I record a lot of voice memos. Thinking out loud really helps me, even when I don’t have anyone listening but my future self.

Many of these voice memos, I never listen to again. But I came across one from a few years ago in which I was trying to navigate a major life change.

Often, I’ll be in the middle of editing a video when I hesitate over a particular moment.

“I just looked really awkward right there,” I might say to myself. Or I cringe a little because I’m coming off as overly earnest or sanctimonious.

However, in order to share my work on the Internet, I’ve had to accept that the earnest, awkward person in those videos is the same one I look at in the mirror. The likeness is accurate.

I wrote a script the other day for a video — and then I didn’t record it.

I had expected to deliver this script on camera. However, once I completed it, I thought maybe it would work better as a voiceover. I could create video footage of myself doing activities that would illustrate the ideas I was speaking about.

And thus, I postponed shooting by two days and counting.

When I think of great personal branding, I think of pop stars.

Pop stars — the ones who are the best at being pop stars — are incredible at making it seem like they aren’t trying, even when they have a whole team carefully crafting their image.

They cultivate an air of mystery, yet they are easily recognizable, even with a just a symbol. Think of Madonna’s lace gloves, Elvis’ sideburns, or Michael Jackson’s red leather jacket.