My Contrarian Approach to 3 Major Market Forces
In last week’s issue of The Anti-Generic Newsletter, I shared about 3 major forces converging in the marketplace right now (check it out here if you missed it).
As a quick recap, those forces are:
The Decline of the Institution: Major institutions like governments, healthcare and even large corporations have lost the trust of the American people.
The Marginalization of the Middle Class: With the advent of accessible AI, white collar workers who traditionally carved out middle- to upper-middle-class lifestyles for themselves (and their families) are being squeezed out of the economy. Blue collar workers are safe for now, and of course the ultra-rich continue to grow richer. But the middle class is disappearing.
The Atrophy of Attention: Most of us are spending hours each day on our phones, and attention spans continue to shrink with the rise in popularity of short-form content. While it’s easier than ever to show up in the marketplace, it’s harder than ever to stand out, get noticed and capture revenue.
These three forces combined have planted us firmly (or should I say, wobbly-y) in what I’m calling the Age of Fragmentation. Our traditional socioeconomic structures no longer provide us with the stability our parents and grandparents could depend on. It’s harder to succeed in the traditional sense, and the onslaught of distractions is making it even more challenging to focus on how we can get ahead at the exact time when we need the most clarity and restraint.
As a result, many of us have been left wondering “Where do I fit in here?”
Last week, I promised you that I’d share the contrarian ways in which I’m adapting to these converging forces, and why I believe there’s still hope and unprecedented opportunity for those who choose to pursue it, despite the apparent doom and gloom that accompanies these big societal shifts.
How to Handle the Erosion of the Institution
Let’s begin with how we can respond to the Erosion of the Institution.
This is perhaps the most exciting change we’re facing as a society.
Because as de-stabilizing as crumbling institutions can be, their downfall leaves space for new creation.
I believe that every single human is a creator. We are inherently designed to create, whether that’s with our hands, our brains, or our hearts.
And my contrarian way of dealing with the collapse of familiar institutions is to ask “How is this happening for me?”
If I can’t rely on a big company to take care of my needs in exchange for me giving 40+ hours per week to grow their mission, how can I build something that takes care of all my needs yet requires much less time and allows me to build toward MY mission?
There has never been a better time to create your own container and build a meaningful life doing work that you feel called to.
Where most people get stuck is in figuring out what that thing is and how they can get people to pay them for it.
And this is where it becomes vital to Own Your Perspective, so you can Own Your Market.
My approach to the collapse of the organizations I used to depend on for stability is to understand at the deepest level my own skillset, gifting and talents and to talk about those things with such authority that I can own the market where I want to stake an economic claim.
For example, you might be an equity partner attorney in a law firm, worrying about how AI is now capable of doing the majority of your job for a pittance compared to what you charge your clients.
Your job is not to pretend like AI doesn’t exist, or to be angry that it’s threatening your livelihood.
No, your job is to become so eloquent in speaking/writing about how you help your clients and sharing your unique human perspective on the issues that you tackle in your field that your authority in the marketplace is without challenge.
The trick here is that this approach requires you to show up boldly, with certainty, and (very important!) consistently.
There’s no more getting by because you’ve been excelling in your field for 20+ years. Now, the winners are the ones who do the work with excellence and know how to present their wins to the public, over and over and over again.
It’s not enough to solve a problem anymore.
You have to solve it in a way that no one else, including AI, can.
The fabulous news is that if you are willing to put the time and thought into formulating your unique perspective and staying consistent with sharing it in the marketplace, you will have extraordinary opportunities in the new economy.
People are starving for human connection. But they don’t want to connect with humans who are parroting what everyone else is saying.
They want to share experiences with smart humans who are dedicated to cultivating unique perspectives and owning those perspectives fully, even when — especially when — they face adversity.
Owning your perspective can look like many different things, and I’ll be sharing about specific ways you can do this in future issues of the newsletter, but to get you started with a few ideas, these are all examples around owning your perspective to own your market:
Writing the seminal book in your industry
Starting a podcast and sharing unique thoughts there
Beginning a Youtube channel and posting 3x per week
Crafting a weekly post on Substack
Writing a newsletter like this one and sharing it with your audience once per week
By the way, if you’d prefer to consume this newsletter via video, II’m sharing every edition on my new YouTube channel, which you can subscribe to by clicking here.
It doesn’t matter as much which channel you choose to Own Your Perspective as that you commit to developing your thoughts and sharing them consistently wherever you know it will make the biggest impact in your chosen field.
Combatting the Marginalization of the Middle Class
Next, let’s talk about my somewhat controversial approach to navigating the Marginalization of the Middle Class.
I’m calling this approach Align and Ascend.
The reality is that staying in the middle class is no longer a viable option.
You will sink down to struggle and poverty, OR you must choose to elevate yourself to the level of those who are expert at building and stewarding wealth.
You DO have a choice (if you choose nothing, by the way, your result will almost certainly be decline and poverty).
But no one is going to elevate up into wealth without working strategically and diligently to do so in today’s market.
I will never forget how I felt when I got the acceptance packet from Princeton University, the school I worked my entire junior high and high school career to get into.
I was beyond thrilled.
And I will never forget how devastated I felt when my parents told me that they simply could not afford to send me to Princeton. And suggested that I instead take a full scholarship to a state school.
I promised myself that if it were within my power, I would do all I could to make sure my own child never has to work for years achieving a goal, only to be told she can’t have her goal because even though she earned it, the money isn’t there.
So for me, the bottom is not an option.
If we must go up or down (and we must), I’m choosing to go up!
The reason I’m calling this approach Align and Ascend, not just Ascend, is that it’s imperative that you are not just aiming to make money for money’s sake . . . but you are instead doing work that is aligned with your skillset, gifting and talents — work that helps your clients achieve their biggest goals and dreams — so that you stay passionate about doing your work even during trying times.
I would never want you to be so poor that all you have at the end of your life is a bunch of money in the bank.
Real wealth comes from cultivating a healthy heart, soul and spirit while you do meaningful work that moves other people forward, too.
The money you earn is simply a scorecard of how valuable other people have considered your help and support to be.
Singer / songwriter Nick Cave put it beautifully in Issue #216 of The Red Hand Files:
“. . . the everyday human gesture is always a heartbeat away from the miraculous — that ultimately, we make things happen through our actions, way beyond our understanding or intention; that our seemingly small, ordinary human acts have untold consequences; that what we do in this world means something; that we are not nothing; and that our most quotidian human actions by their nature burst the seams of our intent and spill meaning fully and radically through time and space, changing everything.” Source.
I hope that you’re someone who wants to positively impact a LOT of lives. If so, you’re in the right place here.
One thing I’ve learned from making multiple millions of dollars in my business is that it matters greatly who you spend your time around.
What you read, what you listen to, and who you speak with will all affect the trajectory of your life and business.
If you’re ready to Align and Ascend, make sure to seek out people who have:
Big visions
Big dreams
Big influence
Big wealth
These are the people who will show you what’s possible and call you up into the highest version of yourself.
My goal is to be one of those people for you, as you stay connected here each week via this Newsletter.
Tackling the Atrophy of Attention
The final force we covered last week was the Atrophy of Attention, and my strategy for navigating through and beyond this force is what I’m calling “The Last 5%.”
It has never been easier to get your voice and perspective out into the marketplace. There are hundreds of different channels you could use, and they’re almost all either free or very low-cost.
And now with AI technology, your ability to take your message and distribute it across an enormous number of channels, giving you near-universal reach into whatever market you want to reach, is unprecedented.
So why are so many leaders and businesses struggling?
My theory is that while it’s never been easier to put your voice and perspective out into the marketplace, it’s never been harder to cut through the noise.
Precisely BECAUSE it’s so easy to publish content is why it’s so hard for your content to get noticed.
Because it’s so easy to build a platform now, it’s incredibly challenging to build a platform that stands out.
To succeed in today’s marketplace, you don’t just need reach.
You need recognition.
You must differentiate yourself, your perspective, and the unique way in which you help your clients get results, in order to succeed both now and in the future.
It’s not enough to publish a lot of content.
You need to publish a lot of quality content.
And any creator can tell you that publishing a large volume of content is a very different thing from publishing a large volume of high-quality content.
Your voice has to stand out in your niche.
This is the only way to capture attention.
You can’t be the “guru on the pedestal” anymore. People see straight through that now.
You have to be both revered (someone who has achieved the results that your own clients and customers want to receive ) and relatable (someone who is authentic and presents your results in a way that they feel achievable to the people looking to hire you).
The good news is that there’s never been a better time to share your real, honest thoughts.
All the parts of you and your work that you’ve thought are quirky, polarizing, or contrarian …
Those are the ideas it’s vitally important for you to share right now.
The One Key to Success in Today’s Market
Now that I’ve covered my three contrarian approaches to each of the major forces converging in the marketplace today, I want to leave you with ONE word you can remember.
This one word is the key to your success in the Age of Fragmentation.
It’s being ANTI-GENERIC.
Now is the time to bring your full personality, your complete slate of surprising beliefs, your comprehensive montage of specific stories, and your myriad of unexpected examples of the results your work has achieved into every piece of content you create.
You must now bring YOU to the marketplace.
And in order to do that, you have to understand your most deeply rooted beliefs and be ready to defend them to the end.
That’s what I’ll be talking about in next week’s newsletter, because that’s much easier said than done.
Thought-provoking as it may be, it IS possible, and there are skills and strategies I’ll be sharing with you when you tune in again next week.
In the meantime, I’m rooting for your success.
Always,
Anna
P.S. Which contrarian approach resonates the most with you? Send me an email and let me know. I read every response.