What’s Your “One Move”?

I coach youth soccer (football for everyone else outside the US). And I am amazed at how many parallels there are from the game to business.

For example, I teach kids to pick their “one move”. They need to have one set play to get around a defender.

Choose it. Practice it incessantly. Use it every chance you get.

Some of the best footballers in the world have moves named after them. Why? Because they use it all the time.

So, you might ask, wouldn’t a defender know that move is coming and stop it? The answer, almost every time, is no. That is the most astounding part about it. I can know you’re about to pull that move on me, and yet I still get burned. But why??

Because it’s YOUR one move.

You do it better than anyone else. You can adapt it, mold it, tweak it…all in real time, at speed. The brilliant part is that you don’t need 57 moves to beat me. Just that one.

And you will beat me.

Whether it’s a shoulder feint, step over, inside hook, or “Zidane Roulette”, you’re going to beat me. It opens up enough room to make a run for it, to pass, or to shoot.

In business, especially startups, I tell founders this all the time. FOCUS on ONE thing! It has to be the best. It has to be your one move. It can be the same move that others are using to some degree of success.

But for you it has to be the ultimate. The best. The one. And you’ll beat everyone, every time.

You can’t make all products for all people. But you can make one thing super-awesome. So do that. Spend your time refining that thing. Work at it so intently that nothing else matters. Because they don’t (if you nail this)

Do this, and one day soon, like a star footballer with a move named after them, you’ll have a reputation that speaks for itself.

What can you stop doing today, to ensure your one thing is the absolute best? 👊