Before we begin, we'd like to introduce ourselves...

You might be wondering why we decided to focus on helping people discover their authentic personal brands. If so, our manifesto sums up our “reason for being” and why we do what we do:

Now that you know a bit more about us, it’s time to download your course workbook and write down who you are, and why you decided to take our course.

Great, let’s get your workspace set up.

There are two ways to complete our online course. Depending on how tech-savvy you are, or whether you just simply prefer pen and paper, you could:

1. Print the worksheet we provide, with sticky notes and a marker pen; or

2. Work online in Miro, a digital whiteboard.

Before we dive into each option, we do recommend keeping a pen and paper handy anyway, as you may find it easier / quicker to brainstorm some things this way regardless of whether you’re working online in Miro or not.

Option 1: Pen and paper

1. You could print out our worksheet, or redraw it on a white board or large piece of paper;

2. Grab a few stacks of different colour sticky notes and a marker pen; and

3. Write your answers on individual sticky notes (which makes it easy to move answers around and group them into clusters later on).

Option 2: Work in Miro (a digital whiteboard)

1. Go to Miro.com and sign up for a free account;

2. Once you've created your free account, create a new "board", which will be your digital workspace that behaves a lot like a whiteboard;

3. Drag and drop the worksheet you downloaded onto your new Miro board and wait for it to upload (once it does, you’ll see it there and you can make it bigger or smaller);

4. Use the digital sticky notes and drawing tools to fill out your worksheets and complete each exercises within Miro; and

5. Lastly write your answers on individual sticky notes (which makes it easy to move answers around and group them into clusters later on).

Screenshot of the Miro toolbar

Pro tip: When using sticky notes, make sure you only put one answer on each sticky note, as you will need to arrange your answers (i.e. sticky notes) into groups later on. Here’s a quick video on why this works.

Now that your workspace is all set up, let’s continue to the next section.

Using the workspace you just set up, let’s do the following exercise.

You are going to spend 15 minutes writing down as many answers as you can to four “empowering questions”. Before we share the four questions with you, we’d like to explain a few things that will help you with this exercise.

1. I know we’ve already mentioned this, but write each answer on it’s own sticky note;

2. We have created a few additional questions to reframe each of the four “empowering questions” to help you if you get stuck or struggle to think of answers (if you do, try to answer these questions instead);

3. Keep your sticky notes in their correct groups, don’t muddle them up.

Moving on, below are the four “empowering questions”:

1. What do I love and value? (15 min)

   • What would I do if I only had six months to live?

   • What makes me forget to eat and pooh?

   • What would I do if I was given 10 million (insert valuable currency here) without any strings attached?

   • What did I love doing or thinking / dreaming about as a child?
      

2. What am I good at? (15 min)

   • What skills or talents do I have and love to use that make me feel unique?

   • What sorts of unpleasant experiences am I able to handle much better than most people?

   • Which tasks (business or personal) feel effortless and natural for me?

   • What do people typically ask me for help with?

   • What am I among the best at in my workplace or community – or even the whole world?
      

3. What do I believe / feel the world needs? (15 min)

   • Who is my favourite superhero and what do they fight for?

   • If I had to teach something, what would I teach?

   • If I was elected to right the wrongs of humankind, what would I start with?

   • If I were to donate everything I own to a cause or charity, which one would it be?

   • If I were cursed to relive today for eternity, what’s the one thing I would do or change to make it a blessing?
      

4. What can I be paid for? (15 min)

   • What work can I do that will still be relevant a decade (or even a century) from now?

   • Are there any leftovers or by-products (i.e. unused photos, designs that get archived, material that sits in a pile, etc.) I produce as I do my work that I don’t usually charge for?

   • Is there anything I enjoy doing that people have offered to pay me for in the past?

   • What do people typically thank me for and could I make a business out of this?

   • What am I good at and / or enjoy doing that other people are already being paid to do?

Once you are done, place each of your sticky notes (written or digital) onto your worksheet in their correct places, as seen below:

When you are happy with how your sticky notes have been placed, continue to the next section.

In the previous section you answered the four “empowering questions”. Now, you are going to look for patterns between those answers / sticky notes and group them.

You will be asking yourself a few more questions in order to help you do this.

To create group 1, ask yourself:

• Of the things I love and value, what am I also good at?

To create group 2, ask yourself:

• Of the things I love and value, what do I feel the world needs?

To create group 3, ask yourself:

• Of the things I can be paid for, what am I also good at?

To create group 4, ask yourself:

• Of the things I can be paid for, what do I believe / feel the world needs?

Great, now that you’ve grouped your sticky notes, let’s give each of your groups a label.

Label each group as follows:

1. Group 1 = Hobbies and interests

2. Group 2 = Causes I support

3. Group 3 = Potential day job ideas

4. Group 4 = Side-hustle ideas

If you return to your worksheet, you’ll see there are spaces on it with each of these headings. Put your sticky notes on your worksheet in the correct spaces.

Below is an example of what it should look like:

When you are happy with how your sticky notes have been placed, continue to the next section.

Now that you have a better idea of the sort of hobbies and interests, causes, day jobs, and side-hustle ideas that resonate with you, let’s dig even deeper.

In this section, you will:

1. Discover your purpose; and

2. Write your manifesto.

First, ask yourself:

Are there any sticky notes (the same, or similar) that appear within all four groups?

If there are, move these to the center of your worksheet.

Next, ask yourself:

Are there any sticky notes (the same, or similar) that appear in one or more groups, but ot all four groups, which could live comfortable in all four groups?

If there are, then move these sticky notes to the center of your worksheet too.

Below is an example of what it should look like:

Taking one final look at the sticky notes you’ve just moved to the center space of your worksheet labelled “purpose”, what is the common theme?

Write it down on a sticky note and place it on top of all the the others.

This is most likely your purpose.

Pro tip: If you don’t feel like you have hit the nail on the head yet, that’s okay, as sometimes one needs to dwell on this final step for a few days before things sink in. If that’s you, don’t stress, just come back to this exercise in a few days time with a fresh perspective.

Okay, so you’ve found your purpose, but now you need to be able to articulate it to yourself and others. Which is easier said that done.

The best way to do this is to write a manifesto. But what exactly is a manifesto?

A manifesto is a written statement that publicly declares your views, motives, and intentions. It describes what you stand for, what you do every day, and what you're striving to achieve or become.

Here are two great examples, in video format:

While every manifesto is (and should be) unique, there are some common guiding principles that will help you write one.

We like using Marty Neumeier’s “three questions” to help us structure a manifesto.

A manifesto should help the reader / listener answer:

1. Who are you?

2. What do you do?

3. Why does it matter?

A great manifesto is usually structured to answers these questions in this order.

Using the Haloda! brand manifesto, the two examples we provided, and Marty Neumeier’s “three questions” as inspiration, take the next 20-30 minutes to write your manifesto.

Remember, this is just the first draft. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You will most likely refine it over the next few days, weeks, and months!

When you are happy with your first draft, continue to the next section.

Well done! You have successfully completed the “finding your true north” portion of your online self-study course! Now it’s to reflect and wrap up.

It’s been a long and winding road, but you’re better off for it! Most people never even put this much effort into planning their future, let alone trying to figure out what their life’s purpose is.

You’re part of a select few who’ve undertaken this journey – we’re proud of you! Be proud of yourself!

As with all journeys in life, it’s always good to reflect on the road you travelled and to plan your next steps once you reach your destination.

Which brings us to the final section of your course.

We’d be honoured if you would:

1. Sum up your experience in one word by choosing a feeling from outer ring of the Emotion Wheel below, please also let us know why you went with that emotion; and

2. If (and only if) you’re comfortable with it, please share your manifesto and a little bit about who you are with us – we’d love to know more about who we’re helping :)

BONUS: We can’t promise that we’ll be able to do this for everybody, but if you share your manifesto with us, we will try to give you personalised feedback.

Emotion Wheel (Reito Rodriguez, LCSW, LAC)

Okay, so you have a purpose and a manifesto. Now what?

Firstly, you should type it up / write it out and reflect on it every morning to kick-start your day. It might sound silly, but read it out loud to yourself.

Over time, it will set the tone for how you start your day. It will remind you why you do what you do when times get tough. It will help you make hard decisions.

Most importantly, once we set ourselves a goal, our brains work tirelessly in the background to help us make decisions that get us closer to that goal.

As a result, you’ll subconsciously start to align your life to your manifesto a little more each day.

For some of us, having a good initial direction is all we need, whilst others may need coaching at specific sticking points along the way. If you would like to find out more about what we do, or enquire about our coaching, then reach out using the contact form on our website.

If you feel you benefited from this course, please tell your friends, family, and colleagues. The more people who take our course, the more feedback we will get, and the quicker we can improve it for you and everybody else who joins.

We wish you all the best on your journey!

Cheers,

Thys and Vaughn, Co-founders of Haloda!