You can slice the world up into groups of two using all sorts of criteria, but most of those are bullshit because they’re almost always heavily nuanced.
For instance, there is a difference between men and women, but most of those differences are unhelpful at best, irrelevant at worst.
There is a stark difference between rich and poor, but with the 256 shades of wealth between them, it’s hard to see how it’s useful to compare them.
And there is a difference between introverts and extroverts, but neither of those classifications has any bearing on your capacity for success on any conceivable level.
But as an aspiring entrepreneur and writer and general human being, there is one ‘them’ versus ‘them’ classification that constantly seems to remind me of its existence: those who can help you and those who actually will.
Let’s be clear, not everyone is in a position to help you with your quest for greatness, whatever that may be. But there are plenty that are, and when your paths cross, if you’re like me, you’re inclined to think it’s an extraordinary opportunity and hugely disappointed when the response to your juggling unicycle act of attention-seeking gets you nowhere.
There are lots of reasons for it of course. Some of them are selfish, some of them jealous and afraid, and some of them are just busy with their own lives or perhaps even already helping a bunch of other people. And though it pains me to say it, some of them just aren’t impressed enough by me to cancel their lives for a year in order to help me with mine.
Whether it is good or bad, isn’t the point. The point, as I see it, is that you can lose a lot of precious time with people like those. But among those who can is a subset of people, fewer in number, but substantially more exciting, who will actually go out of their way for you.
If you can do yourself one favour, I’d recommend it be this: learn to tell the difference.
Oh, and don’t forget it’s a two-way street. When you can, when it’s possible, be someone who will.
