There Are Two Kinds of People in the World
My best friend and I have taken a lot of crazy classes and attended some wacky events over the course of the last 15 years. Among them were fencing, a gong bath, tantric yoga (not at all dirty, so get your minds out of the gutter!) and white water rafting in Illinois (WHO KNEW?) One of the main reasons we tried all of these things was, “Why Not?” What if there was a sudden piracy threat on Lake Michigan? Our sword handling skills would be better than the average Chicago hipster. And a gong bath? Have you ever lain on the floor in a room with someone clanging a huge gong for an hour? Well, up until that experience I had not, and could think of no reason NOT TO.
Which brings me to my point. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who ask “Why?” and those who ask, “Why not?”
I will not suggest that one is better than the other. But I WILL say that one sure seems more adventurous and WAY more fun to me. People who ask “Why Not” are more open. They take more risks. And I’d be willing to bet they have some pretty awesome stories. (Like when Elizabeth, at the beginning of each fencing class would say, “ALLAH” instead of “Et LA!” which never ceased to crack me up.)
Let’s put this in perspective. Let’s say you and I are having a conversation about our great industry, and I say, “I have been reading some really cool stuff about augmented reality lately and I really want to learn more.” And you were to reply to me, “Why? Who cares about augmented reality? Sounds like just one more way to screw up our industry and make things harder on us.”
And here’s my answer. WHY NOT? What can it hurt to learn something new? I can imagine lots of conversations like this over the last couple of decades with regard to digital printing, variable data, QR codes—anything NEW and UNKNOWN. In this context, “why?” can be driven from a place of fear and anxiety. And that is understandable. But I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again—often times we make something scarier and more daunting in our imaginations than it is in reality.
So ask yourself this question: What kind of person are you? Do you ask Why? Or Why not? From my perspective, some of the best things that ever happened to me came to me when I asked “why not?” So do yourself a favor and ask “why not” more often and see what happens!
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- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
