What comes to mind when you think of a brand?   Do you think of big name companies?  Each of these companies have a strong and purposeful brand.  

• Apple is known for its innovation, simplicity and support
• The Amazon logo was created to represent the message that it sells everything from A to Z (the arrow connects the two letters) and also represents the smile that customers would experience by shopping on the Amazon.com Web site (the arrow becomes a smile) 
• Target's brand position is “design for all.” Although Target never says this directly, it communicates it consistently through its personality, which is cool, fun, trendy and fresh.

There are Three Types of Branding

• A corporation or company brand.
• A product brand.  When you think of a specific product, what comes to mind?  
• Maybe it’s coca-cola or a shoe brand or a health product

• A personal brand.

What is Your Personal Brand? Your personal brand is how you promote yourself. It is the unique combination of your skills, experience, and personality that you want the world to see you. ... You use your personal branding to differentiate yourself from other people.

You're representing your personal brand in your professional role or your business, with your family/friends  and now caregiving.    

Branding is so much more than the way you look (but that’s an important part).  It’s also your personality, delivery of your message and more.  

Today I want to talk about you, the caregiver and your caregiver / personal brand.  

When you look at yourself through the eyes of being a brand and most importantly who you are today?

• What do you see?
• What do you hear?
• How do you feel about yourself?
• Do you want to spend time with yourself?

Your personal caregiver brand is the unique combination of...

We are talking about the caregiver type called Nostalgic.  

Do you find yourself saying:

• "Ah, the good old days" 
• "If only I could go back and relive those moments." 
• "I wish I could rewind the movie of my life and enjoy the way it was."  

Well friend, we're going to dive deep into this today and talk about the qualities and the impacts of being a Nostalgic.  

If you haven’t taken our quiz called “What’s your Caregiver style?  Go to cathylvan.com/quiz     

I want to start out with a story from my past.  

I lived in a middle class, blue collar home.  My dad worked in the automotive business and my mom clean houses.  They worked hard and took pride in the things they had.  They were always doing home improvement and working on the curb appeal of our home.  But one thing I really remember was the fun time.  When they weren’t working, they liked to play hard.    My Dad remodel the basement in our ranch home

• Indoor outdoor carpet in the basement
• Family room on one side 
• Table in the middle to sit around and do crafts, play games
• Mom hung our family pictures and those uncomfortable grade school pictures
• Dad built his bar at the other end with bar stools, his stereo (8 track tapes)
• Entertaining area - played cards, had my bottled pop and every so often Dad would pull out the video reel and we would sit and watch old movies of ourselves

Why am I telling you this?   Everyone of us has a bit of nostalgia in us and hopefully we all embrace those wonderful memories. 

One of the caregiver styles of our quiz is 

The Nostalgic Caregiver looks at their Loved One remembering those special past experiences and memories.  You desire to return to an earlier time in life by wishing things were back the way they were.   

It was extremely hard to watch my Dad crinkle and crumble away...

People call me a hustle, a powerhouse, a boot straper, or an energizer bunny.   I am energetic, determined and an achiever.  

Is this you?   Most of the time, some of the time, before caregiving or something you're striving for?

One of the results of my quiz called “What’s your caregiver style?” is The Go-Getter.  

Qualities of a Go-Getter

Go-Getters are active, flexible people who put a great deal of passion and energy into juggling it all and being an effective caregiver.  Your ability to adapt and willingly jump in with a positive attitude and enthusiasm provides comfort to your Loved One.   

You pride yourself in staying motivated and ambitious with your high levels of organization and multitasking.  Your mottos are "get it done" or "I'll figure it out". 

Can you relate?   These qualities may be innate or experiences you been taught.  

 Go-Getters are: 

 Disciplined   You manage your time well and will use every bit of it.  You understand the importance of your Loved One's care and balancing your job, passions, goals and other essential responsibilities.   

You might find yourself using a planner or a scheduler.  

Celebrating  small achievements  You don’t focus on magical celebration at the end of the road. You celebrate your small successes each day and practice gratitude.

Gratitude journaling and checking off the boxes make you feel good.

Passionate  You realize the importance of your Loved One's relationship and care.  Go-Getters are passionate about what they do and are excited to work on many things they care about.

You may find yourself pursuing your passions right along side of caregiving.

Finding Support  You empower family and a team together to get the best possible care for your Loved One.   You...

Identify Your People Pleasing Tendencies

Let me get real honest and raw with you today.  This podcast was hard to prepare for and it’s even harder to share.  This podcast is all about people pleasing.  Why you say - I am a people pleaser and I should really have my own club or group.  

Are you saying, Yes too.  Or are you saying No, I am not a people pleaser

Well, my friend, I have three quick statements before we begin.

• We all have people pleasing tendencies
• People pleasing isn’t all bad 
• But… people pleasing can lead to stress and burnout especially if you are a caregiver.  

Before we deep dive into this topic, I have something really excited to share with you! It’s a Quiz.  This one is very different.   It’s not one asking you what character you are or what color or animal you are…..  It’s truly about caregiving with very, very informative results.  It’s call What’s your Caregiver Style?  You can take this FREE quiz today by going to cathylvan.com or going to The Caregiver Cup on Facebook or @cathylynnvan on Instagram.  It takes less than 3 minutes and you will get very in-depth and informative results to help you think through your caregiver responsibilities.  

Let’s now dig into  People Pleasing.   

As a caregiver, Your Loved One is your top priority.   You open your heart, soul and energy to go beyond simple kindness to give to them everything they need and want.    

Pleasing might not sound all that bad.  After all, what’s wrong with loving and being nice to your Loved One and making them happy?  You do whatever it takes meaning you make sacrifices with little to no complaints.  

You go out of your way to do things for them based on what you assume they want and need.  You give up your time and energy.

The...