I’ve just finished reading Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Are Liars” and got some interesting insights about marketing in today’s context.
Huh? Marketing? Has Panzer lost his marbles?
What does marketing have to do with financial freedom?
Read on and let Panzer explain the relevance of “All Marketers Are Liars” to you.One of the hobbies that I enjoy doing is to read. I read fiction as well as non-fiction and as I approach closer to age 40 and start to gain more white hairs by the side of my closely cropped hair, I realise that what my Junior College tutor said was true.
“How do you gain knowledge without reading”
What my tutor was telling me then as a wee lad of 18 was that reading was the path towards enlightening yourself and making sure your little grey cells are fed.
The last year or so has seen me again devouring both fiction and non-fiction alike as my daughter is now approaching two-years old and hence I have (slightly!) more time to read in the evenings and on the commute to/from work.
All Marketers are Liars
What Seth Godin postulates in the book is mainly that in order to be successful in marketing, the marketer has to create authentic, consistent and compelling stories of the product or service in order to be effective.
Of course, his book goes into the whys and gives some examples of why people are lying to themselves in believing the stories of how the good or service satisfies what they want (beyond what they need).
Your Own Authentic Story
In your journey towards financial freedom, you need to also weave in your authentic story. The story behind why are you taking the day to day actions of living within your means, saving and investing as well as growing and protecting your means.
There was a time when I emerged the Division champion in Table-Topics contest in toastmasters locally. Part of the reason why I drove myself very hard and became the champion through club, area and finally division was because an ex-boss of mine criticised my involvement in toastmasters and said that it would amount to nothing.
I took her criticism in stride and it ignited the passion in me to excel in table-topics after intense preparation, attending almost 2-3 toastmasters meetings a week in the evenings and over weekends.
But all that effort paid off because I emerged the champion in my division.
I did it because I created my own authentic story that propelled myself to the heights of this particular task.
I wanted to tell my story of how I overcame disparaging remarks to become better, stronger and more effective in speaking off-the-cuff in a competitive setting.
As you progress today towards financial freedom, what story are you telling yourself inwardly and outwardly?
Is your self-talk that of negativity and pessimism or is it optimism tempered with reality and bolstered with a dose of “YES I CAN” spirit?
Your ability to lift your head high and know that your actions in living within your means and saving and investing is to make you financially stronger and to be better equipped to face the future is your own story.
Your ability to enjoy each day without an over-dependence on material consumption is your own story.
Your ability to continue this journey daily, even overcoming setbacks, is your own story.
Choose to tell your own authentic story.
The story of how you moved towards financial freedom.
Be well and prosper.