Creativity thrives on specificity. Generalization kills creativity. Today, I want to talk about the idea of “tightness of fit”.

Oftentimes when I hear hosts talk about their vision or purpose, it’s fairly general. “We want to help people relax” or “we want to help people connect with nature” or “we want to educate people about our culture”. All well-intentioned, but void of magic.

Let’s dive into an example. Instead of the generic ‘connect people with nature’ mentality, what could one create with a mentality of ‘connect guests with the seasons and help them see how they might find peace in mirroring the ebbs & flows of nature’?

This is one of the driving ideas behind Fogo Island Inn, where they have clearly mapped out not one, not four, but seven seasons for their guests to experience. 'Each of our seven seasons provides a different opportunity for getting to know us, Fogo Island, and perhaps yourself' their website proclaims.

I think we can all admit that this is more intriguing that just “come hang out in nature!". Which by the way, isn’t a competitive promise and is exactly what thousands of other hotels in nature are saying.

This is just one shift from general to specific in the realm of nature – I can think of fifty more. Can you? Perhaps this is a good creative exercise for you to try out. Grab a sheet of paper, number 1-50, and see how many more specific nature experience concepts you can come up with. And no cheating (AKA using AI) – the point isn’t just to generate a list, the point is to challenge yourself to imagine & think more empathetically.

Being narrow & specific leads to tightness of fit, as people can better visualize themselves in it when they are making booking decisions.

We all must become better about observing more specific human patterns and integrating those into our concepts & experiences. I know for me personally, learning to embrace hibernation so I’m not operating like it’s summer 24/7 has been incredibly challenging yet life-changing.

Not only has it helped me connect with nature in a much deeper way than just hiking or forest bathing, it has totally changed the way I live, and I think there’s a lot of people out there who would benefit from learning this similar lesson. After all, the best experiences are the ones that are informed by real specific human needs.

Once you start to zero in on a more meaningful intention, you can begin to see/create more meaningful stories, experiences, and journeys around that intention. And as we approach a new year, I hope you will take this message to heart and start thinking about how you’ll go deeper. As always, I'm here if you need some support along the way!