Essential Language Skills
I mean if you didn’t know anybody, only had enough money for a couple days worth of food, couldn’t call anybody for help.
Basically on your own.
If you could build up three or four “mind” skills, what would they be?
A bunch of successful entrepreneurs were asked this question. It kind of strips away any kind of idea of relying on your “connections.”
One skill was the ability to talk to strangers effectively. Meaning not to timidly walk up and ask somebody the time, but to interrupt a complete stranger on the street, and self confidently start a lengthy conversation.
Another skill was to be incredibly flexible in your thinking. For example, if you used to be a chef in your old city, and you’re only idea of scratching out a living in this new city was to cook, you may be in trouble.
On the other hand, if you could seize any opportunity that came your way, you’d be in better shape.
One more skill was language. Being able to speak persuasively. After all, you’d need to quickly turn strangers into supporters. Not to go and seize the castle or anything dramatic like that. But you’d at least need to get people on your side.
I suppose you could just sit there and ask people for money, but that may not be the best idea.
If you could convince people that it would be in their best interests to help you, you’d be better off.
If you could further convince people that THEY would be better off as well, then they’d WANT to help you.
And this is the secret gold mine of human communication.
Every single person alive today is a HUGE collection of unfulfilled needs. Nobody is ever satisfied for long. Our mind-body systems are simply not wired like that. We’re always on the move. Always searching to fulfill some need.
When you learn to talk to people in a way to elicit those unmet needs, and show them that by helping you, they’ll also benefit themselves, they’ll help you do anything, create anything and build anything.
Just stop and think for a moment how good it feels to be working with somebody else, and KNOWING that everybody is going to benefit, compared to working alone, or worse, working where you suspect somebody else is getting the better part of the deal.
This is what that corny “win-win” strategy REALLY means.
And right now, on Planet Earth, there are literally BILLIONS of opportunities just waiting for somebody like you.