

"Confidence is the by-product of past performance - says BJ Hardy.

But if you don't try at all how would you gain experience and learn from that past performance. How will you know the results without trying?

Results give you money and money gives you freedom."

Here's 3 questions for you to reflect on?

1.   What do you want from life?

2.   How do you get it?

 3. How do you accomplish it using Linkedin?

𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓮’𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓾𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼!

𝓕𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓪

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