TOL #001 Writing a New Year's Letter can enhance your Personal Branding
Jan 07, 2023
The two youngest grandchildren read their New Year's letters to my in-laws last week. The other grandchildren are all 'too old.' And as we have our first boyfriend in our family, we suddenly had to explain what a New Year's letter is.
Only then do you realize that you grew up with a Flemish tradition.
Because it turns out:
- The custom lasted only a short while in the Netherlands and disappeared after World War II.
- According to VRT news, the oldest New Year's letters date back to the 16th century when noble boys wrote poems in Latin and read them aloud to show their families what they had learned. Afterward, they received a gift.
- Anno 2023, a New Year's letter is still a trick to show off your handwriting, train your public speaking skills, impart insights, and wish someone well in exchange for a gift.
But as parents, we have had enough of listening to multiple New Year's letters for the last six years. As adults, we enjoy doing it again. In other areas, outside the family circle.
We still do it.
In December and January, we get overwhelmed in various media channels, including LinkedIn, with everyone's professional New Year's letters, where we
- Look back on 2022, and give insights and trends.
- Share our goals for 2023.
- Give lots of thanks, sweet words, and promises.
CEOs get down to business in January with their "New Year's letter," a.k.a. New Year's speech at the company's New Year's reception.
The question is: what is the gift?
NEW YEAR'S LETTERS AND PERSONAL BRANDING
As a professional, entrepreneur, and business leader, why bother with New Year's letters anymore?
To (re)define your place.
Looking back at your trajectory over the past few months gives you insight into what steps you have taken. Whether they are the steps you thought you would take when you entered the year. You often need to remember where you came from and how much you've already done. It's important to honor what succeeded and what didn't.
Why share that with others?
Accountability.
Ask 100 professionals/entrepreneurs entering a coaching program what they need most, and the answer is accountability. They want accountability so that procrastination is banished. Communicating what your wins and failures are is recording your responsibility. By doing this "out loud," you demonstrate your courage to be transparent. You show that you are taking action.
What does this have to do with branding?
When you can demonstrate that you have taken steps and dare to be open about it (because you are proud), you show that you are trustworthy, take responsibility, and are growing. And that, in turn, is good for your branding.
Why now?
The turn of a calendar year is a benchmark, just as the prime meridian, the birth of Christ, and the equator are. From this point, there is a before and after, a left and right, and a below and above. Using such a benchmark allows you to look back and forward. But it is also universal; you can surf more easily at such a point on the feeling that everyone is going through. The familiarity plays to your advantage but also your disadvantage.
BENCHMARK WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU
When you start reading your New Year's letter as a child is a meaningful moment. You are up with nerves; you don't want to make mistakes, and you hope that your mother doesn't have to step in because you can't remember. And you wish so hard that your favorite gift is waiting for you afterward. A tradition.
But you realize it is best that you be the first, to undergo the baptism of fire. Because by the time you are grandchild number 10, no one is listening to you anymore.
The same goes for you.
Differentiate yourself.
Differentiate yourself, not by delivering a New Year's letter in December or January, but at a benchmark in YOUR life, not everyone else's. It will increase the impact of your personal branding if you do different things at the moment everyone else is doing it.
Your sweetest rascal,
Je liefste deugniet,
-ianka
Bornem, Jan. 8, 2023.
Read more about the history of the New Year's letter?
From clean writing to personal wishes: a little history of the New Year's letter | VRT NWS: news
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you're ready, here are ways I can help you.
- Want to get started with your personal brand? Schedule a call.
- Want to professionalize your keynote? Book a call here.
