Let’s not start with the obvious. That’s what everybody else would do.
I’m going to show you how to be different next year. How to have a breakthrough whenever you want it, doing something that none of your competitors are doing. Something so powerful, transformative, and brain-bendingly awesome that if you can pull it off, you will alter reality forever.
The hidden powers in a common plant
Let’s jump back to when you were young and single. (If you’re still young and single, that will make this easier) You have a date. A big, romantic, serious date. You lay awake at night, thinking about this person. You have feverish dreams of how urgently you want to, um, impress them.
Among other things, you remember to brush your teeth before you meet your date. You probably bring some gum, and you definitely won’t order anything with a large amount of onions or garlic.
Restaurants understand this, and they’ve got your back. At least, they’re not going to advertise the high levels of garlic in their cuisine.
Except… I took the girl of my dreams (now my wife) on a romantic date at a restaurant called The Stinking Rose.
Everything on the menu was saturated with garlic. Even the wine. Some dishes guaranteed a minimum number of garlic cloves. The Stinking Rose brags shamelessly about their garlic.
The shock value of their USP has made The Stinking Rose a huge success. Their San Francisco branch has been around for almost 30 years, and their Beverly Hills site has been valued at over 18 million dollars.
What does this mean for you? (Assuming you’re not a vampire)
One of the simplest and most exciting ways to differentiate your business
Want to become so big that you redefine success? Do what no competitor of yours in their right mind would ever dare to do.
The thing that seems most wrong, the mistake most likely to drive away customers and ruin your business, might be the path to your ultimate success.
Be counter-intuitive. Be frightening!
There are a million ways you can do this. Just make a list all the conventional wisdom and “best practices” in your field. Find one accepted that you’d like to break. Then take a sledgehammer to it.
If this seems too gimmicky you can dig even deeper.
What kind of opposition do you feel in your bones? What is hidden behind this veil of fear? If you can answer this honestly, you’ll grow as a person and you’ll transform your business.
Is there a new way of doing things, some new path you could take, that repels you at a gut level?
As a thought experiment, go against your gut and imagine what could happen. Make a realistic analysis and see where it takes you. Maybe there’s a breakthrough in there somewhere.
The Boldest Step
Does this seem too esoteric for you?
Here’s some practical, concrete action you can take. Reach out to the prospects who choose not to do business with you. What are their reasons?
You’ll need to be brave, persistent, and clever to reach these people and hear their honest answers. But once you understand them, you can work on removing all opposition. The floodgates open, and you’ll have a sudden breakthrough in your business.
Discomfort is a signal. It’s a call to adventure, an invitation to change something in your world. You’ve already stepped through the great portal of Fear at least once. Otherwise, you’d be working in a cubicle right now.
A new year is dawning soon. What will be your next step?
