Great lesson—- A lady once hired a plumber to come and fix her sink. He walked right up to it, inspected it for a minute, tapped the pipe, turned a knob and the clog was fixed. He promptly handed the lady a bill after about 2 minutes of work. “$105! Why??? All you did was bang the pipe and turn a knob! I want a breakdown of why this is so expensive.” The lady exclaimed angrily. The plumber simply said, “It’s $5 for tapping the pipe and turning the knob. It’s $100 for knowing where to tap.”
I think in business and in life we sometimes forget the value of our genius, our efforts, our time spent learning and becoming experts in our fields. You obtain knowledge that others lack. You have been to the seminars, bought the books and spent the countless hours honing your skills. Through trial and error you have figured it all out. That knowledge is years in the making – you spent your time, money and put your heart and soul on the line to obtain it. RIGHT???
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.
You shouldn’t cheapen that knowledge by losing sight of it’s true value. You were the one who spent years learning. You faced the countless trials and hardships to get there. You were the one that put everything on the line for that information. Your experience is extremely valuable to someone who needs to get where you already are or for someone that wants to know what you know. I think sometimes we allow others to pick and prod our genius out of us. We allow them to take from us what we have spent years learning. LET ME BE CLEAR: I am not saying we shouldn’t help others get where they are trying to go. I am a firm believer that if you help enough people get what they want, then you will eventually get what you want. I believe professionals should exchange ideas and help one another. I just want you to be aware and guard your genius. I just want you to realize the value behind your knowledge when others don’t respect what you went through to obtain it.
Overnight success is usually around 7 years. Overnight success is a myth… know one knows what it takes to get to where you are or where you want to be… that’s a journey YOU have to create and discover and survive. Other people can not see the real value in your journey unless you prove to them HOW valuable it really is!
In the movie, “The Prestige” with Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, and Scarlett Johansson — Christian Bale is a
magician who is explaining the POWER of knowledge and the protection of your secrets. He explains how people will try to get those secrets out of you any way they can. He explains how you have to hold that secret close to your heart. “Once you give it away… people don’t need you anymore. They got what they wanted and they will move on with your hard earned secrets and will treat you like dirt.” WHY? Because!! Those people didn’t have to work for that wealth of knowledge… People don’t value your time and effort unless you make them…… and you can’t give it away so willingly.
Don’t cheapen your genius! KNOW what you know and know what it’s worth!!!
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