The midwit meme

You know the meme I'm talking about.

This one:

And this:

This too:

All of those plus a bunch of much spicier ones that made me laugh my ass off while searching for examples...

THOSE SILLY MEMES ARE TRUE.

A few months ago, I got booked for a private consultation by 'Jack'.

Jack is someone who I knew was WAY more financially successful than me as a consultant.

He was already kicking ass around the time I came into this industry, and is well-regarded by many others as a deep expert in his primary skill.

Even before the call, I wasn't sure how I could help him.

And on the call I started to get worried...

Jack mentioned that his income had gone down a bit for the first time in years, and he wanted to make it go up and to the right again.

But it wasn't clear what was wrong...

Because he didn't have ANY skills deficits that needed fixing.

He enjoyed the work he was doing and wasn't thinking about shooting off in some radical 180 degree direction.

And his home life seemed super stable and happy.

So I didn't really understand what the problem was...

At the end of the 2-hour session, I felt like it was unresolved.

So I invited him for a second conversation.

And the second time round, a kind-of problem emerged.

Jack wasn't talking much to new people, or making a lot of time to reach back out to people he already knew.

He had let his DMs and email go untended...

So he wasn't quite as top-of-mind with as many people as he had been a year before.

My advice to Jack was so freaking basic that I felt almost embarrassed to say it:

"You're in a great spot, you have the skills and the proof to back it up. Just go talk to more people and something good will happen."

I fully expected Jack to reply with a sarcastic "DUH NUMBNUT. I didn't pay $500 for the verbal equivalent of a Pumpkin Spice Latte".

But Jack didn't say this of course.

In fact, he was very gracious, was glad to hear the suggestion, and said he would get out there a bit more.

Anyway, that was around 4 months ago...

And this morning Jack popped into my head.

So I sent him a message, and asked him if our consultation helped him get a positive outcome?

His reply blew my socks off...

After the second call, he took my advice, made the effort to talk to more people more often...

And landed himself a high ranking position at a massively successful marketing technology company...

All from a few casual low-stakes conversations.

Your friend,

John Caprani