The goal of lighting is not to make everything bright. It is to separate the face from the background and give it shape while keeping skin tones natural.
Place the light 45 degrees to one side
Move the light slightly above eye level and to the left or right of the camera. Turn your face a little toward it. This creates a gentle shadow instead of flattening every feature.
Make the source larger and softer
Use a softbox, a white curtain or bounce the light from a pale wall. Move the larger source closer; softness comes from apparent size, not simply lower brightness.
Create depth behind you
Stand at least one meter from the background when possible. Let the background stay slightly darker, and remove random bright objects that compete with your face.