What do you want to be known for?

What do you want to be famous for?

These questions are tough to answer. Most people can tell you what they don't want. Few can tell you what they do. The world of personal branding is constantly telling you to have a brand and stand for something. Problem is, the brand you come up with is either not quite 'you' or a bit of a mashup of everything you are right now.

Any uncertainty about who you are and who you want to be will create mixed messages with your personal branding. Heck, your personal brand might not even get off the ground. And this will seriously affect your reputation!

Your reputation is what people see, think, do, feel and say when they come into contact with you, your name or any aspect of your personal brand.

If the messages, cues, signals and sightings you give out are fluffy, woolly, vague or ambiguous, people will struggle to see you as the number one choice and trusted voice for what you do.

To solve that, you need to be clear about who you are and what you do better than most other people. In other words, what do you want your reputation to be?

Here are six questions to help you answer this most difficult of questions:

1. What motivates you? What project, mission, core belief or dream is driving you forward? What is it that makes you want to be better than you are and make a difference?
2. What infuriates you? Sometimes it's the stuff that you loathe, despise, rebel against or get annoyed by that creates the cause you're willing to live for. The stuff that makes your blood boil is where your passion may lie. What wrongs do you want to put right? What causes do you want to fight for?
3. Who inspires you? It could be a person that compels you to move your life in a certain direction. Who are your gurus, mentors, role models and advisors that attract you into certain professions or roles?
4. What do you love doing that people might pay you for? Your passions, your desires, your enthusiasm and your drive are attractive to people. They say when you're on fire with desire, people will come to see you burn! You could be famous for something you'd do all day even if nobody was looking!
   
5. What can you do really well that people might pay you for? Your skills and talents are marketable assets. What do you find easy that other people find difficult? This is where you could be world class and thus become the stand-out thoice and compelling leader.
   
6. What do you know that people might want to learn? Your insight, your knowledge, your wisdom and your brains could be commercial assets. You can carve out a reputation for what you know. And with social media, there are multiple avenues for you to share that knowledge and draw the world to your mind!

Don't compare yourself to others at this point and say 'well there's already someone else doing that.' Comparisons can kill your dreams stone dead if you let them!

You don't need to be better, just different, says marketing strategist Rod Sloane.

So what do YOU want to be known for?