You need original ideas to get the attention and interest of the clients you’re looking to attract.
Here, as in every area of life worth mastering, sadly, 90% of people go chasing shadows down rabbit holes. It’s the patient, thoughtful 10% who work at it, deliberately, and eventually get it right.
I have a distinct, clear memory that I should tell you about.
I had just read someone’s book and marveled at how well the ideas hung together. How clear it was. And how original.
And I was discouraged. “Everything has already been thought of. There’s nothing left for me to contribute.” A stark, clear and depressing thought.
My thinking was upside-down. I was thinking the way most people think. And it kept me stuck.
Most people think that an “original idea” is thinking of something no one ever thought of before.
Well, trying to come up with an idea no one ever thought of before is pretty much impossible.
The good news: You don’t need to.
Now, that doesn’t mean you plagiarize. Of course not. Not only is plagiarism wrong, but it’s self-destructive. In the short run you feel like a fraud. And in the long run, you’ll be found out.
So if original ideas don’t result from going out and looking for them, where do they come from?
The originality comes from you. I’ll be light on the mushiness, but it’s true: You are a unique and special person and there’s no one else like you in all the world.
Original ideas come when you deliberately master the ideas already out there. And as you master them, and they become a part of you, your uniqueness seeps in and permeates them.
And suddenly, you have an original idea.
How do you make an idea your own?
There’s only one way: LIVE it. Let it guide you. Let it scare you. And you face it down.
Only when you’ve mastered an ‘old’ idea, because you’ve lived it, will you come up with your own ways of applying it. Of articulating it. Of combining, disconnecting and reconnecting it.
You know you can discern when someone is sharing an idea borne of hard-won experience versus someone who is parroting but lacks the true, deep understanding.
Deep understanding comes from making full contact. From getting dirty and even bloody. Not from academia.
The book-knowledge-only ‘experts’ attract clients who are looking for shortcuts.
The masters attract clients who want to work hard. They just want to be sure they’re working hard on the right things. They’re ready to invest in themselves. They just want to be sure they’re going to get the help they really need.
I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve been attracting a steady, consistent flow of first rate clients.
These are people from Silicon Valley, CA and Vancouver, Canada in the west, all the way over to Auckland, New Zealand in the east. From the UK in the north to Sydney down south.
And not only do we work together one-on-one, but I bring them all together each week to brainstorm and learn from each other. And they generously share what they’re up to in my private Oasis Forums.
No one knows it all. And when you put a bunch of not just smart – but wise – people together, each makes the other smarter, wiser and just plain better.
And so if you’re in a place where you want to build a steady, consistent, predictable flow of ideal clients for yourself, and you’re ready to invest in your business – both time, money and sweat – I invite you to apply for our Plenty of Clients 100 Day Sprint.
Dov Gordon
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