Hey hey ,

Picture this…

You’ve been traveling for hours by coach.

It’s late in the evening. 

Visibility is low, so you all have to stop for the night and rest.  The journey will resume again in the morning.

One problem…

The hotel where everyone else is staying… they won’t allow you a room.

That’s not the worst part.

It’s cold af outside.

You’re starving.

And you’re down to your last few bucks.

With no place to stay and nowhere to go, what do you do?

How do you wait it out?

Do jumping jacks?

Walk around?

Think?

Drink?

Cry?

All depends on your attitude I guess, right?

Morning comes.

You go back to the coach.

Get in the short line to board again…

One problem…

The coach driver wants more money.

Reluctantly, you give him the last bit you have.

He accepts and lets you back on board.

Embarrassed, you get in, sit down and shut down.

You’re among the same folks from yesterday, but somehow you feel more alone.

The strangers got stranger, too.

You sit amongst them and continue your journey in awkward silence.

How cringe.

Finally, you make it to your destination.

But, unfortunately, you’ve got nothing, know no one and you’re still not quite at the place you were trying to get to.

F….!

Tired.

Starving.

Broke.

Embarrassed.

Lost.

You see a vendor with stacks of food piled high.

Everything looks delicious.

But again, you ain’t got no money.

What do you do, now?

You could steal it while no ones looking, but that’s not you.

You’re not a thief.

You could beg.

Again, that’s not you.

You’re not a beggar.

You need time to think.

Gotta come up with a plan, but it’s getting late.

As you walk around, you notice a small opening in the sidewalk.

You look around to make sure no one’s looking and crawl in.

At least you can rest and think a bit…maybe get some sleep.

Morning comes and you can see things a bit more clearly.

You notice you’re not too far away from some loading docks.

You see a guy unloading by himself.

Seems to be struggling a bit, too.

Now’s your chance to try be useful.

You walk up and what do you say?

Here’s your moment to make a huge impact.

2 words to opportunity.

“Need help?”

All you can do now is wait for a response.

“Yes, please, that'd be great.”

Now what?

Ok, there are a lot of things to think about at this moment, but this scenario above is not a hypothetical.

It really happened.

Fortunately, the ship guy said yes.

But, remember he could have said no.

If he’d said No would that have been the end of it?

For some, it would have.

Also, he was willing to pay for the help he received.

But what if he wasn’t?

What if he expected the help for free?

Even today, most people still goof opportunities like this.

They’re awkward.

They don’t know how to ask for what they want.

Don’t know what to say.

After all, let’s not forget…

In this instance, your’re not just out here trying to be a good samaritan, right?

You need money.

You’re starving.

You need to eat.

Your situation is pretty desperate.

But you’re not looking for a handout, you’re trying to be helpful.

Some don’t care if that desperation is obvious.

Some use it to make others feel bad.

Should you?

That’s a tough one.

Personally, I don’t like that look, but I understand the feeling.

Instead, I prefer reasoning with them.

I wanna make it ok to explain my situation, but without guilting or shaming them into helping me.

In fact, I don’t really want them to think they’re helping me at all.

My preferred frame…

I’m helping them remove a pain in THEIR ass.

In all honesty, I know deep down they don’t give a $hit about my situation to begin with, anyways.

They care about their situation.

The scenario I laid out above is just one of the many situations Booker T. Washington relays in his book “Up From Slavery.”

It’s a brutal, goldmine of lessons. 

Consistent themes that stick out and is repeated over and over about the man: 

His resourcefulness.

His grit.

His determination.

And also his integrity.

He’s a man of principles and conviction.

A former slave that believes it’s ok to be a slave to one thing: Your mission.

Booker constantly turns desperate situations and uncertainty into opportunity.

Most, if not ALL the lessons in the book can be applied to this day.

It does not matter your color.

Everyone should read it, imo.

I had no idea and glad I picked it up, but the way I got into it is a bit weird.

See it all started with Hulu and sex slaves.

I will unpack these nuggets in more specific ways soon, but...

Only if you're interested?

Reply back to lemme know (I read all my emails).

In your corner!

Carlos "Always Learning Something New" Rosario

P.S. Did you see this new Notebook LM Mind Map Update.

→ click here to see a use case