There is no excitement in the ideas of balance or moderation. They aren’t sexy or extreme concepts. The results they produce are not dramatically quick. Therefore they are not ideal components of a diet with with strong marketing magnetism.
Achieving dietary balance and moderation requires a change in things you can’t see or touch – like belief systems, perspectives, values, and priorities. Those changes aren’t easily put into one-size-fits-all steps, books, videos, or manuals. It’s tough to stuff them into a microwaveable package, supplement bottle, or shake powder. Therefore they are not recommended for rapid growth or viral adoption.
To sell something with widespread success in this industry, I repeat, you’ve got to offer people something sexy, extreme, or dramatically quick. It also helps to put together a narrative to support your position, complete with a set of historic assumptions, and then move squarely into one “corner of the ring.”
You do get to pick your corner: Gluten free? Low carb? High protein? No dairy? No meat? Liquid only? Two meals? Six meals? … Injections? Pills? Surgeries? Wraps? Your call. The fresher your differentiator, the better, however. So brainstorm until you arrive at something unique and new enough to score a lot of low-cost publicity.
Just be careful when playing with “corner overlap.” The more you dilute your position by sharing or borrowing ideas from other corners, the less likely you are to stand out, sell, or claim cult followers. Compromise the health of your adopters if you must. But whatever you do, don’t compromise your position. You might end up in the worst spot of all – not enough adopters to pull a profit.
Again, balance – the idea that one should consume quality sources of protein, carbohydrates, and fats … including meats, grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds … does not put you far enough into any corner to package and sell your advice. Moderation – the idea that you should only consume as many calories as your body needs to perform at its best … is more of a common sense concept … not an epiphany that will land you on a pedestal of social media likes and shares, or late-morning talk shows.
Let’s change gears now in summary. Ever wonder … perhaps this is why so few people see lasting success with their weight or health? Could they be distracted by all the marketing messages, and fail to focus on conquering the basics? Could they be doing exactly what advertisers want them to do – riding waves of emotion created by the winds of dissatisfaction, floating from one quick “solution” to the next? I tend to believe so.
The better path is persistent focus on balance (the quality in our diets) and moderation (the quantity in our diets). Interestingly, success in these starts with awareness of our own beliefs, perspectives, values, and priorities. We must work on identifying our personal reasons for the choices we have repeatedly made that have brought us to where we don’t want to be. Then … and only then … can we effectively reframe, remove, or replace those reasons to change our repeated choices … to bring us to the place we long to be, and keep us there.
