Endless Possibility. Sounds so sexy, right?
Just you and the ocean and a sailboat aimed at the horizon.
The sky is the limit! The world is your oyster!
But here's the thing about endless possibility: it is way too hard to act on.
It limits our ability to take focused, impactful action. It limits our ability to set goals and achieve them.
We get excited about what is possible but then become afraid to make the wrong decision. Decision fatigue sets in. We end up making no decision at all or we make a decision that creates low impact work. Maybe we get lucky and make a good decision.
Often we don't have a criteria for what makes a goal that is great for business. We're shooting from the hip and that often doesn't end well.
So while it sounds like a ticket to freedom, it might actually be the opposite.
Michael Hyatt talks about constraints (not endless possibilities) as the real game changer in episode #168 of his podcast Lead to Win. It's a must-listen. Feel free to skip to minute 12. He gives an easy example ...
Imagine ... it's the Friday before you leave for vacation.
Your flight leaves in the morning and you'll be gone for over a week. You clean up A TON of backlogged work and set your team up for success while you are away. That's the day you CRUSH IT.
Why is that? 🧐 Constraints.
You feel like you're out of time. You don't just feel like it, actually. You are literally out of time. ⌛
Instead of lollygagging, you triage the tasks ahead with surgical precision, asking:
👉 What is the goal?
👉 What is the most important thing about this deliverable?
👉 What absolutely needs to be done well?
And then you dive in, delegate, clean up, and ship out.
Constraints create leverage.
They allow us to make better decisions.
They foster creativity, productivity, and, yes, freedom.
So how does this relate to branding?
A good brand creates a set of KNOWN QUANTITIES.
👉 Why and what are we doing, who do we serve, how do we sound, what do we say?
... the answers provide a loving container for constrained possibilities.
We spend less energy, time, and money on things that don't matter.
This is why it's SO IMPORTANT to fully and deeply flesh out your brand.
It eliminates endless possibility and instead allows the company to stay focused on what's important and how to deliver the results that only we deliver in our own unique way.
Are you ready for meaningful constraints?
The next round of BrandPlanner starts soon. We would love to have you.
Question for you: what is the purpose of your business and who do you serve?