Today I repost a comment made by Gary Longdon which he posted after reading ‘Intention – Part Four’- The importance of Gary’s comment cannot be underestimated. He reinforces many of the ideas put forward in previous posts.
I would recommend clicking on this LINK it will take you to Gary’s superb and fascinating WordPress site. A word of warning before you do so: – You may well find yourself spending an hour or more reading his work, the essays, poetry, and reviews. The quality, depth and breath of his thinking shines like Venus in the night sky.
Another searing assessment of where we are today, Ian, thank you.
“The voice of the people is the voice of God” is attributed to Alcuin in a letter to King Charlemagne in the 9th Century. “The customer is not always right, but what they think is always right” is mid-1950’s wisdom from Dale Carnegie. The message is still the same. If we are interacting with others by way of trying to persuade people, or sell something to others, what they think is more important than what we think. For if we do not know what they think, how can we hope to succeed?
We should have principles. We should stand by them. Yet our principles should be determined by information available to us at the time. Making a sound principled stand is wise. Sticking to a principle in the face of new overwhelming evidence to the contrary is not admirable, it is foolish.
MBS exhibitors, overwhelmingly, are passionate about their subject. But are they as passionate about the understanding the public’s response to their exhibit?
Let me offer you a personal example. I run a blog which includes my poetry which I am proud of. Typically I receive around a hundred hits a day. I would like to think that it is the power of my poetry which draws them. However, have checked the wordpress stats. It has been my pieces on 1970’s music which have drawn the biggest site visitors.
I always chat to stallholders. An alarming number offer what they like, and what they like to sell. Rarely am I asked what I like best on their exhibit, or what I would be prepared to pay for an item I had passed over. I look behind their stalls to sometimes see boxes of stock the cost of which will dwarf anything they make that day. Most can name their best sellers, far fewer can name their most profitable lines either by volume or mark up.
Personally, stallholders enthusiasm is usually palpable. However some are determined to tell you all they know about crystals/ tarot cards/Indian head massage ( choose, add and delete to suit) without drawing breath irrespective of whether you wanted to know and how much time you have. The successful stall holder asks questions. They tell you what they don’t know, not what they do know. They credit others. By so doing, they draw you in.
I take issue with your final paragraph. I think it IS legitimate for you to aim to be the best. By aiming to be the best in what you do success will inevitably follow, so being the most successful is a legitimate aim too. “The biggest” can never be an objective in itself. The biggest success, or failure? The biggest that it can be, without compromising what makes it the best is probably a better aim. Your blog oozes the sense that you will succeed.
Good luck.
