This is my every time meetup story. I think concluding 12 events has made me a learned organiser to talk about it.
Every month, speakers are hard to find. I reach them, they turn down my request and I feel alone, lost, miserable. Not everyone wants to overcome the fear barrier, open himself up or tell a story. Reserved people are in excess. And once we find speakers, not many people are willing to sit and listen somebody’s else’s story.
I accept, at times, I got carried away with arrogance, a self righteous notion. I felt I was doing it right. Until it hit me, there are no more people willing to talk at my events and no more people willing to attend events. Everyone is annoyed.
I started paying speakers. It is not they needed or they asked for it — some declined, but it felt good investing in people.
On the other side I started charging to attend meetups in audience. When people paid me 5 USD to find a slot in audience, I felt obliged to perform good. It brought professionalism to me and unknowingly Meetups quality went up. You can check our last event recording here.
Everyone liked it, good retweets and then back to silence. Every time preparation is hard and hateful, but every event is opposite; fun, passion and a new beginning to some new ideas. Sitting with people who are changing world every minute is highly inspirational.
It is my heart speaking — invest in people, there is no other way to feel richer. Not fame, wealth, adventure but the real taste of feeling great is found in helping people.
If you ever think on lines; to put people before everything else, start here..
Find people who inspire you
You love books? Find people who write them. You love art? Find people who make them? You love computers? Find people who speak their language.
Find what you love and then stick to surrounding yourself with these people of same passion. As you mix up, sit among these people, you will start growing a similar skin. Same kind of art will become your occasional outcome.
Very soon, on your 3rd or 4th sitting with these people, you will have turned into an inspiration for some one else, like you sought in your start. You won’t feel your transition into pro.
Becoming pro or mid level expert, puts a responsibility on you. You were looking for people at your start, and you couldn’t find them. Now you are the giver and it is your moral obligation to pay back. Find people in trouble and lift them, encourage them and motivate them.
This phase, after becoming a kind of expert, is 2nd phase of your journey to success. 👇
Find out how novice need help and help them
There is only one way to know what people around you need from you :- ask them.
Explore social media timelines, look for hashtags where your kind of people live, under the muddy porches and overlooked shelters. You will find a lot of people who are in trouble. It will put you into confusion, frustration and a feeling of helplessness.
You won’t find the ways and means to help these people. You won’t even have worked out a good enough strategy to fix the starters journey. But something else will start happening. You will be finding your place in mentors; among kind hearted leaders who have a strong sense of satisfaction. You will have pinning the success medal on your chest. Soon, you will feel rich, happy and lively.
It took me some time to find one person, I can pay forward. The people I looked for in my early days, I am trying to be that person and make it easier for the student I found, to grow better. She does not feel the same void I felt. And she manages to become a better mentor some days ahead in her journey.
Most friends ask me, “how does wasting income on people, I do not know, help me”. I tell them, “it feels gigantically meaningful”.
Spending money on speakers, help me be ok with my slow progress, low income and small budget. I feel lifted, with much fewer thoughts, minor achievements and smaller inputs - than I used to, before starting this journey.
Be Done with acting Successful all the time
Do not get lost in your glory that you yourself become a problem. Your glory does not help beginners. It causes more frustration, depression and confusion. They feel your glory is one good app launch ahead. When you hide your failures, downs and hurdles, you become the problem. Your followers become your customers. And you turn into just another shop in the mall, marketing products to people.
Do not sell your product all the time. Sell your journey, the failures, the hurdles and the hardships as well. Do not act like you are all happy and successful. Act like you are just another human being, facing the same problems any one else is facing. Lower yourself a little, bend down, sit on floor, act normal. You are not without problems, we all know it, what is the point of hiding it.
More you become humble, more it becomes easier for people to reach you, and more you are able to feel richer.
Be ok with weirdness
My most articles are big embarrassment for most in my close circle. For me even, some articles are so bad, I feel bad reading them. But, to be honest, I feel ok that I managed to push the weird realities out without worrying about my own image.
Fame, success and titles put un-necessary burden on people. It makes them believe, living up to other’s expectations is their job. Famous people feel, when they show their vulnerable side to the world — it impacts their status.
Wrong! Original living people are the most fun people.
People who do not hide their bitter side are easiest to talk with. They motivate others, lift others and lead others. The best bosses are the weirdest kind. They at times find themselves in so weird positions that everybody can have a good laugh. Yet their people, the people of these brave hearted leaders, never pull strings on them. Their people do not make their fun. They take pride in these leaders.
Be real, original, weirdo and absurd. This way you will be able to show the bad side of yours to people. You will be able to give better talks on stage, on calls, on videos and in community gatherings. This sole trait will elevate your place in your people. With reputation going up, charisma up, kindness up, the love of people up — your richness in life will also start going up.
Conclusion
I ran a lot; after beautiful girls · better cars and best tech stuff. I got divorced. My car got burnt. And lost my laptop to a loan. Nothing helped me so much as investing in people. Today, living among people who are ok with my weird-ness, feels so much better than all things I did / earned / won my entire teenage-hood.
