Lies we “sell” to each other

The way and manner that humanity exists, it all hinges on stories. The struggles of our past, imaginations of our future and the realities of our present-day are all beautifully crafted and drafted into stories and it cuts down to religion, business, politics, to every other pillar of the society you can think of.

Some of us have also learnt to “sell” our stories, rather than just tell them. It’s not a bad thing. You can call us salespersons, copywriters, coaches, public speakers, startup founders, you, me and everyone. Whatever you want to call us, some of us just seem to be able to tell our stories as if your world depends on it, regardless of whether we can hold ours together – it really does not matter. After all, we care about you, more than ourselves and that is love. Oh, what love!

However, our stories always seem too good to be true. Like when we told you that we tested 100 principles of mastering healthy habits and have finally recognized the 7 keys to mastery; or the other day, you were compelled to pay for one of our services just because we promised you some massive ROI… Too good to be true right? Wonder if that just makes it all a lie.

You see, we may have all the keys in the world to make you successful but the real truth is that hard work, perseverance and a lot of faith is what makes you successful. I can hardly teach you that, I am barely struggling to keep up with my work ethics and everybody else is struggling in some way. I will tell you this final story to drive my point, hopefully, home.

I had this prospective client whom a dear friend referred me to and as my personal code of work, I met with him physically and told him all he needed to know about what I offered. We would start with a strategy for both his personal and corporate brand, then start creating quality content to educate his ideal audience through preferred touchpoints like LinkedIn. I gave him a very friendly bill and have been running after him to make payment (as payment validates order abi)

After two months of chasing, I decided to stop and think. If I am running after a prospective client in this manner, for how long can I keep running after him especially once he commits funds in my hands and how do I convince him that his hard work is what will make all this work? Sincerely, I still hope he gives me his money, Lord knows I need it, but I have to remind myself and remind him that I cannot hand success over to him unless he works hard for it.

This lesson from my personal experiences and from the experiences of many others have driven me to write this article with these few concluding points:

• Tell people to work hard even though you give them keys to success.
• Tell people to be patient even though you promise them 150% ROI.
• Tell people to have faith even though they think everybody is up against them.

The bitter taste of truth does not linger as long as the venomous poison of lies.

My name is Femi Fakayejo (The Dynamic Femi). I am a writer, strategist, content creator and the author of The Black Book.

I am passionate about understanding life based on facts which is why I am gradually transitioning to Data Science.

Would love to connect to you via social media here and here. Can't wait to hear from you!