300 Words 01/21/2024 | You Are An Infinity Bottle

I Said Infinity Bottle Not Gauntlet. Snap out of it. ;)

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This is a message to the eclectic, the generalists, the polymaths. To those that would rather cut off their right arm than “niche down.” Your brand is an infinity bottle.

I’m going to repeat it one more time for the people in the back.

Your brand is an infinity bottle.

You may be asking: What is an infinity bottle?

That is a great question. An infinity bottle is a term used among whiskey connoisseurs to describe a decanter of whiskey that you continually add different whiskeys too. It is an infinity bottle because it is infinite.

In theory it should never run out. That is unless you forget to refill it, or leave it on the table amongst friends.If you want to learn more about whiskey and infinity bottles in general. This is a great YouTube video that talks about them.

Okay Jeff. I know what an infinity bottle is, but that has nothing to do with my brand. I’m not a bottle of whiskey. Heck. I don’t even drink.

Oh contraire my good friend. That is exactly what your brand is.

Your brand is an infinity bottle because you are an infinity bottle. You see the polymath, the generalist, the one who seeks out new knowledge, new information. You are like that bottle. You are the person who sits there and accumulates different flavored whiskeys. Different profiles. Different notes. You blend it all together in one unique beautiful symphony of context. That’s why your brand is an infinity bottle.

If you are a generalist, polymath, or Eclectic JOAT ;) and creating a personal brand, an integral part of who you are is the blend. Someone telling you to niche down is akin to trying to pull a specific whiskey out of that bottle after it has all been mixed together. Simply put impossible.

In the same way that an infinity bottle takes on the flavor profile of all the whiskeys that are poured into it, you do the same thing. Every new link, every new article, every new conversation, contact, network, idea are all part of the blend inside your bottle.

You can’t separate them, you can’t dilute them, you can only distill them into one unified and unique concoction.

So my friend, you are the infinity bottle and that matters. That is important.

How does all of this work then? How does it apply to you and your brand?

Well, first things first let’s break this down into three parts.

1.) The content you consume, what goes in the bottle.

2.) How you brand the bottle, the label on the outside of the bottle.

3.) Why your infinity bottle is the best spirit around.

Let’s dive in.

First, we have the content that we consume. We all, every day, have a choice in the content that we get to consume. Whether it’s multiple posts on X, videos on YouTube, reading the news, talking with friends and family members, or a this Medium article. We get an active choice in what content we consume, when we consume it, and why.Some days it doesn’t feel like it, but we do.

You see every single day the content you consume is flavoring the content that you produce. I’m sure you’ve seen it on social media where day in and day out people constantly repeat the information that’s been said before. It reads like they’re a broken record, they’re a parrot, they’re just writing to say something. It’s the same content because they have consumed the same content over and over again and haven’t gone any further. So be wary my friend, your content and what you consume matters. What goes in is what comes out.

This is just like how certain whiskeys can overpower the entire bottle if added in the incorrect amount. It takes months and layers and layers and layers of new whiskeys to blend it out, The same thing happens with the content you consume. One really negative, overpowering piece of content can taint the entire batch and it can take quite a while for you to re-calibrate your baseline.

What I want you to take away from this section is to be wary of what the content is you consume. Actively ward against just passively consuming information and seek out the good stuff. If you’re gonna have an infinity bottle fill you might as well fill it with the high-priced hooch.

So how do you do that with the content you consume?

Fill it with “high-priced” people.

Now I’m not saying high-priced as in high cost, although that can play a part. What I’m talking about is the people that really enrich you, the people that blend well with your content and your own conversations. I mean the friends that you’ve made and also going to the source rather than reading a third-hand account of a process. Dive into the first hand account first. Go directly to the source whenever possible to get the best value, and then expand with secondary sources.

For example, if I’m going to learn or talk about investing, I want to go talk to Warren Buffet, not Timmy the 17-year-old that lives across the street saying we should buy crypto.

Authors note I don’t have anything against crypto. I like NFTs. I like web3. In fact, I’ve made some great friends in those spheres.

The point I’m trying to make is to pick your sources of information wisely. Whenever you can spring for the extra cost, try to go directly to the source and get the high ticket stuff. *Cough Cough* Pay people (who have demonstrated a track record of competence in the area you wish to improve) for mentorship or advice. If you pour the right information into your bottle, it will make it that much sweeter.

On to the next point, the branding.

As generalists we have a really hard time talking about branding, especially when it comes to the concept of niching down.

You see, we think nichicng down is that we need to pick one note, one flavor, one idea out of the bottle and label that as the only thing we are. That is the furthest from the truth, of who we are and does a disservice to our customers. I love to use the analogy of Batman to explain this.

Batman’s catchphrase is “I’m Batman,” it’s not “I’m the batarang thrower.”

So whenever we’re trying to talk about skills whether it’s public speaking, copy writing, reading, webdesign, branding, synthesizing, we want to be talking about ourselves and our brand in the way that best represents the bottle. We are our own version of Batman, we are not the batarang. Saying you are the batarang is like saying your a copywriter.

That is mistaking skill set for brand.

The skill set does not make the brand, the skill set makes you useful.

So my friends when you think about branding your bottle realize that your contents are valuable. When you have the ability to distill diverse backgrounds, diverse skill sets, diverse experiences, and ideas all into your own blend. That is an incredibly valuable talent to have.

So don’t dilute it. Don’t dilute yourself by only niching into one category just because guru told you to.

Yes, there’s something to be said for being able to have the specific flavor profile shine through when you are marketing your brand. Those specific notes are the pieces of information someone needs see in order to decided whether or not they need your services.

Case in point, if someone comes up to the bar because they are choking and they need the glass of water to clear their throat, but you can only give them whiskey. You are of no use to them. They’re likely not going to be served.

But…..

If you’re able to give them the glass of water that they desperately need. If you solve their immediate problem, you open yourself up to the possibility talking with them further. You might even be able to share your 50 year old single malt (your infinity bottle) with them. So, pick through your notes, take stock of what you can provide, and be ready to modify the blend of your bottle so you are able to help your customer.

Now that we’ve talked about what goes in your bottle, and marketing your brand, let’s talk about the final point of the infinity bottle and what makes you so special.

Your unique blend.

You see the beauty of an infinity bottle is it’s a potentially a one of one creation. Unless you are meticulous in measuring every single ounce of alcohol that goes into that bottle, you may never be able to recreate it again.

And so you see that’s what makes you unique and what makes you so special is that you are one of one, you are the infinity bottle, you are the person that is the total of every single experience you’ve had. Every single piece of content you’ve consumed, every piece of knowledge that you’ve shared, every single connection you’ve made, every single skill you’ve acquired. That’s what makes you valuable. Own being one of none.

That unique blend is what makes you valuable, and is something that should be very highly priced and very highly charged for. Because that unique blend is the culmination of all of the skills that you bring to the table.

I know you’ve probably heard the story before. I’ll retell it briefly.

There’s a story of a master mechanic and a massive ship with a huge engine that urgently needs to be fixed. No one on the ship can fix it. So, they bring a master mechanic on board. He observes the engine, pulls out a little tiny hammer, hits the engine once, and viola the engine starts up again. The crew members have spent months trying to get the engine fixed, but none of them could.

He gives them a bill. They look at the bill and see it’s for $50,000 dollars. The crew is outraged and starts to complain. The mechanic points them to the itemization. It says 2-ounce hammer $0.05, knowing where to strike $49,999.95. They’ll pay 50,000 dollars because of all the years of experience that took him to know the exact place to strike.

That is what can happen when you own that you are a generalist and really fine-tune your infinity bottle. When you consume valuable knowledge, when you really focus on improving your skill set, and when you stick to diversifying your skills not because you’ve been told to but because you are compelled to. That is when you can begin the journey to becoming your own master mechanic. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Your true skill is your ability to blend your diverse skills together in one cohesive thought. Own your generalist nature. Allow people to really see you shine.

You can start by highlighting a specific skill you are great at. You can say “I’m great at copy writing and that’s what I’m going to focus on.” If you have a talent and an aptitude for a specific skill set (that’s of service) do that. There is nothing wrong with focusing on a highlighting one skill. That’s your glass of water. That is your in to sharing the rest of your skills.

When your foot is in the door that’s when you can really let yourself shine. You let your critical thinking skills show forth. You let your other experience come forth and slowly you show the full weight of your experience.

It’s kind of like a college degree, or at least what we were told a college degree is for (That’s another article for another time.) The college degree doesn’t guarantee you a job it gets your foot in the door. Your one skill that you know really well is the one skill gets your foot in the door. It gets you that introduction, it allows you to contact and connect with that executive or business owner. What you bring to the table afterwards is what keeps you there. What’s going to keep you there is your diverse skill set, your interest and desire to learn and your ability to blend complex very intricate ideas from diverse fields into one unique tasting note that only you can produce. That’s how you become a one of none, that’s how you really own the leverage of being an infinity bottle and that’s how you execute as a polymath or a generalist.

Your true skill is the ability to deeply adsorb a wide range of information and blend it all into one unique tasting note. Combine every single skill you know into a unique performance that only you can accomplish.

So my friends, I hope you realize that yes you are an infinity bottle.

Bottoms up, and happy blending.

I’ll talk to you soon my friend.

Cheers,

Jeff The GOAT JOAT.

P.S. I “wrote” this article by giving an impromptu speech about this topic. I then converted that speech into text, and refined the draft further. This is the result of a 7 minute off the cuff speech. If you want to learn how you can do this to, you can find me on X, send me a comment on Medium, or hire me to teach you how to speak.

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