I think about the importance of the barbell strategy often.

Once again I’m thinking about the barbell.

Not the one in the gym.

The one in my head.

Particularly its shape.

A flat bar in the middle.

Two weights on the ends.

It’s a metaphor.

The middle is critical.

But it’s flat. Stable. Unchanging.

Most of the surface area sits there.

And it’s where most of us operate.

Myself included.

The ends are different.

That’s where the variation lives.

That’s what makes the barbell dynamic.

Add weight.

Take it off.

Shift the balance.

It changes everything.

I try (oh, how I try) to look at business, and life, like a barbell.

To operate on the ends. Not the middle.

But the middle is easy. Safe. Familiar.

And slowly, without noticing, you start to look like everyone else.

Regression to the mean.

The bell curve.

Sameness disguised as strategy.

Damnit! I don’t want to converge.

The difference doesn’t have to be massive.

It just has to be the focal point.

I could be 99.8% the same as another business.

But if I point your attention to the 0.2%… that’s enough.

That’s the edge.

That’s the end of the barbell.

Think about it.

Two hotels can be identical — same rooms, same beds, same lobby.

But one lets you roll a dice at check-in for a chance at a free night.

Suddenly it’s “the dice hotel.”

No one remembers the thread count.

Everyone remembers the dice.

It’s irrational.

And it’s everything.

So I’m thinking about my own.

My pricing.

My offers.

My marketing.

This newsletter.

How do I put more weight on the ends?

I don’t know yet.

But I know this…the middle isn’t where I want to live.

Be conscious of your barbell.

Operate on the ends.

Be well.

Talk soon.

— Peter

P.S. A super tiny favor…

What’s one thing I already do that feels different and I should double down on?

…or one thing you’d love to see me pull off with this newsletter?

After 2.5 years of writing, it’s time to level up.

Hit reply and tell me how this newsletter can operate more like a barbell.