Josh and Joshettes it’s Saturday night and I’ve gone an entire week without doing a philosophy post. So that’s exactly what this post is, a philosophy post. So prepare to learn philosophy from an unlikely source, the Navajos. Let’s dive in.

The teaching we will be looking at today is: You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep. Sounds like complete nonsense to many of you but by the end of this post, you will view this as an invaluable life lesson. To me, this teaching basically means you can’t teach someone who does not want to learn. Think about it, pretending to be asleep is their unwillingness to learn and the term waking can be substituted with teaching. Another way of defining this teaching is you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to helped. Are you starting to understand the power behind this teaching? If not, then don’t worry I will use examples to give you a better understanding.

If you are a long time reader (or looked at my recommended books list), then you know how much I love Dave Ramsey’s book “The Total Money Makeover”. That book is the main reason why I was able to get out of debt and why I started saving money. I’ve recommended this book at least twenty times to family and friends and the number of people who took actions from reading the books is one. This is a book which changed my life but only one person felt the same way, weird right? Nope, because I did not know this Navajo saying. Not everyone wants what you are offering. I never knew this especially during my stint in network marketing. I was constantly offering the “great opportunity” to everyone I knew (and people I didn’t), yet not many people bit. This saying would have saved me many random phone calls. I’m the type of person who tries to help people regardless of professions. So, when I was doing network marketing I thought that I could help others which is why I offered the opportunity to soo many people. Why am I bringing up network marketing and me trying to help people in a philosophy post? Because I’m still trying to help everyone. How? The next paragraph will explain.

Most of my blog posts are ranting but I talk about things that happened in my life because I want people to learn from my mistakes. In my podcast, I give practical advice and cover some tough topics. No one has asked me to give advice but I still give it because I enjoy it. Literally an hour before writing this post my little cousin was talking to my uncle about what he was planning on doing (launching a product). He started listing off all his ideas but he has not started any of it. My uncle told him to just do it and my cousin said it’s hard. This is when I stepped in and said what I always say…. “And, if it was easy everyone would do it, so just suck it up and do it.” I also told them that I literally covered this topic in 3 whole episodes of my podcast. I honestly consider these three episodes of my podcast to be the essential episodes ( how to start something, follow through and complete it). When your own family member who says they follow your content, doesn’t listen to your favorite three episodes of your podcast, you become discouraged. But then you remember the Navajo saying, You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep. See full circle.

Not everyone produces content for a living or does network marketing so the above examples may not apply to you. Let’s say you are in retail, the same teaching applies. When I worked in retail, I used to try my best to place customers with a device that suited their needs. Even though I was considered an “expert” by many, people often disregarded my recommendations and bought devices based on what their friends had. Some returned the devices because it was too complicated and that affected my commission, but that’s just how the industry is. People buy things to see if they like it, then they return it. You have to learn to not let it affect you. Hey, that’s basically the purpose of this teaching… You can’t help everyone so don’t let it affect you. Once you understand that you will have an easier life. Josh, how do you know this? I used to spend all day and night trying to find the perfect content to please everyone, but not anymore. Now I just produce content that pleases myself, why else would I do a post about Country Music. That’s why they tell you to sing or dance like no one is watching because then you can give it your all.

Do you agree with my definition of this teaching, it honestly doesn't matter. You see what I did there. No, but seriously take this lesson and apply it to your life and see the magic that happens. You will be amazed at what happens when you only work to please yourself rather than others.

Remember to be successful it's your right, duty, and responsibility.