"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function”
Albert Allen Bartlett
The monkey mind loves the linear (straight lines). So much so that it has developed a strong propensity to extrapolate all data into a straight line.
Simultaneously, it desires things that cannot be achieved linearly. For example, you cannot 10x your income by working 10x more hours, working 10x harder, or taking on 10x more jobs.
You cannot lose weight 3x faster by exercising 3x more or eating 3x less.
Of course, you are welcome to try.
Exponential outcomes are emergent properties. They don't come from doing individual things more frequently, harder, or better. Instead, they emerge from doing them in a way that best compliments the entire system they are a part of. That system, when harmonized, creates an entirely new thing that did not exist before. A thing that you cannot find, no matter hard you look, because it does not exist somewhere to be found. It must emerge from the harmony of a system; what we often call "synergy."
A super simple example:
Don't copy and paste the same message on other platforms. Instead, use other platforms to get people to go open the email, where you show up best.
Example:
If you show up best on video and your entire strategy is based on…
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If you're too lazy to click the tweet it's pasted below. If you show up best on email, show up via email.
Don't copy and paste the same message on other platforms. Instead, use other platforms to get people to go open the email, where you show up best.
Example: If you show up best on video and your entire strategy is based on retargeting video viewers on Facebook...
1. Show up on video and get it onto Facebook
2. Send an email with a link to that video so that they fall into your optimized strategy
3. if you care about your open rates, you can SMS people to check their email for something powerful instead of just linking them to the video.
If you don't care about the open rate, link directly to the video. Use other platforms to get people into SMS, email, or directly to the original video. This is optimizing the synergy between the components of a system.
"Exponential" is an emergent property, it rarely exists in isolation. Getting parts to work together > getting more individual parts working.
Hopefully, that makes sense.
It's different for everyone.
You have your skillset. Your unique abilities and disposition. There is only one of you in existence which means you have some advantage, whatever that is.
The greatest potential for exponential will be figuring out what you do best, how you show up best, and what you are most interested in...
And then building a system around it, iterating it over and over and over again. Don't iterate to get more detailed, work harder, add more things, or add more hours. Instead, learn to observe the system. Learn to sand down/smooth out the friction points so the system runs with more harmony.
It's the theory of constraints; remove the most immediate constraint. But focus on the constraints preventing the system from being synergistic. Marketing, product, sales, etc will all improve at the right time: when they are the biggest constraint in the system. They will improve the appropriate amount; enough to no longer be the constraints.
More importantly...
If you try to perfect one component of the system you will get diminished returns. If you can stay zoomed out enough to obsess over harmonizing the parts, a new property emerges that can only emerge through this kind of synergistic thinking and implementation...
Exponential.
The Monkey Mind will fight it.
It will try and get you to obsess over each detail of each component. It will demand linear strategies while simultaneously expecting exponential growth. Monkey minf behavior will lead to reality failing to meet expectations.
Remember:
Exponential is an emergent property.
It cannot be found with more effort, harder work, or a fancier vision board. It must be created and drawn out by increasing synergy one iteration at a time.
Onward.