Dust bunnies and other things you don't see.
Is your secret sauce hiding in plain sight?
When you buy a house you get an inspection to make sure there are no costly surprises. Yet lurking within the walls of a house can be things that go undetected. Things that bite you in the arse down the road that an inspector couldn't see. On new homes builders often cover up poor work that only reveals problems long after they're gone and the warranty expires. Things like sagging floors and walls.
Your body hides things inside. Feed it a load of junk day after day and you may not notice the impacts for years especially if you're active. Or running on autopilot. What you don't see is what it's doing to your immune system or your brain.
Because you don't - and can't - fix what you can't see, big problems can happen later. Imagine how forecasting downstream impacts could change how you made decisions in the now. Maybe you'd buy a different house. Or adopt different food habits. Or changed how you worked and what you worked on. You don't know what you don't know.
Work is like this.
Most days you're on autopilot making decisions, and getting stuff done. You take what you do for granted. Especially if you didn't consciously choose it.
Others marvel at your capability and brilliance. Yet to you, what you do is so simple. Nothing to it, really. What they do is much harder. Or is it?
We take in what we see when we see another's success. What we miss are the years of practice, the oodles of ups and downs. We see the finished product. Not the process. What's hidden is where the secret sauce lies. Your secret sauce is in what you find easy but others find hard. It's the foundation that supports the work you do. Just like your home's foundation.
If you're looking for what you can do to expand your revenue streams, look at how you do what you do. Look at what you find simple that others find hard. There's gold in the process. Sometimes we don't see what's obvious. And leave a ton of value on the table.
This week, jot down the things you find easy. Ask yourself if others find these things hard. If they do and ask you about them, they may not be alone. There might be a market for your easy stuff.
Still stuck? Jot down what impresses you about the work others' do. What do you find hard? Ask them about it. Do they find it easy? And then flip it around.
Do you have wood floors in your home? If you do, I bet you've accidentally peered beneath your sofa and were horrified to find a gaggle of dust bunnies. Admit it. You don't clean under there every week do you? Didn't think so. In reality, seems it takes less than a week to collect the whole set of dust bunnies in all of their glory! They gather and multiply like rabbits.
Your brain is like the space under your couch. It needs a little hygiene to stay sharp. It needs to be used and tested. It can't be ignored. I know, you're telling me your brain is always telling you what to do or not to do. But I'm talking about the part of your brain that relishes you achieving your potential. The curious part that is always trying to kickstart your personal fly wheel.
Ignore it and it'll get lazy and want to watch cat videos all day. It'll lose its edge and grind to a halt.
Here's something I - and based on this article - didn't know existed until this week. A 12-year old company that did nearly $10 Billion in 2020. A company that's doing for e-commerce what Amazon did for books. Here are a few stats from the article:
"These are just a few mind-blowing facts about Shein:
Shein ranks as No.1 in the iOS App Store’s Shopping category for 56 countries, and garners a top 5 spot for 124, out of total 174.
Since mid-February, Shein has seen an unbroken run of being ranked second only after Amazon for shopping apps in the United States.
A recent survey of American upper income teens by investment bank Piper Sandler also ranked Shein as 2nd after Amazon for most popular shopping website.
Shein’s website ranks no.1 in the world for web traffic in the fashion and apparel category, according to SimilarWeb, putting them ahead of household names Nike, Zara, Macys, Lululemon and Adidas.
The average duration of a site visit is estimated at 8 mins 36 seconds, higher than every major US fashion brand.
A recent report claimed Shein was the most talked about brand on TikTok in 2020."
Why haven't you heard of them? Because they're super secretive. Building in plain site and gaining a competitive advantage. Even prolific tech writers haven't heard of them. If you're curious, check out the deep dive on Shein.
Why am I sharing a gazillion dollar company in a newsletter focused on you? To illustrate that the importance of seeing. Patterns, opportunities, entry points. You never know where your next big idea is going to come from. Being open to the possibility makes it more likely you'll notice it when it bites you. The more you practice seeing, the more you'll see. The more that what was once hidden comes into view.
See more. See better. See you next week.