There’s never enough time in the day, or at least so we tell ourselves. However, according to research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Americans on average have 5hours of “free time” every day.
That figure would be astonishing to most busy Americans. How can we be so time-poor and yet so surprisingly time-rich? What are the implications?
For starters, the CDC research suggests that most of us have some leeway in our schedules to carve out good habits. We have the time to engage in activities that, when done repeatedly, can make us happy and healthy.
The power of habit is an old story. Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Ovid wrote that “habits change into character.” No less a sage than Aristotle similarly observed that “good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” These truths still hold in 2021. If that’s the case, which habits should you cultivate with all this extra time you have?
You have the potential to generate a fan base that propels you to greatness. However, you must be true to your word. If you get booked as a podcast guest, show up. If you promise your followers you’ll do an insane TikTok dance, get out there and cut a rug.
Whatever channel you choose, stick to a rhythm. Audiences love routines. People cherish predictability. It will take time and feedback to find the right marketing cadence, but once you do so, keep the beat.
You only have to be right once. A single productive campaign can launch a brand into the stratosphere and generate huge cash flow. Relentlessly track what works and what doesn’t. Discard what doesn’t. Rinse and repeat.
As physicist Richard Feynman observed: “you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool." You can’t afford to get swept up into fantasy or to become too depressed. Get in the habit of seeing the world and your business as it really is.
This sounds like it contradicts habit #4. Should you really be optimistic if the hounds of Twitter are savaging your brand’s reputation because of an innocent typo on a blog post? Yes. Per Admiral Stockdale, “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
You need to exert effort to minimize sprawl. Simplicity is necessary, particularly as you scale.
Your fans know if you’re being authentic or not. People have a sixth sense about these things. The best way to promote an authentic brand is to genuinely enjoy yourself while doing your thing.
