This is a new article on Fishing With Strawberries. And no I have not lost my mind, however I’m hoping it really serves as great daily inspiration.
Introduction
The title says, Fishing With Strawberries….and your thinking “Has he lost his mind?” Some might say YES, however let’s just say,
- “What in the world?
- Fishing with strawberries?
- What is he talking about?!!!”
Now I’ll explain…
Over the last few months, I’ve noticed a trend.
Two weeks ago, I heard Oprah Winfrey along with Robert Kiyosaki, Suze Orman, Tony Robbins and Dale Carnegie all said the same thing, the #1 success ingredient is:
“Do something different, be creative, don’t follow the crowed, you can change to be the person you want to be, changing the world begins with you!
They might say it in a different way, but at the heart of the statement is
YOU!
I’ve read lots of personal development books, and most try to get you to do something to better yourself. So I wanted to share this with you.
It’s likely you have some goals like:
- Being able to pay your bills
- Be financially free of debts
- Being able to set your own schedule
- Having more choices about what to purchase and when
- Having more flexibility, so you can be available for kids and family who need you
- Live anywhere you want
- You may even have desires to quit a job and become your own boss
and, you may even have some big things you want to purchase like:
- A new house
- A nicer car
- A boat
- or, a long vacation
Some things we Have in Common (Plus the Gateway to Our Goals)
I’d bet the majority of us have some of the goals I listed above. And there may be some with higher goals and some with lesser goals. Everyone is different and that is a good thing.
However, I firmly believe we are all born with a desire to have a life that is fulfilling based upon our believes.
Let’s illustrate with this quote from Dale Carnegie, it says:
“I often fish up in Maine during the summer. Personally I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went fishing, I didn’t think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted. I didn’t bait the hook with strawberries and cream. Rather, I dangled a worm or a grasshopper in front of the fish and said: “Wouldn’t you like to have that?” – Dale Carnegie
Now, of course, that was a parable, but a powerful one. Don’t you think?
To be successful, it’s not about what you want, but what they want.
Let me repeat that because it is a very important statement: “To be successful, it’s not about what you want, but want They want.”
Here’s another quote to drive home what I am saying:
“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar.
How this Applies Personally and Professionally
As an example, we often go thru scenarios where we want something while the another person wants something completely different–these scenarios can be simple or complex. They can be situations of us wanting our kids to eat their vegetables while they would rather eat french fries. It could be that we want someone to join our business opportunity while they would rather go fishing.
These scenarios can also happen in professional settings like when we write a blog post and want someone to make sales conversion.
The problem is, most of us bait the hook with strawberries. We’re writing and thinking about our ultimate goals, rather than writing and thinking about our reader’s ultimate goals.
Again, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar.
You need to do some thinking:
- Who are they?
- What are their current circumstances?
- What problem(s) do they have?
- How can we put ourselves in their shoes so we can sense (with all of our senses) what their circumstance must look and feel like?
- What’s does it taste like?
- What’s it feel like on an emotional and physical level?
- What’s does it smell like?
- What’s does it sound like?
- What solution do they want or looking for?
- What milestones would guide them to the solution?
- What can we do to get them from where they are to where they want to go?
This is otherwise called “empathy”. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition is:
“the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner”
Getting Laser-Focused on Them
It’s important that we put THEM at the forefront otherwise, we’ll look like the fisher who bait the hook with strawberries. Fortunately or unfortunately (for some), how we bait our hooks in terms of acquiring and retaining customers will directly correlate with our success in business.
So, my take-a-way for you is to identify the worm in every situation: whether you’re dealing with your kids, your spouse, or your readers. Bait the hook with the worm of their preference; not your own, and you’ll find this one ingredient will shift circumstances quite a bit.
My Question for You
How are you going to bait the hook? Are you going to use a strawberry because it’s want you want or are you going to use a worm and give them what they want? The choice is yours.
“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar.
Here’s to your success,
