In ancient India, young princes had to start training in warfare from a very young age. They used to work and train hard because they were the future of the kingdom, the royal family and the people of the kingdom used to pin their hopes on them, and it’s a shame if a prince can’t stand up to fight, not when he is the heir to the throne.
While anything linking back to ancient India, China, or Egypt makes for a good bed time story, we don’t realize that it was a huge burden for the princes to carry — all their lives.
We don’t have royal families, kings, and kingdoms anymore. It isn’t like the old times. Yet, we have something similar. We carry the burden of having to prove to ourselves that we are the best there can be. The responsibility to prove that you are good isn’t for the others to nod their heads. It’s for you. Your happiness.
Why did the young princes have to try so hard?
It’s called “due diligence”. In addition to all of the above mentioned reasons, there was also a simple rule then: you first have to give it your everything, work hard, don’t expect anything from the hard work, prove that you are warrior mettle and that’s when the crown crawls up onto the top of your head. War and ruling a kingdom is a huge responsibility and nobody less than the best can take up that mantle of responsibility.
You did watch the movie Gladiator, haven’t you? The king in the movie has love for his son but no respect. The young prince never worked hard. He never sacrificed anything for his countrymen. In fact, he cruel, sadistic, and jealous.
The point is: to succeed, you need to do your due diligence first. In terms of online marketing, it might take the form of giving away valuable information free at first, trying to make a mark in the blogosphere. I can’t help but think of Danny Iny — also called as the Freddy Krueger of blogging. He went out at the big boys first. He made friends with those people that most of us even fear to send an email to. He made it big through sheer determination and incredible number of hours thrown.
Only then, did he claim his position on the Internet.
Why giving makes sense?
When you don the garb of a ‘giver’, you are telling yourself — almost programming yourself — to be self-aware. Givers have something to give, in the first place. By giving, you already position yourself above the fold of the human fabric. Yet, you are benign, generous, and extremely affable.
Further, giving triggers the cycle that results in ‘getting’. That’s how it all starts. You begin to give and then you shall receive.
– A free trial of a wonderful, ground-shattering, one-of-its-kind is the act of giving [ like WordPress, Magento and thousands of other open-source software -- in fact, these are still free for you to use]. What did they get? In the case of WordPress and Magento, these are the first on mind when you think of blogging or an e-commerce engine.
– Ed Dale gives away his 30 Day Challenge and other affiliate marketing courses completely for free. What does he get? I bet he makes a ton of money through affiliate marketing himself, oodles of love, respect, and admiration from the community that he serves so well.
– Danny Iny works hard and writes “Engagement from Scratch“. What does he do? Sell? No. He gives it away for free. Look around and you’ll only see his name plastered all over the web. On top of it all, he actually does what he teaches in his book. He spends time talking to people, emailing them, answering their questions, responding to every comment.
There are scores of examples of how riches are made and a foundation for wealth is created by the act of giving.
Think about how you can utilize the immense power of giving. What’s it that you are going to give away today?
I’d love to hear from you.