You hear the word relationship a lot in business- often to give indication that one has a favorable position over a competing interest.
We have a relationship with XYZ Company. WE HAVE CONTACTS. We’ll be able to get the business…we have the relationship.
I’m calling bullshit on this mindset.
I think contacts and relationships have never been worth less. Especially between vendors and their customers. The vendor is always playing the relationship card. Customers want the best deal, period.
Roger Waters sang: I’ve got some bad news for you, sunshine. Some pop fiction writer I’m too lazy to Google said: They’re Just Not That Into You.
The Information Age- once again- has put all the leverage in the hands of the buyer. It’s so ridiculously easy for buyers to shop around. While you’re telling everyone about your gilded status with a buyer, they’re looking for a better deal.
If your product or service has been commoditized (some or entirely) what else are you bringing that keeps them buying from you? In only the last 2 decades, untold offerings have moved from proprietary to commodity. Even incredibly sophisticated technologies can now be manufactured by dozens or hundreds of low-cost competitors. That $400 laptop you own cost $1,800 15 years ago. Services in/around telecommunications? Forget about it. Not even a generation ago, people used the expression: “I’m on the phone, LONG DISTANCE!!”. How hilarious does that sound now? Not only is it a commodity, it’s essentially free. And the tailored service you once provided can be provided by others in short time or immediately- soon your customers will be getting their Christmas Cards from someone else- not you.(and you thought that card was such a nice sentiment, didn't you?).
Ask a retailer about their “relationships” with their customers. While their answering your question, their customers just dropped three hundo online with Amazon.com. Or worse, they went to “Wally World” Wal-Mart and got what they needed for 20% less.
Of course there are many, many exceptions that will keep them loyal to you. Great service still counts plenty. Innovative and creative value-adds; most buyers like and appreciate these plenty. But if customers feel you’ve profited enough without upping your game, they’re looking for a better deal. It doesn’t matter if their assertion about your value is correct or fair….they’re gone.
You might say “good riddance” to this type of customer. They’ve been squeezing you for years, you shout. You’ve bent over backwards for them a thousand times and all they do is fight you on everything. Fire your lousy customers, I get it. But it’s a mighty slippery slope you’re on because you can’t fire them all. And even the sweetheart customers will leave you too. This is nothing short of the everyday reality of 21st century commerce. Competition has always been a beast and this beast has never been more fierce.
Can someone deliver on what you deliver and charge less? To a degree, the answer is almost always going to be “yes”. Don’t hit the “Panic” button…yet. But if at your core you know many of your customers buy from you because you believe they like you, you may be in for a world of hurt.
This doesn’t mean you lower your prices. But it does mean you get REAL HONEST with yourself on why people buy from you. They like you or even the convenience of familiarity isn’t cutting it anymore. You treasure these “relationships” more than they do. They want the best deal.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Incoming
An industry was born a couple of years ago that calls itself Inbound Marketing.
I find it interesting for a couple of reasons- not the least of which I invented it. Well, sort of. It took someone else to actually bring the thing to life. Apparently I was too busy doing whatever the hell it is I do.
To anyone who would listen, I have been shouting that people have tuned out 99.9 % of all marketing or advertising messages. They have no interest in your pitch about how great you or your company are. The original invention that shielded them from your obnoxious sales pitches was the remote controls of their television. Now they have an arsenal- to keep you out of their face.
New media has exploded and the means and methods of either ignoring or escaping your propaganda has grown with it. But companies continue to spend billions on traditional marketing and sales campaigns that nobody is paying any attention to.
This is not an opinion.
Clickthrough rates on Internet ads are essentially 0%, telemarketers are either prohibited from calling you, are flagged by Caller ID or have been replaced by robotic "Robo Dial" messages that may have redefined the adjectives worthless and annoying. DVR’s have made TV ads the proverbial tree falling in the forest. Your companies’ salesforce and the wildly biased word they are trying to spread is (at best) filtered by your customers or (at worst) immediately deleted. Junk mail, pitiful car dealerships blaring on the radio, print ads and their bravado messages- this list could go on for paragraphs. Customers would be screaming “leave us alone!” but they don’t even hear or see you: They tuned you out YEARS ago.
You’re the singer or stand-up comedian performing in front of 5,000 empty seats. You’re the Construction worker emitting a whistle wolf call to the pretty lady walking by. It’s all he knows, the whistle…just like the salesman telling the customer about his “amazing” products. It’s all their employer knows.
Along comes this thing that is currently called Inbound Marketing.
It says this: If you want them to buy something from you, THEY MUST COME TO YOU (not the other way around of the old model). You make this happen by being relevant and being known. You make this happen by producing content that has real value (video, audio, text). Something relevant to what they want, something they can use, or find informative or entertaining. Do it consistently, do it methodically. Turn this stranger into an acquaintance. Once this stranger no longer thinks you’re some carnival barker with an agenda but actually someone who can provide them something they need or want, they will contact you. They will be an INBOUND call, email. That's when you get your chance to tell them they've come to a good place.
There are no shortcuts. Inbound Marketing shows up to work every day dressed in work overalls, not a salesman suit. There’s no place for the mouth-breathing morons who still believe the "sacred" marketing maxim “if you see my marketing message NINE times, you’ll come around!”.
Real data shows this has been underway for a few years now. It not only works, it’s the only thing that will work.
For decades now, people have been SPRINTING away from the oncoming salesperson. Until relatively recently, their sprint led them into a corner. Now they sprint into open fields.
Are you going to drop marketing leaflets on their heads as they stand there, free in the fields? Or are you smart enough to get their attention to get them to come to you.
I find it interesting for a couple of reasons- not the least of which I invented it. Well, sort of. It took someone else to actually bring the thing to life. Apparently I was too busy doing whatever the hell it is I do.
To anyone who would listen, I have been shouting that people have tuned out 99.9 % of all marketing or advertising messages. They have no interest in your pitch about how great you or your company are. The original invention that shielded them from your obnoxious sales pitches was the remote controls of their television. Now they have an arsenal- to keep you out of their face.
New media has exploded and the means and methods of either ignoring or escaping your propaganda has grown with it. But companies continue to spend billions on traditional marketing and sales campaigns that nobody is paying any attention to.
This is not an opinion.
Clickthrough rates on Internet ads are essentially 0%, telemarketers are either prohibited from calling you, are flagged by Caller ID or have been replaced by robotic "Robo Dial" messages that may have redefined the adjectives worthless and annoying. DVR’s have made TV ads the proverbial tree falling in the forest. Your companies’ salesforce and the wildly biased word they are trying to spread is (at best) filtered by your customers or (at worst) immediately deleted. Junk mail, pitiful car dealerships blaring on the radio, print ads and their bravado messages- this list could go on for paragraphs. Customers would be screaming “leave us alone!” but they don’t even hear or see you: They tuned you out YEARS ago.
You’re the singer or stand-up comedian performing in front of 5,000 empty seats. You’re the Construction worker emitting a whistle wolf call to the pretty lady walking by. It’s all he knows, the whistle…just like the salesman telling the customer about his “amazing” products. It’s all their employer knows.
Along comes this thing that is currently called Inbound Marketing.
It says this: If you want them to buy something from you, THEY MUST COME TO YOU (not the other way around of the old model). You make this happen by being relevant and being known. You make this happen by producing content that has real value (video, audio, text). Something relevant to what they want, something they can use, or find informative or entertaining. Do it consistently, do it methodically. Turn this stranger into an acquaintance. Once this stranger no longer thinks you’re some carnival barker with an agenda but actually someone who can provide them something they need or want, they will contact you. They will be an INBOUND call, email. That's when you get your chance to tell them they've come to a good place.
There are no shortcuts. Inbound Marketing shows up to work every day dressed in work overalls, not a salesman suit. There’s no place for the mouth-breathing morons who still believe the "sacred" marketing maxim “if you see my marketing message NINE times, you’ll come around!”.
Real data shows this has been underway for a few years now. It not only works, it’s the only thing that will work.
For decades now, people have been SPRINTING away from the oncoming salesperson. Until relatively recently, their sprint led them into a corner. Now they sprint into open fields.
Are you going to drop marketing leaflets on their heads as they stand there, free in the fields? Or are you smart enough to get their attention to get them to come to you.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Elephants/Money
Headhunters would ask me my salary sometimes before I actually picked up the receiver on the phone- yeah, they were that quick to ask me a question- a question that even the people closest to me don’t know the answer to. Uncle Sam gets to know that; my wife knows too but really nobody else.
You called me, pal. Cool your jets. Tell me why you just called and interrupted me before asking me what my W2’s looked like.
Well, now..
After you’ve fielded a few such calls in your career, you don’t take this very personal question so personal. Understand, the “market value” for anything on this planet- including your current compensation- is the number where a buyer and seller agree to meet. If you agree to work for a salary of X, a market value for your services has been set. It doesn't DEFINE your market value for tomorrow but it is your market value for today. If you feel you’re underpaid, you need to get a raise or by get a job that pays more. Everything else is just talk.
A good recruiter will tell you why they’re asking about your salary- if you feel you must know. It doesn’t mean you have to give them an exact number. The best and most successful headhunter I’ve ever met always talks often and early about money and salary with the candidates he works with- but doesn’t always ask for their current salary. He already knows what his client expects to pay- often advising his clients on such matters- and he also knows if the candidate’s body of work warrants that pay.
Unless you are clearly one of the very finest at what you do in your field, it’s the prospective employer who cuts the check and has first right of refusal with any candidate. And if you won’t reveal your salary of your range, there are a others at your level who will. Your refusal to reveal what your current employer is paying you (your market value as of today) means you probably feel you are surrendering any and all negotiating power before the dance even starts. That’s legitimate though your leverage and “negotiating power” probably isn’t quite what you think it is. Just because they called you doesn’t mean they aren’t calling others. Repeating, unless you know you are on a very, very short list in your line of work- you are likely one of a handful who this position will be presented to.
The headhunter works for the hiring company.
With the exception of highly paid entertainers or “creatives” and a VERY small list of others, agents work for the people who cut the check. Even the truly exceptional 500K a year surgeon does not have an agent negotiating the best deal for them. As skilled as they might be, there are others who can do what they do. The hospital or HMO does not negotiate with the surgeon’s agent. The recruiter- if an independent 3rd party- will seek the best pay possible but the recruiter still gets paid by the hospital.
If you’re working with a recruiter employed directly by the hiring organization, they are NOT incentivized to get you the best pay package. Their job is to get you onboard within a budget. The 3rd party recruiter is incentivized to get you the best pay plan. Their financial self-interest is being served.
Talk about money is so frequently The Elephant in the Room in many cultures.
Not talking about The Elephant gives the elephant a complex and leaves you lighter in the wallet.
You called me, pal. Cool your jets. Tell me why you just called and interrupted me before asking me what my W2’s looked like.
Well, now..
After you’ve fielded a few such calls in your career, you don’t take this very personal question so personal. Understand, the “market value” for anything on this planet- including your current compensation- is the number where a buyer and seller agree to meet. If you agree to work for a salary of X, a market value for your services has been set. It doesn't DEFINE your market value for tomorrow but it is your market value for today. If you feel you’re underpaid, you need to get a raise or by get a job that pays more. Everything else is just talk.
A good recruiter will tell you why they’re asking about your salary- if you feel you must know. It doesn’t mean you have to give them an exact number. The best and most successful headhunter I’ve ever met always talks often and early about money and salary with the candidates he works with- but doesn’t always ask for their current salary. He already knows what his client expects to pay- often advising his clients on such matters- and he also knows if the candidate’s body of work warrants that pay.
Unless you are clearly one of the very finest at what you do in your field, it’s the prospective employer who cuts the check and has first right of refusal with any candidate. And if you won’t reveal your salary of your range, there are a others at your level who will. Your refusal to reveal what your current employer is paying you (your market value as of today) means you probably feel you are surrendering any and all negotiating power before the dance even starts. That’s legitimate though your leverage and “negotiating power” probably isn’t quite what you think it is. Just because they called you doesn’t mean they aren’t calling others. Repeating, unless you know you are on a very, very short list in your line of work- you are likely one of a handful who this position will be presented to.
The headhunter works for the hiring company.
With the exception of highly paid entertainers or “creatives” and a VERY small list of others, agents work for the people who cut the check. Even the truly exceptional 500K a year surgeon does not have an agent negotiating the best deal for them. As skilled as they might be, there are others who can do what they do. The hospital or HMO does not negotiate with the surgeon’s agent. The recruiter- if an independent 3rd party- will seek the best pay possible but the recruiter still gets paid by the hospital.
If you’re working with a recruiter employed directly by the hiring organization, they are NOT incentivized to get you the best pay package. Their job is to get you onboard within a budget. The 3rd party recruiter is incentivized to get you the best pay plan. Their financial self-interest is being served.
Talk about money is so frequently The Elephant in the Room in many cultures.
Not talking about The Elephant gives the elephant a complex and leaves you lighter in the wallet.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Same
Marketing and its evil twin Advertising have changed very little. Every product you’re pitched is still amazing and incredible. And you better act now because, you know, this is a limited time offer.
Will this infantile practice of unabated hyperbole continue until the Sun swallows the Earth? Do marketers believe all consumers have the intellectual capacity of cole slaw? It’s window cleaner, for Chrissakes- there nothing incredible about it. Want to know what’s incredible?? A young spider can weave a web without any instruction- that’s amazing. A Ford Dealership’s sleazy “Blowout Sales Event” is not amazing though the dealer’s owner insisting he be front and center for the camera is. He looks like he just traded in his mother for a newer model.
Nothing has changed in the way companies pitch products and services. Television has remote controls and DVRs so I rarely see any ad for more than a few seconds. I’m stuck with it on the internet- though the click-through rate on internet ads stands at a steady 0.0000000000000000000001%. Don’t get me wrong, that internet ad that says I can lose 40 lbs in my sleep tonight seems legit. At least television’s only crime is their abject obnoxiousness. The internet just flat out lies in their efforts;The Ad That Wouldn’t Go Away on the internet stated: “This 57 year old woman looks 25!”. On the left was a woman who purchased the aging cream. She looks like she's about 104 and wears an expression of unmitigated misery. On the right is the very same woman after applying the cream. She looks about 18 and is very happy she clicked on the internet ad that led to this purchase.
When anointed Benevolent King of Earth, here’s the rules on Advertising. Tell me what the product is. Tell me why I might want to buy it. Tell me every effort has been made to make the product something of value and I might want to buy. Add a little class- maybe something artistic. Music can be good. Hire someone who is clearly funny and make me laugh. Don’t tell me I better hurry or I need to Act Now. I would have already bought it if I needed it.
I’ll deny it to my death, but I just clicked on an ad that promises untold wealth without any type of effort or work. Appears to be a no-brainer. Gave them my credit card number, my social security number, my cell phone number and a promise to let them garnish all my future wages until I expire.
Will this infantile practice of unabated hyperbole continue until the Sun swallows the Earth? Do marketers believe all consumers have the intellectual capacity of cole slaw? It’s window cleaner, for Chrissakes- there nothing incredible about it. Want to know what’s incredible?? A young spider can weave a web without any instruction- that’s amazing. A Ford Dealership’s sleazy “Blowout Sales Event” is not amazing though the dealer’s owner insisting he be front and center for the camera is. He looks like he just traded in his mother for a newer model.
Nothing has changed in the way companies pitch products and services. Television has remote controls and DVRs so I rarely see any ad for more than a few seconds. I’m stuck with it on the internet- though the click-through rate on internet ads stands at a steady 0.0000000000000000000001%. Don’t get me wrong, that internet ad that says I can lose 40 lbs in my sleep tonight seems legit. At least television’s only crime is their abject obnoxiousness. The internet just flat out lies in their efforts;The Ad That Wouldn’t Go Away on the internet stated: “This 57 year old woman looks 25!”. On the left was a woman who purchased the aging cream. She looks like she's about 104 and wears an expression of unmitigated misery. On the right is the very same woman after applying the cream. She looks about 18 and is very happy she clicked on the internet ad that led to this purchase.
When anointed Benevolent King of Earth, here’s the rules on Advertising. Tell me what the product is. Tell me why I might want to buy it. Tell me every effort has been made to make the product something of value and I might want to buy. Add a little class- maybe something artistic. Music can be good. Hire someone who is clearly funny and make me laugh. Don’t tell me I better hurry or I need to Act Now. I would have already bought it if I needed it.
I’ll deny it to my death, but I just clicked on an ad that promises untold wealth without any type of effort or work. Appears to be a no-brainer. Gave them my credit card number, my social security number, my cell phone number and a promise to let them garnish all my future wages until I expire.
Monday, June 30, 2014
I Don't Know
I don’t know. I’ll take this answer over the hundreds of disguised answers that mean the same thing. This is especially true at work.
We feel it better to default to some buzzword-laden response that means the same thing.
To be judged as ill-equipped, unqualified or incompetent- oh, hell..not that. Anything but that! Let me throw-up about 50 words that will indicate I’m knowledgeable and I belong where I am. It’s the system that has somehow failed us both! That’s why I can’t answer your question! I’ll straighten everything out- hold the line.
If you’re in my line of work, some grizzly veteran told you when you were just a pup there was a million dollar answer when this situation presented itself. You were told with incredible zeal and pride by the living, breathing caricature to answer: “You know what?..I don’t know…but I can find out for you!”. This advice was usually linked to some type of tie-down commitment request directed at the customer- meaning the legwork answer entitles them to ask for something in return.
[Example: I don’t know- but if I find out and the answer is suitable, then can we write up the order?]
I think all people put in this position should look at the salesperson and answer, deadpan: “I don’t know”. Of course, that answer will only get the “eager to close” salesperson ALL LATHERED UP.
Sigh. There’s so many things in the monstrously dated Classic Sales Training routine that are painful to read and even worse to experience. I’m a consumer too.
I don’t know. How refreshing.
The politician asks the scientist a question. The scientist answers: I don’t know.
The Wall Street analyst asks the business executive to somehow predict 2 years into the future: I don’t know.
The man sincerely asks his friend if his marriage going to be ok? I don’t know.
Is there really a heaven where I get to be with my loved ones and live in eternal bliss after I die? I don’t know. (That one could earn me the scorn of most of society..again, sigh).
I don’t know is not only an acceptable answer, it’s often the only answer. So when Steve-O The Sales Monster INSISTS on a *quid pro quo for retrieving that information for you, well, you know what to say.
*I’m sentenced to 20 lashes for this egregious Buzzword infraction.
We feel it better to default to some buzzword-laden response that means the same thing.
To be judged as ill-equipped, unqualified or incompetent- oh, hell..not that. Anything but that! Let me throw-up about 50 words that will indicate I’m knowledgeable and I belong where I am. It’s the system that has somehow failed us both! That’s why I can’t answer your question! I’ll straighten everything out- hold the line.
If you’re in my line of work, some grizzly veteran told you when you were just a pup there was a million dollar answer when this situation presented itself. You were told with incredible zeal and pride by the living, breathing caricature to answer: “You know what?..I don’t know…but I can find out for you!”. This advice was usually linked to some type of tie-down commitment request directed at the customer- meaning the legwork answer entitles them to ask for something in return.
[Example: I don’t know- but if I find out and the answer is suitable, then can we write up the order?]
I think all people put in this position should look at the salesperson and answer, deadpan: “I don’t know”. Of course, that answer will only get the “eager to close” salesperson ALL LATHERED UP.
Sigh. There’s so many things in the monstrously dated Classic Sales Training routine that are painful to read and even worse to experience. I’m a consumer too.
I don’t know. How refreshing.
The politician asks the scientist a question. The scientist answers: I don’t know.
The Wall Street analyst asks the business executive to somehow predict 2 years into the future: I don’t know.
The man sincerely asks his friend if his marriage going to be ok? I don’t know.
Is there really a heaven where I get to be with my loved ones and live in eternal bliss after I die? I don’t know. (That one could earn me the scorn of most of society..again, sigh).
I don’t know is not only an acceptable answer, it’s often the only answer. So when Steve-O The Sales Monster INSISTS on a *quid pro quo for retrieving that information for you, well, you know what to say.
*I’m sentenced to 20 lashes for this egregious Buzzword infraction.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Default Setting
Sales is a default career for millions.
Often for the extrovert who never learned how to do anything that people would pay them for in an open market. College campuses are littered with young people- often there on their parent’s dime- who have little trouble making friends but will leave school with zero marketable skills. They will be contacting you soon at your place of business with some amazing offer. As the adage goes, I personally didn’t dream of one day being a salesman.
Which brings me to this. Almost everything ever written on Selling- ESPECIALLY on the ultra-sleazy subject of closing techniques- is horse poop. What they’re really attempting to teach is manipulation techniques. This is the primary reason so many people loathe the image that is the salesman. Or they simply break into a full sprint at sight or sound of live one.
There are hundreds of things that successful people do in sales that don’t involve manipulation- covert or otherwise. Most of it is just doing the work. But the articles and the books keep talking about how to close people. A headline in the current Boston Business Journal prompted this post.
For you Liberal Arts Majors who haven’t the faintest idea on how you’ll earn your daily bread post college, please read and heed the following:
1.)If you choose to intentionally manipulate (or worse), just know your comeuppance is inevitable. And the misery will be unimaginable. Your trail of quarry will one day be surpassed by coming face-to-face with what you are and the pointlessness of your life's "work". (Strong enough?..I’m dead serious). The annals of history are full of these guys, business or otherwise.
2.)If you chose to do it honestly, pick a product or service there is a real market for. At times, you will be required to ask people for their business, but only after it is abundantly clear it’s logical and beneficial for them to do so. The prospective buyer is often nervous and they’ve worked themselves into a lather to where they've concluded that making NO DECISION is the safe thing to do. If they’re still unable or unwilling to decide, just move on. You'll save them and yourself from a shi#load of unnecessary agitation.
Often for the extrovert who never learned how to do anything that people would pay them for in an open market. College campuses are littered with young people- often there on their parent’s dime- who have little trouble making friends but will leave school with zero marketable skills. They will be contacting you soon at your place of business with some amazing offer. As the adage goes, I personally didn’t dream of one day being a salesman.
Which brings me to this. Almost everything ever written on Selling- ESPECIALLY on the ultra-sleazy subject of closing techniques- is horse poop. What they’re really attempting to teach is manipulation techniques. This is the primary reason so many people loathe the image that is the salesman. Or they simply break into a full sprint at sight or sound of live one.
There are hundreds of things that successful people do in sales that don’t involve manipulation- covert or otherwise. Most of it is just doing the work. But the articles and the books keep talking about how to close people. A headline in the current Boston Business Journal prompted this post.
For you Liberal Arts Majors who haven’t the faintest idea on how you’ll earn your daily bread post college, please read and heed the following:
1.)If you choose to intentionally manipulate (or worse), just know your comeuppance is inevitable. And the misery will be unimaginable. Your trail of quarry will one day be surpassed by coming face-to-face with what you are and the pointlessness of your life's "work". (Strong enough?..I’m dead serious). The annals of history are full of these guys, business or otherwise.
2.)If you chose to do it honestly, pick a product or service there is a real market for. At times, you will be required to ask people for their business, but only after it is abundantly clear it’s logical and beneficial for them to do so. The prospective buyer is often nervous and they’ve worked themselves into a lather to where they've concluded that making NO DECISION is the safe thing to do. If they’re still unable or unwilling to decide, just move on. You'll save them and yourself from a shi#load of unnecessary agitation.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Four Hours
Nobody enjoys being around others who ceaselessly complain and espouse pessimism. They’re BRUTAL. All future therapists will be required to tend bar for 2 years when I’m anointed King. Bartenders hear more misery in a single shift than you’ll hear in two months.
But how about people who are their opposite?
You say to them- out of social norms and politeness “How are you?” and they practically jump out of their britches with “fabulous!!”. I’m not speaking of the rare enlightened people who truly are at peace with the world. I speak of those who are committed to public unbridled optimism, regardless of how they might really feel. Oh, their true self will surface from time-to-time and it is a VOLCANO of hurt. You can usually find them an hour later in the self-help section at Barnes and Noble.
Though I RUN from people who insist on sharing their doom/gloom worldview, I also tend to walk briskly away from the chirpy turn that frown upside down minions. Because I think it’s not who they really are. I think it’s their way of coping but it comes off as super phony.
They’ll never be confused with those who radiate warmth and a very real inner-peace. These folks tend to be on the quiet side. They never offer unsolicited advice; they know you have to find your own way. If you vent in their direction, they typically offer a polite smile and agree- often without words- that life can be a real bear at times. You’ll never hear them offer how amazing everything is. They’re neither optimists, pessimists or realists. They have been through an awful lot and don’t pretend that things aren’t painful sometimes. They appreciate the hell out of things that the rest of us take for granted, including but not limited to:
• A comfortable and warm bed
• Not being in any type of physical pain
• A hot meal that tastes pretty good
• The everyday conveniences of the developed world
• A wide variety of entertainment choices
• The health and wellbeing of the people closest to them
You can’t make it a goal to be at peace- It does not work. Our goal-oriented culture has created much of this unhappiness in the first place- it has taught us the never being satisfied is a good thing. Big Pharma loves this mindset- it’s the gift that keeps on giving. In an era of unmatched prosperity and the comfort and conveniences that SHOULD go with it, the U.S. and the rest of the developed world ingests tens of billions of dollars’ worth of mood medications every year.
Why do you think that is?
Never Be Satisfied and- while you’re at it- ask your doctor about Paxil. Its side effects may include a sense of wellbeing that * may last up to four hours.
*Not to be confused with that other med that may give your four hours of awkwardness.
But how about people who are their opposite?
You say to them- out of social norms and politeness “How are you?” and they practically jump out of their britches with “fabulous!!”. I’m not speaking of the rare enlightened people who truly are at peace with the world. I speak of those who are committed to public unbridled optimism, regardless of how they might really feel. Oh, their true self will surface from time-to-time and it is a VOLCANO of hurt. You can usually find them an hour later in the self-help section at Barnes and Noble.
Though I RUN from people who insist on sharing their doom/gloom worldview, I also tend to walk briskly away from the chirpy turn that frown upside down minions. Because I think it’s not who they really are. I think it’s their way of coping but it comes off as super phony.
They’ll never be confused with those who radiate warmth and a very real inner-peace. These folks tend to be on the quiet side. They never offer unsolicited advice; they know you have to find your own way. If you vent in their direction, they typically offer a polite smile and agree- often without words- that life can be a real bear at times. You’ll never hear them offer how amazing everything is. They’re neither optimists, pessimists or realists. They have been through an awful lot and don’t pretend that things aren’t painful sometimes. They appreciate the hell out of things that the rest of us take for granted, including but not limited to:
• A comfortable and warm bed
• Not being in any type of physical pain
• A hot meal that tastes pretty good
• The everyday conveniences of the developed world
• A wide variety of entertainment choices
• The health and wellbeing of the people closest to them
You can’t make it a goal to be at peace- It does not work. Our goal-oriented culture has created much of this unhappiness in the first place- it has taught us the never being satisfied is a good thing. Big Pharma loves this mindset- it’s the gift that keeps on giving. In an era of unmatched prosperity and the comfort and conveniences that SHOULD go with it, the U.S. and the rest of the developed world ingests tens of billions of dollars’ worth of mood medications every year.
Why do you think that is?
Never Be Satisfied and- while you’re at it- ask your doctor about Paxil. Its side effects may include a sense of wellbeing that * may last up to four hours.
*Not to be confused with that other med that may give your four hours of awkwardness.
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