49. What We Can Learn from Rubber Bands

thwack!

There’s a thing called the Law of the Rubber Band that isn't taught in schools. Which is good, because it shouldn't be. 

The basic idea is that you will stop growing personally and professionally when there is no tension between where you are and where you could be.

Life, it is said, really starts on the other side of our comfort zone. Growth happens when we stretch ourselves.

Just like training to be a faster runner, real growth happens during the challenging bits. The intervals, the repeats, the endlessly long runs. That's the tension between where you are as an athlete and where you could be.

Which brings us to our friend the rubber band. The only purpose of a rubber band is to stretch. A rubber band in its relaxed state is useless. It isn't until the rubber band extends beyond its natural state that it has meaning. That is the Law of the Rubber Band.  We truly have meaning and purpose when we are stretched out of our comfort zone.

Snapping Into Place

We are currently -  as individuals, companies and an industry - stretched out of our comfort zone. In fact, we are being stretched in every possible way - personally, professionally and, for many, financially.

But remember the rubber band. When we are stretched, we grow.

And we may very well be growing while we aren't looking.

The People Are Running

I went out for a run yesterday and - hot diggity - the roads were packed with runners and walkers and cyclists. Packed like I haven't seen in awhile.

So I got off that popular street and went down to the next one - a quiet residential road.  Turns out that was packed with runners and walkers as well.

The Boston Globe recently wrote a piece about how there are more people running now than before. Runner’s World wrote something about that too.  So did USA Today.

My guess is that if you just look around your neighborhood, you'll probably see proof of it.  In a time of quarantine, people are getting out and moving more than ever. 

There's even talk that running can help reduce the impact of COVID-19.  

Does this mean there's a running boom? No.

Does this mean people will flock to our events when we can have them? Nope, not that either.

What it does mean is best quoted from Albert Einstein: 

In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.

FOMO

If you've joined any of my Data Insight Series webinars, you may remember that I'm a proponent of creating panic to build a brand.

People naturally want to be part of something that they are told they can't be a part of. It's why night clubs keep lines of people outside when it is actually empty inside. Only letting select people in the doors makes more people want to get in the doors.  It's why American Express has credit cards you need to qualify for. 

Never underestimate the power of FOMO (the fear of missing out).

A Potential Future

Here's a potential reality that could be coming down the pike.

Maybe events do happen later this year.  Maybe even big name events - ones that normally have 20,000 or more people.  But maybe they aren't big events this year.

Hear me out on this one...

What if a 25,000 person event only let 1,500 people participate this year due to social distancing. Maybe it was dramatically scaled down - not a marathon, just a 10k or half.  Perhaps there was a lottery to get in.  Rolling start, no post-race party, all packets mailed and each participant got special, limited edition, really cool swag.

1,500 people would be super excited to be part of it and would feel incredibly special.  And another 23,000 would have FOMO.

This FOMO provides a perfect setup for success the following year.

People want to be a part of something that they aren't allowed to join.

ka-THWAP!

Let's get back to where we started:  the rubber band.

We are being stretched very thin right now. We aren't at our breaking point by any means, but we're stretched with little insight into what our new natural state will be.

Our world is going to change for at least the next few months if not longer, that we know. The changing world means a changing endurance industry.

But there's a growing market out there that is running more and more every day. And if we just play our cards right, if we leverage what we can do in these stretched out times, if we push our creativity out of the comfort zone, then when that rubber band comes back - kaTHWAP!!!! - we may very well find ourselves as a bigger, thicker elastic with more power and flexibility than ever.

We're already outside the box.  Think different.  Let's do it.

Start pulling that band.