Stake your claim

Here’s a photo of me at my gym a couple of weeks back. 

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I know what you’re thinking … that’s not you Pete. Not enough hair on the arms. 

You’re right - it’s actually Gaz, my trainer. 

What got my attention was the “probably.” As in probably the toughest event on the planet.

Really? If you’re going to make the claim, make it. Be the toughest event, not probably the toughest event.

As a thought leader, you want to be positioned as the go-to person in your domain*. The best. That’s the bar that you have to set for yourself. You know you’ve nailed your positioning when people are saying “if you want to do that, then you have to speak to this woman.”

And there is one caveat that goes with this. You then want to have other people saying it about you, rather than printing it on the back of your own T-shirt. 

On Matt Church’s website, there is a quote from Seth Godin saying “There’s no rule book, no map for what it takes to be a thought leader. Matt Church, though, has come close, giving you a head start on what works.”

Much better having Seth say that, than Matt saying it himself.

*One proviso is that this should be the focus at around blue belt ($40k a month). So if you’re just starting out, worth thinking about this, but not a focus yet.