I wanted to talk to you today about some patterns you may be feeling or experiencing.
That’s right, the patterns that you have.
To be fair, we all have patterns. Whether that’s our morning routine or the language we use to describe things, our brains love to use patterns as a way of simplifying the world around us so that we can spend more mental energy focusing on the new challenges in front of us.
But as useful as patterns are, there is a point where they begin to really hurt us.
Can you think of a business that fell into a pattern, only to get left in the past? (Ahem…Blockbuster…)
Can you think of a pattern that could end a relationship? (“Why is my partner so boring?” or “Why is my designer always late?”)
Patterns in marketing are some of the worst offenders in this sense. The very nature of a marketing pattern makes whatever it’s trying to sell become less interesting!
This is my gripe with quarterly marketing plans. Very often they are incredible for efficiency, but leave little to no room for analysis and iteration. Even worse, if the marketing ideas themselves fall into a pattern, they instantly degrade their own value. This often happens because it’s one of our own internal patterns to look at what’s successful around us and try to emulate what we see.
And that leads me to the main point I wanted to make today…it all starts with mindset.
Even if you are following a marketing trend, if you think differently about the problem and land at the same result, you will eventually end up in a better place. Challenge yourself to understand the strategies and decisions you make, even if they’re based on references, at a deeper level than the creators of those references themselves. Activate the other part of your brain…the one that doesn’t see easy solutions all around you…and come up with conclusions that further your understanding!
The mindset of challenging yourself to break out of every pattern is incredible if you can put it to use. Even if you end up in the same place you would have otherwise, trust in yourself…and with each iteration you’ll reach closer and closer to your full potential whether that’s in sales, marketing, business development, design, or any other area!
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