Got a call from Will The Thrill a few months ago asking if I would be interested in joining him in being a part of a Pace Supply two-day event that included a huge welcome reception, a big golf event and a gala style dinner where we would both partake in a speaking engagement/Q&A up on stage…
The event and compensation seemed first class, but Thrill, who was my favorite athlete growing up, could have asked me to team up with him to go pump gas and check oil at his local Chevron station in Shreveport, Louisiana and I would have been ALL IN…
Over the two days, I met a lot of people who followed my baseball career, and often received the question, “What are you up to now?”
What am I up to??? You mean you don’t ever watch MLB Network? You aren’t an Ironman junkie? You don’t follow the Ultra Running world? You never heard of the Let Them Play Foundation? How bout the Tri Across America, doesn’t that ring a bell? Surely you know who the current 12 and 24 hour Speed Golf World Record Holder is, don’t you? The F*IT List – Life Lessons From A Human Crash Test Dummy literature masterpiece isn’t on your bed stand? I gotta believe you are a “Daily Hustle” subscriber, no?
“NO.”
Look, regardless of what we do in life, it is extremely arrogant of us to assume that people follow along and are caught up with our accomplishments and day to day activities. Most everybody has their own shit to follow and concern themselves with, so it is extremely naive of me to think some random person I just met in Reno give two f*cks about anything I do…
Figuring I was going to spend a couple days with this 400 person group, I made it somewhat of my mission to get to know as many people as possible. As I immersed myself into the event, I developed a few relationships and ultimately was introduced by LEGENDARY Bay Area radio personalities Lamont And Tonelli…
I then shared much of my story on stage, and all of a sudden, A LOT more people cared…
Why?
Because we gave them a reason to care… It’s that SIMPLE.
In life, whether we are professional baseball players or plumbers, we all experience the same shit. We all go through ups and downs and at different points are forced to go through transitional periods that have us searching for the deeper meanings of our existence…
Yet, until we get to know the person next to us and that person takes the time to get to know us, NOBODY GIVES A FLYING F*CK. Don’t ever assume otherwise.
Sure, we may not get to intimately know all 400 people, but we must have an idea of who we are speaking to and what messages they will be able to relate to…
Bottom line: If we want people to invest in us, we need to make an investment in them.
-EB