Monday Mindset: Increase Your Surface Area

Monday Mindset is the weekly newsletter to start the week off with a focused intent.

To create success, you need to create surface area for opportunity to find you.

How do you create surface area? Create more of whatever it is you do. Create more places for it to live. Send it out into the world for more eyeballs to see. Market it to a larger group of people. Network with people within your particular niche or expertise.

If you are a content creator, you can write a thousand blog posts or create a thousand videos but if there is nothing pointing people to your work, it may never be found. If you work in an office but don’t meet people or share your work, you may never get noticed by people who can help you get promoted.

Steps to take this week to Increase Your Surface Area:

1. Track your work. Keep a folder on your computer of the things you’ve created that you’re proud of. If your work is physical or you’re a tradesperson, take pictures of your work. Track the time that it took you to do it. Estimate the value of the work.

2. Consolidate it. Put your work in a place where you can share it easily. This may be in a cloud folder like Google Drive, OneDrive, or iCloud.

3. Share it. Post it on social media and use hashtags related to your work, industry, niche, or expertise. Share it in online forums dedicated to the category your work is in. Share it with associations related to your work. Email it to people you admire within the industry. Tell them you admire their work, let them know you aspire to be where they are, and ask them for feedback.

4. Spend time with people who share your love. This is an underrated one. If you love something, go spend time with people who love it, too. Look for Reddit groups, join associations, find MeetUps, and especially go to tradeshows. If you love it, chances are someone else does, too. You don’t have to go looking for an opportunity, but just go to be around other people who share the same passion. These are incredible ways to find inspiration and to make connections. You don’t have to ask for anything, but these people may be incredibly useful when you do want to make an ask.

By increasing the available area for people to find your work and to see your work, you create open space for opportunity to find you, not the other way around. It’s a way to let compound interest work in your favor. You never know when someone you’ve shared your work with will share it with someone else who may just be the person you didn’t know you were looking for.

Any other tips you can give to increase surface area, please let me know on Twitter!