That’s the justification I got from a former partner who robbed me blind— stealing a client and the truck I bought him to not leave us.
It takes 5 years to truly get to know someone— if they merely say what is convenient for them versus establishing a track record of doing what they say they will do.
Digital and social is a fast and loose game that knocks you off balance if you’re not vigilant.
Today, I saw an article in Entrepeneur about how most followers and engagement are fake— bought for pennies each. And then the bulk of that article goes on to overly promote a company with a tool that supposedly detects fake followers.
Yet this company likely paid to place this article— the irony.
The next breathless claim of instant success via “secrets” you must sign up for to get— remember what’s real.
Same clown, different circus.
You’d think that with data now so easy to retrieve, and facts so easy to verify, that there would be fewer scams.
It actually works the other way around- the charlatans believe there are more places to hide and an infinite mass of people to scam.
So build fewer, high-quality relationships— not more.
Connect with people in-person, not just online— which means you must say NO to more things, even which seem promising.
Slicing that same large pizza into 32 slices instead of 8 slices doesn’t yield you 4 times more pizza- and neither will spreading your time across more people and projects.
The friends in my life from 5+ years ago are more valuable to me than the people I met last week— since they’ve vetted themselves.
And my 10+ year friends are pure gold— though I’m often distracted by the shiny things that turn out to be fools’ gold.
The expensive lesson I’m still learning- is to trust, but verify. The bird in the hand is worth more than 2 in the bush.
When you’re in a hurry, you’ll make mistakes.
“Con man” is short for “confidence man” because they know how to play to your fears and generate trust.
Digital isn’t enlarging the world- it’s making it smaller. Focus your energy in the few proven places that matter, and resist the scatter.
