What’s the difference between having a strategy and having a technique?

While a strategy is HOW you do something step by step, a technique is the WAY in which you apply it.

WHY DO SOME SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAIL – EVEN WHEN THEY ARE USING THE SAME STRATEGY?

For example everyone can have the same step by step strategy for building a social media following. But only a few are successful. Why is that?

The strategies are not a secret they are public information.
The methods are not a secret, the main social media channels used are obviously public.

ITS THE DIFFERENCE THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
So what makes the difference between someone that succeeds and someone that fails? It must boils down to thE way or technique in which they apply the strategy. Their unique approach makes them stand out. They are exceptional because they do something different. They don’t just follow the recipe or they’d all be making the same cake. It’s the difference makes all the difference.

What makes the difference? Some have exceptional stories , talents, or perspectives. It’s these unique attributes that give them an edge and it’s the way in which they share their uniqueness that give them another, even finer edge. Then finally when they know how to use these edges, the right strategy, they can cut through the swaths of content and rise to the top.

SADHGURU
Take Sadhguru for example. I love his content. He has millions of followers online. But he’s not the first ‘guru’ in the world to share the information he speaks on. In fact much of what he is sharing has been available for thousands of years. What makes him stand out is the WAY in which he shares the information. He connects with his audiences. He’s funny. He’s witty. He’s relatable. He appeals a ‘modern’ guru, with a unique personality that feels like you’re having a conversation with a very smart Granpda. In fact he’s incredibly bright with vast knowledge of ancient Indian practice, and yet that’s not enough. He spoke for years in an Ashram with not nearly the following he has today. What made the difference?

Along the way he met the right people to run his social media. And he now has a team that understands the right strategy for making compelling headlines and good thumbnails on Youtube, for example. Now Sadhguru doesn’t speak on how to make good headlines and compelling YouTube thumbnails, there are others who focus on that. He speaks on what he’s passionate about and leaves the strategy for how to get that message out to the world to those who understand that piece.

Sadhguru has a few special edges in his knowledge and how he delivers that knowledge. Those are his techniques. He has a unique perspective and energy that nobody can really duplicate. Combine that with the well known strategies of how to get prominent placement for those gifts to be seen and you’ve got lift off, as evident by his now over 7 million followers just on Youtube.

STYLE WITH STRATEGY
You could say that a technique is a person’s style or approach to something. We can all follow a checklist but every person’s style to how they implement it can be different. The process of creating, publishing, sharing etc. can all be the same. But the style in which it is done can vary – and style is a very hard thing to duplicate or explain to others.

TONY ROBBINS GOT STYLE
Take Anthony Robbins for example. He not only has a unique style and perspective in conveying his message, with a massive following of students & fans. But he’s also huge! He’s got a personal style to go with this bold and sometimes brash style of communication, that begins with even just his personal appearance. Now imagine if he was more conservative, shy and reserved. His style might appear as more of a gentle giant. Would that get him as far as he is today? No one can say for sure. But it would be hard to sell people on Living with Passion or “Awakening the Giant Within” unless you are bigger than life itself, which he is! On top of being very intelligent and extremely confident style of communication.

UNIQUE SHARING PERSPECTIVE
Another way of looking at this is a person’s unique angle on things. In marketing they call a business that has a unique way of presenting their offer a USP or Unique Selling Position. In social media you could call it a Unique Sharing Perspective. The way in which they share or what they share is unique enough that it rises above the norm and gets people’s attention.

HOW WILL YOU APPLY THIS?
So how can you apply this to whatever it is you want to do to realize your full potential?

1. First get clear on what the going strategy is for that area. If you want to build a cake and its your first time, you probably need a recipe.
   Nowadays it’s easy to find a recipe so why would you start from scratch? The internet abounds with information on how to do pretty much anything you want to do and it doesn’t take years of study. Just search “How to..” And read the first 10 or 20 articles on Google or Youtube or your favorite video / search engine Find the step by step approach that others have taken to do what you want to do and write them all down so you can remember and engrain it into your mind.

Once you have that.. then it’s time to

2. Try it out.

See if you can get close to the results promised by the recipe. For example, see if the cake recipe leads you to making what looks like your definition of a cake.. Think of strategy as a kind of DNA for a thing. The DNA for a banana is something like 98% similar to the DNA for a human.. but a banana is something very different from a human. So test out the strategy and make sure that your result is at least close to what you want to produce.

Once you’ve tested out the strategy

3. Refine it.

You may not get the same exact cake your first few times trying it out. Maybe your ingredients are slightly different, you’re in a different attitude or even just your energy can effect the outcome. So continue to try it out and make many bakes until you feel it’s at part with what you were trying to reproduce.

For example you may learn how to play a guitar after a dozen or so lessons, but you may need to hone your technique for years to play at a professional level.

4. Master it

Having the right strategy is important. It can shave years off achieving success in any field. But mastering that strategy through the actual practice of it – can take a lifetime.

But don’t sweat it! Learning to become masterful at anything can be an enjoyable process. And the joy is in the journey. Just pick the right thing to work on and make it your daily practice.

With the right daily habits, and the right strategy you’ll sharpen your skills and develop your special abilities. Let your brilliance shine and with time it may one day be bright enough to light up the whole world.