18 Inches

Have you ever heard someone refer to their “personal space”? It’s a measurable distance, you know. It’s about 18 inches.

But that’s not just the distance limited to intimate encounters; that’s the distance for anything that matters.

If it doesn’t cross the 18 inch threshold, it’s not close enough to matter.

Consider what enters that buffer: children, clothes, wallet, phone, Mom and Dad, car, couch, food, toothbrush.

Beyond 18 inches: we can’t touch it, feel it, embrace it, hold it.
Beyond 18 inches: it's out there—not ours but theirs. It’s their thing, their problem, their issue.
Beyond 18 inches: it’s foreign. It’s other.

Any change, any forward progress, any message (or campaign) must first be close enough to touch. It must be close enough to identify with, to put our arm around, connect with. It must be within 18 inches.

Literally.