Joe Louis, a Phantom Bob Dylan Quote and the Philosophies to Help You Succeed

Some strategies to get you what you want.

I was very inspired this morning by a piece written by my friend and wonderful writer, George Tannenbaum. 

His post, which you’ll find below, offered up some advice he gave to one of his advertising clients. 

I know it will work for you. 

He was explaining how a brand should operate in these murky times. And he used Joe Louis, the world heavyweight champion, as his metaphor. 

He was describing the champ’s fighting approach:

“Jab, jab, jab…POW.” 

That is an operating system for a brand — and you. 

Every day, “jab.” Punch the opponent’s body. Punch his head. Punch their arms. Day after day. 

Jab.

In other words, do the little stuff.

A post here. An email there. A Zoom, a txt, a call…jab, jab, jab…

Then…one moment, you’ll see an opening and POW! 

For a brand, maybe it’s a Super Bowl spot. Maybe it’s a wonderful out-of-home campaign. Maybe it’s an unexpected piece of content. Whatever it is, the jabs lay the groundwork…so you can throw the haymaker. 

Which brings me to Bob Dylan. 

I have an observation. The Bard of Rock ‘n Roll seems to me to be an ok-guitar player.  He isn’t technically flawless — especially when we was young. 

For Dylan, the guitar is a tool to serve the song. 

So he keeps strumming ‘til he finds the chord. 

I like that as a philosophy: “Keep strummin’ ‘til you find the chord.” 

I made this observation decades ago. And I would end up living by it and “quoting” Bob Dylan all the time to clients and colleagues. 

Bob Dylan never said, “Keep strummin’ ‘til you find the chord.” But it gave this great philosophy more heft when I said, “Well, as Bob Dylan said…”

So there’s your #MondayMotovation. 

Take your pick: 

Joe Louis: Jab, jab, jab…POW.

Or fake Bob Dylan: Keep strummin’ ‘til you find the chord. 

Both will work.

By the way, here’s a link to George’s piece: https://adaged.blogspot.com/2022/10/in-which-i-give-it-all-away-for-free.html