Or what I call -The Ralph Kramden Effect!
If you've ever watched The Honeymooners
you know Ralph Kramden. He's a husband and a bus driver. And he's a
man that wants a better life. Things are always tight for him and
his wife Alice. But Ralph knows there is opportunity out there for
him. He just has to find the right angle. Trouble is, Ralph thinks
that every opportunity that comes down the road is a quick cash deal.
When Ralph cooks up a scheme, he doesn't plan further than the "If
I do this, then that will happen." And his ego doesn't give him
a doubt that it will not work. No long range planning. No
assessing what he does well and what he doesn't. Ralph
thinks he is good at everything, but he doesn't know what he's really
good at. It's another quality that keeps him from figuring out how
to get on the clear path of success.
But there was one episode where
Ralph actually had a great plan. He bought a whole bunch of All Purpose kitchen utensils. He also made a deal with a local TV
station to get some commercial time. And his friend Ed Norton was
ready to help him. Everything was set except for one thing - Ralph
had stage fright. He couldn't say one line that he and Ed wrote for
their selling pitch. Now in his defense, Ralph hadn't been in front
of a camera before. How would he have even known he had stage fright? But then again, Ralph's ego got in his way. He spent all of
his practice time telling Norton how to make the commercial better,
but he didn't have any more experience than Norton. Ralph should
have gone to the station manager and been like "Listen, my
partner and I have never been in front of a camera before, what's it
like?" At least that could have prepared him more for the
experience. But The Honeymooners was all about comedy, so a
consciencous and humbled Ralph would not have been nearly as funny as
a nervous and bumbling Ralph on a TV stage. And as always in the
show, Norton was as cool as a cucumber on TV.
I give this example to speak to all the Ralph Kramdens out there. This isn't to judge, but to enlighten. Please stop with the get rich quick schemes and the get money now cons and the "I want to do that because it makes the most money." If you want to make money or have that entrepreneurial spirit, it's going to take more than thinking of a quick idea or answering an Ad online about doing something for 'Extra Money at home". I mean, you can do what you want, but if you listen to successful people you will probably find out that it took them a minute to figure out how to become a success.
Stop going for the thing that the world
says is the best or top money making direction and go for the field
or career or business that embraces the thing that you do well. If you
want to do something like stuff Envelopes at home then ask yourself if you
want to do it full time? Because even if you do it part time just to make a little money on the side you will either love it or
hate it after a while. Why would you want to do something that you
will hate after a while? You might as well get a part time job that
you will hate instead.
People don't do enough critical
thinking. They keep trying to do these get Money Now schemes because
they don't ask the question "How does the company make money?
Why can't they mail the envelopes themselves? Why do I have to pay a
fee to do a job?" I'm always grateful for my dad and how he
taught me critical thinking to see through these 'Too good to be true" business ideas. Anybody in
your life that talks wisdom should be making you stop and listen.
Stop saying to yourself or other people
that "I need money now." Were you saying that a few years
ago? What happened? If you are still saying that then you really
didn't "need money now", you needed a plan. If you had a plan and stuck to it
years ago, where would you be now? Success isn't promised, but if you tried to develop something
in a slow and steady way, then how much better would your situation be
now? But if you spent the last few years trying to sell this or mail
that for another company over and over again, then that type of
business model probably isn't for you. Don't get me wrong; there are
successful people that sell or work from home or door to door. But
it's not for everybody. Many people just don't think of other things to do or plan out.
To avoid being a Ralph, the first thing is to find out what you
are really good at. And it doesn't hurt to be truthful about what
you are really bad at. For some, admitting they are bad at something
is too hard. But I suggest you try it. Find your skills and natural
talents. Find out what how you are unique and how people may want to
pay for that uniqueness. Research how other people that have your
talents have made a career for themselves. Or if those talents don't
exactly translate to a career, how you can use them for the jobs that
you have now or want.
If you can't really put your finger on
what talents you have then ask people you know what they think your
talents are. What do people keep asking you about? What do you love
helping people with? What do you love talking to people about? Ask
your friends what you are really good at and what they value you for.
Also, try everything you can try. How are you going to know if you
like to do something if you have never done it before? Or if you don't like to do something. Try to look back to your childhood and
think of the things that you loved to do. What got you excited as a kid? What were you good at back then?
The second thing is where the Kramdens
of the world trip up. Practice your talent. Plan on practicing for a
minute to get better at what you do. The reason that some people
keep trying to do these get money now schemes is that they don't want
to humble themselves and be patient. Especially the brothers. Hey,
I'm just being truthful here. Some dudes always want to talk about how
good they are at something, but don't really practice or research it.
Finally, make a plan. But just don't
come up with an idea and think that's it. Find out if other people
are doing what you want to do. Maybe you can come up with an original
idea, but find out if it is something that people want. Indecently,
don't think for sure that your idea has never been thought of before.
That's that Ralph Kramden ego kicking in again. Sometimes the idea
that you have is unique because people have tried it in the past and
it didn't work out so well. So yes, you won't find it out there because there
wasn't an audience for it. But don't let that discourage you. The
missing piece for most people with ideas is that they have to do the
proper research. And that doesn't mean reading the first page of a Google search.
There are a ton of books and videos
that talk about finding talents and passions, and finding your success through them. Some of them are legit and some just snake oil. All
I'm saying here is that I talk with a lot of brothers and I just hear
that Ralph Kramden spirit coming through. Don't be Ralph. Be patent
and think things through and stay focused on a goal. It might work
out or it might not, but most of the time it's better that going
after the quick money. What I sometimes call The Shiny. Also, don't
threaten your wife with a "Bang, Zoom." Peace out!
