#differentiation

#differentiation

The college admissions process seems more tedious, nebulous and overwhelming than ever ... which is why one college admissions expert is breaking down high school extracurriculars by the numbers. Kate Stone, founder of Kate Stone Prep, says that not all extracurricular activities are created equal. "Anything that thousands of kids are doing is always going to be less helpful for you," Stone tells TODAY.com. It's not that you should completely avoid popular extracurriculars, though. "It just means that you have to bring something creative or differentiated to it," she says. "Do the common activity in an uncommon way." On an Instagram reel that has earned almost 3 million views since it was posted in November, Stone ranks a handful of popular high school activities according to their value on an application for a top tier university. Stone goes into detail about what her rankings meant and gives her top tips for students looking at applying to elite colleges.

But rather than feeling daunted, consider this: the competition keeps you on your toes, pushing you to innovate and improve. You'll need to take a proactive approach to survive, staying focused on what sets your business apart and understanding what your customers truly need. Complacency is a sure way to be left behind.

As a couple's therapist, I am asked by many couples how they can have great, passionate sex. One of my first encounters regarding powerful sex was reading the book Passionate Marriage by sex and relationship therapist David Schnarch. He used the phrase wall-socket sex to represent the highest form of sexual connection, one that arises not from emotional fusion or validation-seeking but from two differentiated, self-validated individuals who can remain fully present, emotionally exposed, and erotically alive in each other's presence.

Brand positioning statements are practical tools that help you define the core of your brand strategy. Instead of starting with a blank page, you get a structured format to work through the key questions: Who are you for? What do you offer? How are you different? Why should anyone care? A strong brand positioning statement defines what you're really selling-not only the product or service but also the value, the feeling, and the experience.

In my experience, the hardest part about marketing isn't creating the campaigns or generating the leads-it's making sure the data behind all of it means something to the people making the biggest business decisions. The C-suite doesn't need dashboards filled with acronyms. They need a clear, compelling narrative that connects what's happening in the market to the business outcomes they care about.