You’ve heard of The Taylor Swift Effect; Taylor Swift has literally affected entire scales of economy. There is now a course taught about this effect at Harvard University.

Move over T Swift; Welcome to the age of The Caitlin Clark Effect.

Forget all about her record-shattering stats on the court. How’s this for a bunch of firsts?

Because of the force of nature that is Caitlin Clark:

-The WNBA draft sold tickets for the first time ever…and sold out immediately.

-BEFORE Caitlin was even drafted, the Indiana Fever started a waitlist for nearly impossible to obtain tickets. (The Fever were second to last in attendance last season.)

-During the draft, the Indiana Fever didn’t even need to start the “on the clock” timer to announce their 1^st round pick. DUH.

-No designer brand has ever volunteered to dress a WNBA draft pick for the night of the draft. Clark was seen in head-to-toe Prada on Monday night. Prada was tripping over themselves to style her.

-We’ve all heard about the record-breaking 18.7 million viewers who tuned in to watch Iowa play South Carolina. (Men’s March Madness who?) Let’s not forget that it was only as of 2022 that the women were even allowed to use the moniker “March Madness” for their tourney.

Oh, and she manifested all of this basketball greatness on her vision board in the third grade.

Which begs the question: What are you doing right now that will set the stage to affect change? What will be your “firsts”?

Before you say, “What I do doesn’t matter. Nothing I do will ever move the needle.” I need you to stop and think. If anyone who’s anyone felt that what they contributed to the world didn’t make a difference, what is literally the point of anything?

I’m not asking you to affect entire scales of economy or shapeshift arena ticket sales, but I am asking you to think about your immediate sphere of influence. Are you making a difference at home? In your community? In your profession? To society at large?

To put a finer point on it: change is a domino effect. It takes one person to ignite that spark and, in turn, that spark has a ripple effect on others. And so on. And so on.

A simple example? You’re at the check-out counter at the store. The person in front of you is having a bad day. They’re rude to the cashier. The cashier absorbs that energy and passes it along to you. You sense that negative energy, so you decide to crack a joke or pay them a compliment and a smile breaks out on their face. The next person in line becomes a beneficiary of that positive energy.

BOOM! You’ve just witnessed the “YOU EFFECT.”

YOU have the ability to affect as much change in the world as you choose. Every single day, you are presented with endless possibilities that can result in shaping change all around you. So, the next time you think “it doesn’t matter,” I assure you it does. Do you really think that when Taylor or Caitlin are sitting around with their teams of strategists that the words “it doesn’t matter” even enter the chat? I think not.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my newfound passion: vision boarding.