Since Good Thinking is King, Leverage is the new Otunba*
Beyond reasonable doubt, we have come to see that Good Thinking is King! But we can’t afford to stop there so we will pick up the thread by talking about another pivotal concept.
Leverage is the next key concept to understand after the foundation of good thinking.
Archimedes said it this way, “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I can move the Earth.”
Amazing possibilities are embedded within leverage, that ability to achieve more with less effort and exertion.
However, the most popular narratives around leverage as it is proclaimed today are selfish, narcissistic, parasitic and predatory.
It is the using (read, exploiting) of people and what belongs to them as a means to one’s end.
And we have these cute acronyms to market the ideology: OPM, OPT, OPR, OP-whatever…, the list is endless.
Other People’s Money, Other People’s Time, Other People’s Resources abbl*.
An entire generation of scheming, cold-blooded opportunists have been raised on this filth and an unending slew of content pushing this ideology continues filling our sensory highways.
But I show you a more excellent way.
Leverage doesn’t have to be a summary negative. It can be redeemed and elevated to a mutually beneficial tool.
In ecological terms, that state is called: mutualistic symbiosis.
A short definition: interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.
Key phrase: …typically to the advantage of both.
So, how does this work?
Before you leverage on other people’s time, money and resources, you need to take a thorough inventory of all the things they stand to gain by what you need from them. This way, you are persuaded that leverage is now a two-way street. The wholeness of the feeling of mutual triumph, satisfaction and fulfillment from this form of leverage will far surpass the sum of its parts. And this doesn’t change even if you are paying for these people’s resources.
So, before you ask, “What can I get from this person?”, ask, “What can this person gain from me?”
A better world awaits us on the other end of this path and it begins with you.
Welcome to the future! #ThinkWithJD
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*Otunba, a Yoruba word for a chieftain which means “The right hand of the King.”
*abbl: an abbreviation of the Yoruba equivalent for etcetera
