I was listening to a training call for my online business on Wednesday Evening. The speaker was a guy named Michelangelo, a leader in the business that I’m part of, who is an excitable speaker and charismatic teacher.
The gist of Michelangelo’s talk was the importance of giving things away. During his talk, he gave us his username and password to a location where he stores hundreds of dollars worth of software and e-books. I couldn’t believe he did that, but quickly jumped in and downloaded everything I could get my hands on. I felt like I was on a shopping spree, running around the store trying to fill my shopping kart as quickly as possible.
Why would he give us all those valuable tools? Doesn’t he realize that we are all competing for the same business and we’ll use those tools to our advantage?
Today, I found this story that emphasizes the principle that Michelangelo demonstrated to us.
There was a Midwestern farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won the blue ribbon, the top prize. One year a reporter asked him a question and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.
“How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
“Why sir,” said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”
So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.
The business I’m part of is called EDC Diamond. The members of EDC Diamond share a philosophy of working as a team. Being part of a team makes us all stronger. We grow better corn because we help our neighbors grow better corn.
I like that idea. Watch here for when I post some free goodies for you. Wait till see the value of the items I choose to give away.
