The movie starts in in the year 2045. The world is in a shambles. There's an energy crisis and economic stagnation. All across the world people are suffering. But, the lucky ones have a way to escape. Slipping on their visors and haptic gloves, they can be teleported to The OASIS. It's a place where dreams come true.
You may recognize this story from, “Ready Player 1”. In the movie people escape their real world problems by plugging in to a virtual world. In this imaginary world, they're only limited by their imaginations. The problem is, when they unplug, they're back to their crappy regular lives. Nothing ever changes.
Believe it or not, we're facing a similar situation today. Everywhere you look, there's another Thought Leader springing up with ideas of how the world should be. These people are great at thinking up ideas. The problem is, thoughts and ideas without action can not create change.
If we truly want to change our world, we must focus on Results. In today's article we'll discuss:
- The OASIS is Real
- Who's Got The Credit?
- If You Don't Play You Can't Win
The Oasis Is Real
In Ready Player 1 people felt like The OASIS was more real than the physical world people actually lived in. They lived and played in the OASIS. Their friends and family were there. The only time they unplugged was to go to the bathroom and eat. It's even worse in our world today. People are glued to their phones, night and day, even when they go to the bathroom and eat.
Because we're living in this incredibly phone addicted society, people begin to believe the world in the palm of their hands is more real than the physical world they live in. They begin to believe everything they see and hear online.
That's why Thought Leadership can be so dangerous. There are too many people sharing their thoughts on how things should be. They have no real world experience. They're merely prattling on about theories they read, or worse, theories they heard from other Thought Leaders. It's an incestuous business that hurts the people bamboozled by these hucksters.
But how can we tell the real leaders from the humbugs? We'll talk about that in the next section.
Who's Got The Credits?
In the OASIS, people bought accessories and upgrades using credits. They either paid for their credits with cold hard cash or they earned them through completing adventures. In the real world we earn our credits in much the same way. We either put in the time to learn our craft or we shell out dough to buy experience.
When we're deciding who we should listen to online we have to make sure they've earned their credits. A few ways we can tell the heroes from the zeroes is:
- By Referral: This is the fastest and easiest way. Ask the people in your network to connect you with people who have helped them get the results you're looking for. (NOTE: Even when you get a referral, make sure to do your due diligence and check them out yourself.)
- Listening: If you don't have the connections to get referrals, the next best thing is to listen to your favorite podcasts and research the people they are talking about.
- Looking: Look for people who are doing what you want to do. Take their advice and put it to work. If you get results, they're the real deal. If you don't get results, they might be a zero. Move on.
This is not an exhaustive list. There are certainly more ways to identify Results Leaders who are worth listening to. These are just a few ways for you to get started right away. Now let's move on to the real place that results happen.
You can't win if you don't play
In Ready Player 1, the main character Parcival became a hero when he won a race no one had ever won before. He tried a thousand times before and failed. I won't give it away exactly how he did it, I'll just tell you he did the opposite of everyone else.
In real life we'll find thousands of ways not to do something before we finally have a breakthrough. This comes from real world experience. We can't just think about things and hope they happen. We have to put in the work and the effort to get the results. Then we can pass those lessons to our clients.
This is why I say Thought Leadership is easy. Results Leadership is hard. Let's have a quick recap before we finish up.
Who Needs Another Thought Leader?
Seems like everyone online wants to be a Thought Leader these days. The problem is that thoughts without actions are useless. If you want to find people worth listening to, tap into your network for a referral. Listen to your favorite podcasts and research the people they're talking about. Look for the people who are doing what you want to be doing, buy their products, use them, and see what kind of results you get.
The only people worth listening to are those who are getting results for their clients. You can't get results if you don't play the game. Get in the game, do the work, and let's change this world together.
Are you a Results Leader?
In this article we talked about the difference between being a Thought Leaders and Results Leader. If you've read this far, then you're probably getting awesome results for your clients. If that's the case, I'd love to feature you on my new show, Results Leader.
Let's talk and see how we can get you on the show. Book a time that works for you at http://ResultsLeader.FM
