Find the gems that change the jokes for the better

Replication comes from reflection.

If you want to repeat your successes, you have to deconstruct them. You have to replay mental reruns of past victories, figure out exactly where the value exchange was, and genericize that process for later use.

But this is tricky. It’s hard to codify something that comes natural to you. You’re too close to yourself.

That’s why you’ll usually see young comedians recording their standup sets. By placing a camera in the back of the club, it allows them to track the audience laughter beat by beat.

Meanwhile, they can stay focused, connected and in the flow during their performance. Then they can go back afterwards and listen to which punchlines killed, which tags bombed, and which lines earned a great big meh.

That’s how they find the gems that change the jokes for the better.

And it’s not just comedy, too. Ask any performer you know. The worst feeling in the world is trying out a new thing that got a huge audience response, only to have not recorded it and totally forgot what or how you did it. It feels like dropping dollars down the drain.

What’s your version of placing a camera at the back of club? How might you deconstruct what you do intuitively and abstractly so it could be replicated more exactly and practically?

One of the personal creativity management tools I recommend to entrepreneurs is called deconstructive learning, which is attaching introspection to action to understand the full extent of your capabilities.

Here’s a short exercise for you.

Draw a line down the center of a clean sheet of paper. On the left column, answer the following question between five to seven times. What do you know that other people find valuable? Be as simple and specific as you can.

Next, on the right column, answer this next question five to seven times. What have you accomplished that many people would not only respect, but also desire to learn and utilize to gain the same benefits for their own organization?

Again, be specific. And forget about humility for the time being. Give yourself permission to toot your own horn and record the music. Replay those reruns of past victories.

Now, once you’ve answered these two questions, patterns should emerge. It should become clear which of your value offerings resonate with the most people. Allowing you to hone in on something you do that people would be eager to pay money for.

This tool won’t produce results instantly, but fear not, as your unconscious idea processor is waiting at your beck and call. There are inner resources available that will help you repeat what you’ve done before. Everything you want to create is already inside of you. It’s simply a matter of reflection.

This tool of deconstructive learning has personally changed my own career trajectory multiple times. When I transitioned from being a freelancer to an employee, this process became invaluable, in terms of operationalizing my skills to make an impact on a team.

Understanding how my talents fit into the bigger picture of an organization informed my resume design, cover letter copy and interviewing style, the combination of which landed me six jobs in eight years. Growing my professional life in an open ended, upward spiral of new possibilities, compounding my satisfaction with every turn.

Remember, replication comes from reflection.

Your challenge is to figure out which achievements have had the most positive market response and greatest critical acclaim, and then use that to reproduce similar results on a grander scale.

What contribution are you going to have to make to other people to cause them to give you the amount of money you want to acquire?