johnmaconline

You know the difference between being busy and being productive. 

We can fool ourselves. We can convince ourselves. We can justify it to ourselves.

So we clean the desk, reorganize the files, tweak the colors, and work on the fun little idea. 

Resistance whispers in our ear that these things are important. 

They’re not. 

The income comes from doing the things that generate income.

Make the call. Send the message. Expand your network. Schedule the meeting. Create the pitch. Try a new pitch. Get punched in the face. 

What are you avoiding right now that you need to do to generate income?

Start there. 

Not long ago, off-campus student housing was all about surviving. 

Shared bedrooms, a single shared bathroom, a couch rescued from the curb, stained rugs, and faded paint.

Today? It looks more like a luxury resort. Private bedrooms. Designer kitchens. Rooftop lounges. Fitness centers. Pools. Fire pits. 

Student housing developers are upping the ante. 

But who’s the target? Is it the students or the parents?

Once the ante goes up, there’s no going back. Nobody’s choosing the wood-paneled walls when the rooftop pool is an option. Especially if parents are on board.

Upping the ante happens everywhere. Hotels. Gyms. Cars. Power tools. Phones. Jobs. Even relationships.

Once you’ve had a taste of better, your baseline shifts. You don’t just want it. You expect it.

That expectation creates both opportunity and danger. 

Opportunity because if you’re the marketer who can offer just a little more — up the ante just a bit — you can win. Danger because now you’re on the hook to keep raising it. 

Every time you up the ante, you’re deciding and then signaling what matters.

Is it the granite countertop or the person standing across from it?

The rooftop grill area or the people you share it with?

Up the ante in the right direction. 

You’ve seen it. You’ve experienced it. You’ve been frustrated by it.

Maybe it’s your server, or colleague, or even your partner. It could be your customer, vendor, or CEO. 

The person you’re counting on has disengaged. 

Why do people disengage? 

• They feel unheard.
• They feel unvalued.
• They’re overwhelmed.
• They’re underwhelmed.
• They’ve lost trust.
• They’ve lost interest.
• They’re burned out.
• They’re protecting themselves.

When somebody no longer sees a reason to care, they stop showing up. 

The challenge is to restore connection. To create trust. To make it matter again. To make them matter again. 

Because when they feel like they matter, they show up. When they show up, they engage.

Things you can rely on:

• The sun will come up  
• You’ll need food and water
• Gravity
• You and everyone will age
• Seasons change
• Time moves forward
• You and everyone will make mistakes
• Effort
• Skill development

Things you can’t rely on:

• A safe job
• Market stability
• A weather forecast
• Trends
• Traffic
• Rules
• Luck
• Promises

Plan accordingly. 

Places have characteristics. 

They have a climate, a geography, flora, and fauna. They also have a culture, history, and demographics. They have a look, a sound, and a pace.  

They shape how we feel and how we act when we’re there.

They have meaning.

But is it the place, or is it what we bring to the place? 

Four tines on a fork is the most common and widely considered the best balance of function and form.

Two tines don’t hold enough. Three don’t provide the same balance. More than four, and well, that’s just overkill.

Four tines. Strong. Balanced. Versatile. Large enough to handle the mouthful. Small enough to fit in your mouth.

Life’s forks aren’t much different.

Too few options, and you’re stuck. Too many, and you can’t decide. The sweet spot is just enough forks to give you a real choice without paralyzing you.

Choose your fork. Choose your future. 

You only lose if you turn around. 

On a network, if you want to know if something is alive and reachable, you ping it.

Ping is a computer command that sends a simple message to your intended target. A successful reply gives you some basic but useful information:

1. I’m alive
2. Here’s my address
3. Here’s how close I am to you

If the ping comes back as “unreachable,” then you also get some useful, if opaque, information:

1. You can’t get to me
2. I’m powered off
3. You’ve got the wrong name or address

Ping your friends. Ping your family. Ping your colleagues. Ping your customers. Ping your partners. 

Ping me. 

Life rides on the curve. 

The mean is everywhere. Everything is average. Everyone is in the middle. 

Statistically, anyway.

But if you can find a way to get ahead of the curve, for just a little while, with at least one thing, you can win. It could be early adopting some tech. It could be trying the thing nobody wants to. It could be listening to the person nobody believes yet. 

• Experiment early
• Learn faster
• Listen differently
• Challenge your beliefs
• Ignore the noise

You can’t stay ahead forever, of course, because life rides on the curve. 

But for just a little while, if you can see what others can’t, or do what others won’t, or go where others haven’t.

That’s where the win lives.