In his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech William Faulkner expressed the following:
“The writer’s duty is to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which has been the glory of his past.”
Do my messages lift your heart?
Do they give you hope and courage to endure?
The question we constantly ask ourselves is, “What’s In It For Me?” It’s critical to take this into account when we communicate with others, otherwise we will likely lose them as an audience! My good friend and mentor Joel Weldon introduced me to this idea many years ago. He called the idea “WIIFM” and aptly stated it is the radio station we are all constantly tuned into.
When we start a conversation with someone, what is our focus? When we center our attention on the interests of the other person, our results will be better than if we concentrate on our desires. Nevertheless, the most significant person in the world should be ourselves. When we are true to ourselves and take care of our needs we can, in turn, take care of the needs of those who are important to us.
“What’s In It For Me?”
If we do not ask ourselves this question, our dreams and desires will be left on the shores of a never ending stream of information. When we are realistic and realize it is not being egotistical to take care of ourselves first, we open the doors so others may do the same.
There are several words which are vital to make other people feel important. A writer can ask the following:
Who are my readers?
What are their interests?
Where do they read my messages?
When do they read what I have to say?
Why should they take time to read my thoughts?
How can I make my messages more interesting to them?
The objective of every profession and occupation is to help others get what they want. A doctor provides a means to better health, a lawyer provides answers to legal questions, a financial consultant gives advice to increase capital, an insurance agent delivers solutions to protect valuables, a store supplies goods and services which increase the quality of life and a supermarket distributes food to eat.
I love reading commentaries from my readers. Those which are positive and uplifting give me renewed energy to continue writing. Those which give direction and advice help me improve what I do. I am grateful for them all for they enable me to deliver messages which answer the question, “What’s In It For Me?”
When dealing with others we can direct our attention to what is most important to them. Whatever we do and wherever we live, we depend on others to achieve our dreams and desires. When we focus on what others need and want, magically we then achieve what we ourselves need and want.
∞ Rob McBride ∞
LL II 18