The Death of the Individual
How Personal Branding Killed the Self
"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." — Joseph Campbell
In the last five or so years, a certain term has been thrown around a lot. If you're here, you either know it well—along with the industry built around it—or you've at least interacted with it in some way.
I'm talking about personal brand and the industry of personal branding that has sprung up around it.
A personal brand isn’t hard to understand, the words personal and brand make that pretty clear.
But personal branding is something else entirely.
It’s an industry made up of coaches, writers, and creators who piggyback on the concept of a personal brand, using the internet to sell advice, courses, and strategies.
I could take my time and explain how the Industrial Revolution played a role in all this, but I respect you too much to put you through that.
Anyway, today I’m not here to discuss definitions like some unintelligent wannabe philosopher. No.
Today, I want to go behind the act and talk about what the personal branding gurus are telling you—and why I think it’s all wrong.
If personal branding is a church, then I am the antichrist. And today, I will preach my anti-gospel against the multimillion-dollar industry of personal branding.
1. A personal brand is just you with extra steps.
You’ve probably heard all the “tips and tricks” for creating and growing your personal brand. And that’s where my first issue with internet gurus begins.
The very concept of a personal brand implies the existence of a person—which, surprise surprise, is already there. You.
You don’t just wake up one day, reinvent yourself 100%, and suddenly become a personal brand. That would make you no different from a made-up company.
You don’t start your brand when you post on Instagram. You started it the day you were born. There are no “hacks” or “tricks” to being yourself.
Platforms like 𝕏 have become a sea of platitudes, filled with people trying to be the next Dan Koe. Hate to break it to you, but Dan Koe already exists.
Copying him will only make you a cheap knockoff, no matter how much effort you put in.
Just be yourself.
2. Stop trying.
You can’t try to be yourself. You can only be yourself.
Whether that means you’re a cheap imitation of someone else or a Renaissance-level intellectual is up to you.
But every decision you make adds to the bucket that is you.
How you were raised, who you talk to, what you think about—it all combines to create a version of you that has never existed before.
Every second that passes, you become someone else through micro-shifts in your psychology and physiology.
And therein lies the “hack” you waste time scrolling the internet for: just stop trying and BE.
3. A personal brand is not a business.
Put simply, a business is an activity that makes money. (Don’t fact-check me on that.)
And as we’ve already established, your personal brand is just you with extra steps.
So, if your personal brand is your income source, doesn’t that make you the product?
My point is this: don’t treat yourself like a business.
Businesses take losses. Businesses live to satisfy shareholders. Businesses exist to serve—and when they can’t anymore, they get discarded for the next best thing.
Instead, be a brand.
A brand can make money, change minds, save lives—hell, a brand can shift the course of history.
Jesus of Nazareth didn’t build a ‘personal brand’ he lived, spoke, and changed history
You are not a business. You are a brand. And most importantly, you are a person.
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life." — Steve Jobs
Burn the Script.
The personal branding industry wants you to believe you need a strategy. A persona. A carefully manufactured presence.
But the strongest personal brands aren’t built—they’re lived.
History’s most unforgettable figures never followed a script. They didn’t workshop their ‘authenticity’ or curate a presence.
They were the presence.
Diogenes, Kanye West, Napoleon Bonaparte… YOU?"
Drop the playbook.
Stop optimizing yourself like a damn SaaS product.
Just exist loudly, say what’s on your mind, and let people resonate with that.
And if they don’t?
At least you’re not a budget Dan Koe.
"Don't try." — Charles Bukowski