For the most part, a family name, or surname, is your last name. It is what identifies you throughout your life. The history of a person’s last name can often be very interesting. Names do tell a story and they can also say a lot about you.
We’ve often hear the phrase,” protect your credit”, but have you ever heard the phrase, “protect your good name?”
Growing up, if my siblings and I ever disappointed my father, he would say, “There you go dragging the family name through the mud.”
There have been millions of people in this world, whose carefully manicured reputations have at one time or another become tarnished because they became involved in a scandal, went bankrupt or a family secret was exposed.
A tarnished name is like a tarnished reputation, fortunately they both can be rebuilt. Your last name is kind of a branding so to speak. So, what does your family name say about you? Does it have a good reputation or has it been tainted?
Some times it’s an entire family that has tainted or destroyed the credibility of a name and other times it just takes one to destroy the reputation of a family.
Whether you like it or not your name is your identity and the reputation of that name influences how others perceive you.
Reputation is very important and it’s a good idea to learn how you can protect that good name.
If you’re arrested for drunk driving, you run the risk of having your mug shot taken. You’ll probably never put that mug shot on your resume, but, now, it effectively is. Along with your name comes the track record of everything else you’ve done in life, which can include your financial, educational and criminal history.
Consider this, if you are a hot head and you let your temper get the best of you, more than likely when your name comes up in conversation, so will the references to your temper.
Whether it is a personal reference or a career reference, what others think about you matters. Your choices, personality traits and behaviors will all eventually be tracked back and associated with your name.
So why not take the time to create a name for yourself that you can be proud of? Try redesigning yourself, or improving upon who you are. Thankfully, it’s never too late to start building or rebuilding your reputation. A person that has built a good name for his or herself is someone who cares about their reputation.
Here are the building blocks you can use to maintain or rebuild your good name; honesty, credibility, stability, character, responsibility and courtesy.
