Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel

Tonight, I went to dinner with a few good friends, such as Ryan Healy of BrazenCareerist.com fame, as well as my first and retired editor of Personal Branding Magazine, Rebecca “Modite” Thorman, and the ever popular Carla Blumenthal. Right now I’m sitting in my chair half asleep, speaking to this girl interest, who just passed out in her couch, after having an equally long day. Everyday my friends and family say “Dan, you really should get some sleep, quit this blogging stuff.” Of course, I don’t listen to them or I would have been asleep hours ago.

My current workload

What a lot of people don’t know is exactly how busy I am. Aside from blogging 10 times per week, I publish a magazine, podcast series, make presentations to schools and companies, write articles for magazines, talk to the press, do some consulting, am on the board of advisers for a startup company, judge awards, and I just finished a 256 page book that took me over a year to write and edit. I’m constantly networking, interviewing successful leaders and commenting on blogs. When it comes to social networking, I allocate most of my time to the network that gives the highest ROR (return on relationship), which is Twitter.

Now if you think that would keep me busy, then realize that I spend another 50-60 hours a week doing social media for EMC, which includes social media press releases, newsrooms, community building, social network and blog strategy and more.

What I’ve sacrificed

When it comes to social media, you trade your time, and some money, for results over the long-term. I’ve had to turn down dates with girls, parties with friends, and time spent with family. I’m also fairly certain that this workload has impacted my health because I don’t get much sleep and since I haven’t written a “to-do-list” in 6 years, my brain has been brutally punished as a result. I’ve managed everything in my head. Luckily, I started my first to-do-list this week!

I’m not saying I never go out, but it’s certainly not as often as it was a few years ago.  If I were to go out on a Friday or Saturday night to a bar and stay up till 2AM, it would impact my productivity the next day.  Also, I would wake up close to noon.  Time is so precious now, so I have to be more careful where I spend it.  I’ll be going out this weekend because my best friend is home from Texas, and is leaving for Italy on Sunday.  Your time is important, so spend it carefully!

Why I’ve made these sacrifices

I believe, wholeheartedly, that I was put on this earth to help millennials build strong personal brands and to encourage schools to teach marketing to everyone, not just marketing majors. I want to live in a world, where people are passionate about their jobs, to the point, where they are compensated and work becomes a hobby.

In order to help people, I must sacrifice my time for the good of the community. I’ve blogged on a cruise ship! I can’t even go to sleep tonight until I have a post written for you for tomorrow. Am I doing it for money? Nope, there is no advertising on this blog. I’m doing it because I have a mission in life and a cause worth fighting for. Together, we can change the world.

Sacrificial tweets

I asked a few Twitter friends what sacrifices they’ve made recently.

What sacrifices have you made for your personal brand lately?