I have something precious, unique and valuable to offer. Oh, how I have squandered it. You, too, have something precious, unique and valuable to offer? How have you been squandering it?
No judgment here. Simply observing, reflecting and choosing a new way of being.
More than once I have tried to convince someone to hire me. Or signed on a client who was not going to receive all I have to give. Or stayed in a romantic relationship that frustrated both of us.
Once I even tried to talk Richard Gere into marrying me. Okay, I’m kidding about Richard Gere – really he tried to talk me into marrying him! Anyway, you get the idea . . .
When we work with people one-on-one or in a small group, we can only work with a few fortunate folks. Our time is extremely finite. Even if you chose to work 24/7, you only have those 24 hours each day to offer to someone.
Why wouldn’t we offer those hours only to people we would totally love to have as clients?
Scarcity thinking.
I better try to get anyone who crosses my path. Do you have a pulse? A checkbook? Okay, you’re in!
Wait, I love to work with people who take immediate action. You love to work with people who deliberatively think things through. Yet, I have a couple of deliberative clients who are trying my patience and draining my energy and you have some impulsive go-getter clients who are driving you crazy.
Do you see the easy fix here?
Let’s use this short teaching story from Michael Neill to shift our way of being:
“Imagine that everyone you speak to is a multi-millionaire, and that if you can just say and do the right things around them, they will share some of their money with you. When you’ve done that for a few moments or even a few minutes, stop and clear your mind before going on to part two . . .
Now, imagine that you are secretly a multi-millionaire, and when you meet people, you are deciding whether or not to share some of your fortune with them.
When I first tried that out for myself, I recognized that in the first instance, they had something I wanted and I became increasingly more needy (and creepy) in my attempts to get it from them.
In the second instance, I was the one with something valuable to give – and in choosing who to offer it to, I was not looking for the most pathetic, hopeless victim in the room. I was looking for the person who would be able and willing to take what I have to offer and create something beautiful with it.”
With whom do you most want to share this precious, rare commodity who is you? Now there’s niche marketing working for you! Feel free to post your own story in the Comments.
