Step 1 - Plant a flag

• A flag is a topic, an expertise or a point of view that you're going to own and them go all in on.
• You have to have an opinion, a strong conviction about some topic
• We all have opinions, but when you plant a flag, you build a platform on top of your informed opinion about a very specific topic
• You hav to have a story, something that gets people interest in what you have to say and then keeps them listening
• Your experiences are unique, even in a crowded profession. Most important, no one has your story
• When you plant your flag, you have the opportunity to be the person who own that space. People will seek you out because they know they can get real value from the content you create and distribute to the world. And because you are basing your insight on your experience, your story
• When you plant your flag, be prepared to follow a new path in your life, one that will set you apart from the rest of the crowd
• Instead of throwing away your experience, build on it
• Topic: In what field will you plant your flag and what will your unique angle be?
• Audience: Who will be your target audience?
• Format: How will you reach your target audience?
• Measures of success: How will you know you're reaching your audience? How will you know your content is resonating? You're looking for changes in behavious as your measures of success. Having motivated others to pay attention to you, evidenced by changes in their behaviour, is the true measure of success
• Opportunities: In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity
• Your expertise: You've got to provide value over the long run

Step 2 - Tell your story

• Solve a real problem - By solving a real problem many people had, a really global problem, people resonated to it
• Real-world experience - A level of authenticity to everything that I was saying
• Humble - I talked a lot about the things we tried that didn't work, some real disasters and what we learned from them
• Practical and tactical advice - I always gave my audience something to try, something they could actually put into practice
• Authentic connection -  People were actually paying attention because this was a real world person talking about how to solve a challenge that they themselves had
• The more you tell your story, the more you can refine your language
• It's your job to get them to listen
• You've got to convice them that it's woth their time
• The power of story is that "it has an ability to connect with people on an emotional level"
• Characters - Who is in the story? Get your audience to feel an emotional investment in the characters
• Plot - A good plot keeps your audience engaged, wondering what's coming up next
• You've got a problem and through much trial and tribulation, you find a solution and become the hero of your team
• They don't care about features, they care about the benefits, ideas, how what you're pitching makes them better, smarter, more sucessful, happier, more fulfilled, more respected and so on.
• they will be engaged in your story and deeply connect with it on ann emotional level
• To design a good story, you need to know 4 things:

1. Who you are speaking to
2. What they care about
3. What language they speak
4. What makes them heroes

Step 3 - Follow the new path

• Forever employability is an outcome of your willingness, flexibility and agility to follow new paths as they reveal themselves
• Luck happens when opportunity meets preparation
• Following your new path means actually taking action. You'll never get where you want to go if you stay where you're at

Step 4 - Teach

• It's just natural to get better at something the more you practice it
• When you teach a particular topic, you'll be suprised at just how much more you understand it
• The more you can simplify your material and teach it and make ir clear, the more sucessful you'll be

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