Don’t bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. – Jim Rohn
Let’s get the couch upstairs, then tap the keg! Pizza in a half hour! Thanks for the help!
What does that mean?
There is a longer version of this quote (see confirmation section at the bottom of the post), but for the purposes of this post, I will confine myself to this portion of the quote.
It talks about the marketplace, and what it does and does not do. Specifically, it starts by saying that the marketplace is not the place to bring your need.
The market place, the quote continues, wants to see what skill, or skills, you have. The marketplace has use for skills, and will provide you with benefits if your skills suit them.
Bringing your skill to the marketplace allows you to, should you have a desirable skill, to get either what you need, or find a way to get what you need.
In short, don’t go out and say “I really need a job!” as that doesn’t tell anyone what you are good at or why you should be hired. If you say “I have great skills at organization or planning, and you need me!” you are far more likely to get the response you desire.
Why is putting forth your skills important?
If you can show you can do something useful, you will get a little farther in life than those who simply whine and beg. That is what this quote is about. It tells us to not be beggars, but to offer our services.
While it is primarily a business skill, it applies to life as well. Why would someone want to help you move into a new 3rd floor apartment? That is your need, and if all you do is ask from your need, how much support will you get?
Instead, offer free pizza and beer, and limit the party to those who show up before noon to help you move. Now you are bringing a party! You have some skill to set up the event, or at least enough money to furnish the pizza and beer, right?
I bet you’ll get a far better response when you bring your skill, rather than your need. The same has been true in every case which I can recall. I imagine your experience is similar, and that you have seen others go through the same situation.
Where can I apply this in my life?
Consider the difference between a person on the street corner with a sign, asking for money. They are bringing their need to the marketplace. Now think about the person selling newspapers, flowers or anything else.
They are bringing a skill to the marketplace and are also trying to fill your need. Need a paper? Some pens? Flowers? They may have just what you need. A transaction ensues, and the marketplace helps everyone.
Meanwhile, the beggar is still there, asking for money by displaying their need. As the quote implies, that’s not a great way to get somewhere in life. Even something as simple as hustle and ambition, a basic willingness to work, is a skill.
When we get right down to it, we all have needs. We don’t go to the grocer with a need for food, we go to the grocer with the cash (or plastic) which we used our skill to earn. Same for the gas station, or any other store, right?
When we are looking for a job, do we say “I really need a job!”? Not if we want to be successful, right? First, find out what they do, and what needs they have. Then tell them you can help them with your skills, and then you can ask them to help you with your needs.
By helping others with their needs first, you get a much better response to your request for your needs. It ties in with two other quote I discussed about taking the needs of others into account, [here and here] and how it helps us to better serve our needs.
What are your present needs? How might you get them fulfilled? What skills can you offer to help accomplish the task? It gets back to the barter system, in some cases. What can you do for them? What skills do you have which could help them in some manner?
If your back is sore, and you know someone who gives back rubs, do you show up and say “My back is sore!”, or do you know what they want or need, and show up with it, and casually mention that your back could use a little work? Which is more likely to succeed?
From: Twitter, @mister_quotes
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jimrohn173312.html
Photo by Jocelyn Durston
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