The infamous Glenn Turner, despite his multilevel marketing scam, has a great “Santa Claus” story. Briefly, it goes like this…
Every year, his rich cousins would get an abundance of Christmas gifts of expensive toys from Santa. Wanting in on this Christmas miracle, he wrote a letter to the fat man in the red suit asking for the same, yet only received apples, oranges and other necessities, like socks. Disappointed, he started to copy the letters his cousins were sending to Santa Claus exactly as they were worded, kindly requesting the same toys in the same way – yet, every year, all he received was fruit while his cousins continued to receive elaborate gifts.
One year, he really wanted a new bicycle. Both he and his cousin asked for one, but only his cousin received it. He was so upset and angry over this that he went outside of his house behind the barn to cry, declaring, “Okay, Santa, have it your way!” As told by Glenn, “On that day, I decided to become my own Santa Claus.”
Since having kids, I’ve often wondered if we’re doing them a disservice by teaching them about Santa Claus. First and foremost, we’re lying to them, which has always bugged me. Second, we’re setting up the expectation that if you are good, you’ll get everything you want.
Obviously life doesn’t work that way. Many criminals, bastards and scumbags get rich doing some of the most wicked acts, sometimes getting caught, sometimes not, skirting close to breaking the law OR outright breaking the law and doing everything possible to cover it up. Simultaneously, many honest, good-hearted, hardworking people never reach any level of financial independence or even comfort.
Some people use this fact as proof that capitalism is evil and the world is run by a select few rich a-holes who hold down the majority of the population. Of course, that’s not entirely true. Yes, there are rich bastards who are viciously protective of their enterprise, willing to step on and over people to get what they want and protect their turf. But there are also a large number of very generous, honest, ethical and hardworking wealthy entrepreneurs who EARN it by providing value in the world and using their wealth to help others.
Being GOOD does not automatically entitle you to financial success, or success in any enterprise you decide to undertake. Will it get you a cooler seat in the afterlife? I’ll let you take that up with God since I’m as mortal and flawed as everyone else. But here’s what I do know…
The only way to get paid and become rich is to be MORE THAN GOOD at the things that create wealth for you. You have to be GREAT at them.
Think And Grow Rich is an excellent book title for selling books because there’s an implication that ALL you have to do to become rich is “think,” and by your thinking alone you’ll manifest riches. A more accurate title would have been How To Think To GET Rich, or, even more accurately, How To Think And ACT To Get Rich. Thinking the right way is a precursor to success. You have to think through your business idea and plans, your financial model, your go-to-market strategy, your services offering, hiring plan, etc., etc., but then you must IMPLEMENT the plan and act on it.
Many years ago, I also decided to be my own Santa Claus; the only difference was my wish list was made up of necessities, like a decent apartment I could afford and a reliable car to drive. That led me to make a more elaborate list of things I wanted, like the beach house I’m sitting in right now as I write this, 100% paid for, with zero need to rent it out to pay for it like many people do here in 30A.
Maybe this Christmas, instead of wishing for some mythical, magical entity (or LUCK) to bring you what you want on your Christmas list, write a letter to YOURSELF for next Christmas, asking your future self to deliver on (or before) next Christmas Day…then seek the specific marketplace skills that will deliver it to you, becoming your OWN Santa Claus.
Merry Christmas, y’all…
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