How Often Do You Make People Smile?

And how often do you help them fulfill their dreams? 

In terms of creating a legacy, these might be the most important measurements of all.

The Art of Gift Giving

The foundation of hospitality is gift giving...doing more for others than for yourself. What is often overlooked is timing...giving when it's most important for the recipient and not necessarily convenient for you. There's very little art in heaping on the expected smiles, catch phrases and giving someone trinkets. The art happens when you go out of your way to do something meaningful...for the moment. That's remarkable. Unfortunately, you can't do this by reading a script. It requires expertise in picking up clues and then acting upon them. Oddly enough, the clues are gifts themselves. So it becomes an exchange...call it improv. The key is to do something, to act, perhaps go out on a limb, to complete the exchange. Without action, the gift of the clue is wasted. What a shame. 

What makes the story of the video so remarkable is the surprise action by the young man at the end. The real heros might be his parents...thank you.

Why Most Sales Pitches Don't Work

Problems

The product being sold is unremarkable to whom it's being offered (which makes the salesperson annoying in the eyes of the prospect). This problem has two parts, the product is inferior and/or you have the wrong audience. Both are equally problematic. Having the wrong audience relates to the next item.

The sales person doesn't seek to understand the true motivation of the buyer. The best example of this is the unexpected telephone solicitation (usually done by a person you've never met, who hasn't experienced your product or service and who hasn't done any research to understand your goals...annoying and usually results in a hang-up).

Solutions

Make stuff that the masses will ignore (because it's not easily understood), but a few will find remarkable. Make stuff that some people can't live without. Make stuff that is scarce. Make stuff that matters. Make something where the act of making it is appreciated (often more than the thing being made). Think handcraft. Think like an artist…because you are one.

Find the few who appreciate, enjoy and find meaning in what you do. Connect with them…exchange ideas. Build a tribe, an audience who trusts you. Then sell them your stuff. And don't bother anyone else…it's annoying.

Image credit to Hugh McCloud (I bought this print for a friend of mine…wish I would have bought two).

What's the Point...

if doing what you're doing isn't worth talking about, doesn't inspire anyone...doesn't leave a legacy? How sad if you're just trudging along, waiting for that lucky break.

So don't wait…

• Set the bar
• Tell someone about it
• And start moving down the path, bit by bit

At a minimum, your journey will be more interesting.

Reading This Might be Better Than College

College is a great experience. But for most of us...we didn't learn things we could take into a job. Turns out practical experience wins out over Quantitative Methods of Business and Macro Economics. So, even if you go to college, you might try reading this anyway. At least start with the 30 posts that are available if you click through.

Thanks Seth.