The truth is, you may never know or fully understand who's life you have impacted. Your words, whether spoken or written, your attitude, your jokes, your bio, your work, are all part of how you might move, touch and inspire others. The biggest impact your personal brand may have on others, is not so much as to how they will perceive you, but how they may choose to reinvent themselves.

When I first came to summit, waaay back in the "old days" before the invention of Twitter, I was given a copy of the first edition of the "Board in a Box". It was a cool little guidebook, full of truths that every chapter leader should know. I was new to the AMA and didn't quite know what to expect at Leadership Summit.

I encourage you to observe yourself. Take a look. Are you being Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? Are you a barrel of laughs, or a barrel of monkeys? Take notice of how happy people are when you enter the room, and gauge the longevity of their smiles when leaving. If you find that you're being a little grouchy like I was, find a way to smile. 

Sometimes I receive a fortune like today's and I struggle to accept what it says at face value. It says, "Nothing in the world is difficult if one sets his mind to it." Do you believe it to be true? I can tell you with absolute certainty that I've set my mind to many things in my life that were quite difficult.  How about you?

In most cases, brands do an excellent job of sending a heartfelt message to the victims, and they are welcomed and well received. Sometimes however, a brand will mistake their best opportunity for sending a brief message of condolences, and instead, send what is perceived as an ill conceived, poorly timed advertisement, that attempts to do little more than capitalize on the tragedy of others.