I regularly give talks on social media and the importance of LinkedIn for professionals and entrepreneurs. Last week I decided to take some of my own medicine.

I’ve had the same LinkedIn bio for the last three years. I decided it was time to audit my profile.

This task seemed routine until I took a birds-eye view of what I’d just done.

At the end of changing my LinkedIn status, I realized the following:

– I’m a different person
– My values have changed
– I now have a real sense of clarity
– I know what I want
– I know my value

“Many LinkedIn bio’s are nothing more than a used car salesman’s brochure about how good they are”

Reading my old bio.

I saw the person I was three years ago. I was lost and looking for significance and meaning. I thought that being associated with tech was cool.

Now, three years on, my new bio has made me realize the following:

1. Finding out who you are is cool
2. Knowing your value and your strengths is cool
3. Being crystal clear on your goals is cool
4. Seeing the growth you’ve gone through is cool

A new bio showed me growth.

The original bio was trying to play it safe. It talked about being an intrapreneur instead of an entrepreneur because I was worried about what the people I work with might think.

Maybe if people think I’m an entrepreneur, then they will be fearful of me leaving or stealing their good ideas to go off and do a startup again.

Maybe if I sound like too much of an expert, then people will ask me to do public speaking about my passion. Three years ago, public speaking was the scariest thing in the world to me. Not anymore.

Maybe if I show too much emotion, then people will think I’m weak. Wrong again Timbo. Raw emotion attracts people to your mission. People are crying out to feel something and be move and influenced by emotion. Showing raw emotion takes courage.

Job titles, money and status became almost meaningless.

My original bio was all about fancy job titles, my status in society as some sort of tech guru and money. Three years on, multiple near-death experiences including a cancer scare, made me all see the truth: what matters is how you lived and who you’ve become.

“No one remembers job titles, but everyone remembers the sort of person you are”

Don’t be a knob. Entitlement, ego and being pretentious will repel everything good that you have the opportunity to grab for yourself.

It’s not about you.

The three-year-old bio was about me and how good I was. The new bio is not about me at all. The new bio is about how I can serve. The new bio is about putting out positivity and life-changing concepts into the world. A bio should tell someone more than just who you are.

My priorities became super simple.

The old bio said I was a jack of all trades, master of none. I said in the old bio I was a banker, tech expert, intrapreneur, entrepreneur, blogger, business expert, coach and god knows what else. It was just too messy. Three years on, the new bio is crystal clear: I’m a blogger and I work with tech companies.

Two things – short and sweet.

Talking in my voice is now a priority.

Reading through the old bio, it didn’t sound like my voice. There was no “mate, pal, buddy, cowboy” – none of that. Those words are who I am. That’s how I talk.

The ridiculous corporate language I used in the original bio to try and sound impressive was having the opposite effect. It didn’t sound like me and so that’s why it had to go. Having your online voice match your real-world voice makes a difference.

Who you are online should reflect who you are in real-life.

Drop the mask. Stop trying to sound smart. Be you at all costs.

Purpose became the new center of attention.

My new bio features my two-line vision for the world. It takes center stage and I don’t shy away from it. I used to have my vision hidden from my professional career out of fear that people may laugh at it. It’s grandiose, inspiring, in your face, bold and vulnerable.

Now I don’t care. I share this two-line vision everywhere I go. I wear it as a badge of honor. Your purpose in life and in your career is not something to hide. Who cares what people think. It’s your vision so you should own it. It’s how you attract the right people in your life.

***Final Thought***

Writing your bio for any social media channel or website is a powerful exercise. I recommend doing it often as an exercise in revealing how much you’ve grown over time. Writing a bio gives you clarity and helps define who you are right now and who you hope to become.

My priorities have changed and they are now clear thanks to my new bio.

Try writing a new bio for yourself and let me know how you go.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net