What Do You Want to Be Known For?

Opening

In the last lesson, we talked about the fact that you already have a brand.

People already associate certain things with your name.

Now we're going to take the next step.

We're going to decide what you actually want to be known for.

And this is where a lot of people make a mistake.

They say:

"I have a lot of interests."

"I'm good at a lot of things."

"I can talk about business, fitness, relationships, motivation, sports, money, travel..."

That's fine.

You can have a lot of interests.

But just because you can talk about something doesn't mean it should become part of your brand.

A strong brand requires focus.

The question isn't:

What can I talk about?

The question is:

What do I strategically want people to associate with my name?

Those are two completely different questions.

My own career is a good example

Think about my career.

I've done a lot of different things.

I've competed in amateur wrestling.

I've served in the military.

I've spent years in professional wrestling.

I've competed in MMA.

I've trained for decades.

I've been involved in business.

I've worked with teams.

I've dealt with pressure.

I've had successes.

I've had setbacks.

I've had to reinvent myself more than once.

So technically, I could talk about a hundred things.

But if I'm building Bobby Lashley Academy, I don't need people to associate my name with a hundred things.

I need them to clearly understand a few major ideas.

For me, those might be:

Discipline. Performance. Business and ownership. Leadership and legacy.

Those areas make sense together.

They also connect naturally to my experience.

That's what we're trying to create for you.

Confusion kills positioning

One of the fastest ways to weaken your brand is to make people confused.

If someone visits your profile and sees:

Monday: fitness. Tuesday: political opinion. Wednesday: vacation. Thursday: motivational quote. Friday: random comedy video. Saturday: business. Sunday: another completely unrelated subject.

What are you known for?

Nobody knows.

And this is important:

People don't have enough attention to figure you out.

You have to help them.

You have to create repetition around a small number of ideas.

When your name keeps appearing around the same topics, people start making the connection.

That's how positioning begins.

Pick two to four ideas

I want you to start with between two and four major ideas.

Not ten.

Not fifteen.

Two to four.

Ask yourself:

What do I want people to call me about?

That's a powerful question.

If somebody has an opportunity, what kind of opportunity should make them think of you?

If somebody needs an expert, what problem should cause them to say:

"Call her."

"Call him."

"They know this."

Maybe you want to be associated with:

Entrepreneurship. Fitness. Real estate. Leadership. Beauty. Technology. Marketing. Finance. Sports performance. Content creation. Fashion. Healthcare.

Whatever your world is.

Choose the categories that support where you're going.

Your future matters more than your past

Here's another thing I want you to understand.

You do not only build a brand around who you've been.

You build it around where you're going.

There was a time when most people would have only associated my name with wrestling.

That's understandable.

That's where most people saw me.

But if I want to expand into entrepreneurship, education, leadership, speaking, mentorship, investing, or other opportunities, I have to start building those associations intentionally.

That doesn't mean pretending I have experience I don't have.

It means showing the other parts of my experience that people may not have seen before.

That's an important distinction.

Your brand can evolve.

You don't have to destroy the old identity.

You expand it.

The three filters

When you're deciding what you want to own, run every potential topic through three filters.

Filter one: credibility.

Do I have enough experience, knowledge, results, education, or perspective to speak intelligently about this?

You don't have to be the greatest person in the world at something.

But you need substance.

Filter two: relevance.

Does this matter to the audience I want to attract?

If your ideal audience doesn't care, it probably shouldn't dominate your brand.

Filter three: direction.

Does being known for this move me closer to the opportunities I want?

That matters.

Your brand should help create your future.

You don't have to show everything

People sometimes confuse authenticity with showing everything.

You don't have to.

I'm a full human being.

So are you.

You have family. Friends. Opinions. Hobbies. Things you enjoy. Things you don't enjoy.

That doesn't mean every part of your life needs to become part of your public brand.

You decide what belongs.

That's not being fake.

That's being intentional.

Your assignment

I want you to complete this sentence:

Three years from now, when people hear my name, I want them to immediately think about ______, ______, ______ and ______.

Keep it simple.

Then underneath each one, write:

Why do I deserve to be associated with this?

What experience do you have?

What results?

What lessons?

What knowledge?

What perspective?

Then ask:

What am I currently showing the world that supports this?

If the answer is "nothing," that's okay.

Now we know what needs to change.

Closing

You don't need everybody to know your name.

You need the right people to know what your name means.

That's the difference.

A strong brand creates association.

Association creates recognition.

Recognition creates trust.

And trust creates opportunity.

In the next lesson, we're going to talk about one of the most powerful assets you have for creating that differentiation.

Your story.