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WHAT HAPPENS TO NICE GUYS?
We know what happens to such guys… or do we?
THE NICE GUY
Anand. Our protagonist.
Always the nice guy. Doing the things he felt were right.
That was the culture and family setup he was brought up in. Not to question, to conform. To be there for others. Whether they wanted it or not.
Such things are ingrained. Deeply. They do start showing up their effects as one grows older. Anand moved on to
College. A culture shock. A totally new set of strangers to deal with. The same ones identified Anand to be the sucker they thought he was. He was. And so Anand was outsourced all the homework and record work to be done. Anand did it wholeheartedly, as it was his own work. Such work is slays rewarded by…. more such work.
In his desire to be the nice guy and an all-pleaser, his grades started to fall. That left him quite worried.
Anand’s favorite spot was the small hill near the college campus. That was his space, and he walked up to it whenever he had questions within. Sitting on the top, the wind whipping his hair around, Anand was searching for answers. To questions that were yet to be formed. It was as if he searched for a destination but knew not where he stood on the map.
Lost in such thought, he did not notice the footsteps of Nirmala. She sat down silently next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. They were in the same college. She was from a different class. They hadn’t spoken much but were regular “smilers” when they met. They had moved on from a shy, hesitant smile to a more confident one.
Nirmala had been observing Anand. She knew what he was going through, having gone through it herself. There’s something about shared cultures and upbringing. Some things remain the same across years.
They sat silently for a long time.
She then whispered to Anand.
“It’s good to a nice guy. Starting now, be a nice guy to yourself. Learn to say no, and mean it.”
And you can imagine what happened afterward.
**
Who is Nirmala in your life?
Will you be a nice guy/gal to yourself?
Can you and I be wisely selfish…putting on our oxygen masks first before helping others?
This is a marketing post, folks, so please relate the learning to your business and work.
**
All stories in this “52” series:
1. The Cycle Wheel
2. The strong polish their fangs and the weak….
3. Expectations
4. Connecting through
Pravin Shekar is an outlier marketer, parallel entrepreneur and a raconteur.
mic @ PravinShekar.com
For creative collusions, join: http://bit.ly/JoinMyOutlierTribe
Pravin is the author of eight books: http://tiny.cc/PravinShekarBooks
Devil Does Care, Marketing lessons from The Art of War, Marketing lessons from Mythology, Getting paid to speak, a Virtual Summit Playbook, Climb your way out of hell, a collection of travel pics/romantic poems, and stories from the heart!
#Marketing #Entrepreneur #Awareness #Strategy #Outlier #Outliermarketing #micromarketer #idea #tribe #Books #krux108 #PravinShekar #OutlierPravin
