---
title: "The eight things"
description: "Six to eight messages a person says over and over, a hundred different ways, until people know what they stand for."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/glossary/the-eight-things/
updated: 2026-10-25
---

# The eight things

Six to eight messages a person says over and over, a hundred different ways, until people know what they stand for.

## Why does it matter?

Saying the same few things over and over is how people learn what you stand for. The messages stay fixed, and the stories, questions and formats change.

## How does it work?

1. Write six to eight sentences the person would happily say every day for a year.
2. Take each one from their own posts, calls and story.
3. Tag every idea in the bank with the message it carries. No message, no video.

## Where has Tom used it?

[Sam Stoffel](https://tomsharman.com/case-studies/sam-stoffel/) says the same six to eight things over and over, and that is why people know what he stands for. In a fake pod, every answer comes back to them.

## Related terms

- [Mission and enemy](https://tomsharman.com/glossary/mission-and-enemy/index.md): What a brand is for, and what it is against. The enemy is the shortcut to the mission.
- [Fake pod](https://tomsharman.com/glossary/fake-pod/index.md): A podcast built for the clip: real answers to questions written in advance, recorded in one sitting in a studio, with a guest who is there to ask.
- [Outlier](https://tomsharman.com/glossary/outlier/index.md): A post past three times the median views of the last 30. The outlier is the brief for what to make next.

## Where is it explained?

- https://tomsharman.com/playbooks/content/the-same-eight-things/