You're watching the wrong brand

There’s a guy standing in front of a blackboard.

He draws a circle.

“This is your brand.”

Next to it, another one.

“This is my brand.”

He puts a small dot inside his circle.

“I’m here.”

Pause. He smiles.

Then he puts another dot. In the same circle.

“But the problem is… You’re here too.”

That’s it.

People leave their own circle to be in someone else’s.

There was a heated discussion recently.

Someone kept comparing their brand to ours.

Every move.
Every step.
For years.

Even after going bankrupt.
Making a video about why they went bankrupt and why we didn’t.

Still watching us.
Still thinking about us.
Still in the wrong circle.

“You’ve got to mind your own business because you have your own business to mind, too.”

Angelo Baque of Awake NY said it perfectly in Compound Conversations.

But most people don’t get it.

Because comparison feels like work.
Feels like research.
Feels smart.

It’s not.

It’s distraction.

We’ve been blind to others. Not arrogant. Focused.

We have our own problems.
Our own ideas.
Our own timing.

The moment you step into someone else’s circle, you stop building yours.

You start reacting. And that’s how brands die.

Not because of competition. Because of confusion.

Stay in your circle. Or you won’t have one.

Tino