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Whatup Reader!

If at any time in the past 2+ weeks you’ve found yourself asking, “What’s the point?”, please know that you’re not alone.

I too have uttered this phrase. More than once.

Right now things feel like we’re living at the bottom of an active volcano, just chillin’ and waiting to see what happens. (Fun fact, when I used to travel a ton for RockTape I stayed in like eleventy billion hotels all around the country and pretty much every stay, without fail, I’d find myself watching a documentary on The Weather Channel. Lots of tornados. Quite a few volcanoes.)

So, what have I done with this thought?

Well, I decided to take a page out of the Democrats’ playbook…and do the opposite. Yes, it is possible to support something and also critique it.

Last August the Democratic party named Harris as the presidential nominee and then proceed to run a campaign largely rooted in what I call anti-positioning messaging. FWIW, I also see this a lot in the fitness industry, with the best example being the anti-diet movement.

Anti-positioning messaging is messaging that speaks to what you are NOT, what you DON'T do, and what you stand against. It can be helpful to a degree, but ultimately it fails to explicitly state what you are, what you do, and what you do stand for, which is fundamental for long-term buy-in.

Like I said in a previous IG post, you can only run from something for so long, but you can run towards something pretty much forever.

When it comes to any type of marketing effort, it can absolutely be easier to start off with anti-positioning messaging, but the goal should ultimately be to get crystal clear on who you DO help, what problems you DO solve, and how exactly you solve those problems.

Right now we’re being inundated with things that we don’t like, things that we don’t stand for, and things that we don’t want to be associated with.

It’s a setting that ripe generating your own anti-positioning messaging.

All of it paints a bleak picture and begets the very reasonable question of, “What’s the point?”

What’s the point of showing up? What’s the point of selling? What’s the point of posting? What’s the point of doing whatever?

I can’t answer these questions for you or suggest which actions might hold more value, but I can say that for me, the point right now, of anything that I choose to do, is the people that matter to me and the things that bring me a sense of pride.

I will also say, do not be surprised if present day events change you, as they cause you take a moment and ask yourself what truly matters to you.

Maybe your job changes, maybe your friend circle changes, maybe how you spend your free time changes, maybe where you spend your money changes, maybe what you read and listen to changes, maybe who you read and listen to changes, maybe how you look changes, maybe how you act changes, maybe how you speak changes. Maybe a little changes, maybe a lot changes, maybe nothing changes.

All I can say is that if you too are feeling uneasy in this hurry up and wait phase, asking yourself, “What’s the point?”, my suggested action item is to remind yourself what matters, and if nothing comes to mind, go find out.

Happy Tuesday, Reader.

Maestro out.

Do the thing.

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