What we can all learn from 50 Cent, Jane Goodall, and best selling authors.

What do 50 Cent, Jane Goodall, and best selling authors like Ryan Holiday, Remit Sethi ,and Tim Ferriss all have in common?


Probably a lot more than we would think, but what I'm referring to is one of the things that sent all of them over the top in the careers and could do the same for us.  The thing I'm specifically referring to is their unique ability of getting to know their environments from the inside out to effectively achieve their goals, whether that's selling music, studying apes, or selling millions of books.

So what does that even mean?

What makes each of these totally different individuals wildly successful is that each of them has an uncanny understanding of the audience they're targeting.  We live in a culture that is always looking for the easy way of doing everything and because of this, most of us never actively develop the skills (or just are too lazy to) necessary to invest time, energy and other resources in to doing a totally amazing job in getting to know something.

Goodall lived in the jungle, 50 Cent created a website specifically to interact with his fans directly, and all the authors I mentioned are masters of understanding the desires of their audiences.  Every time you go make a pitch to your boss, write up a proposal for work, or even try just drum up some freelance work for yourself, if you take the time to really get to know your audience, you'll have infinitely better results.

Even if it means volunteering your time and resources, the return on truly knowing what they want and desire is worth more than you'd think.  Just think if you knew exactly what your potential client, your boss, or even your family and friends were thinking before even making your pitch for whatever it is.  Understand what motivates, intrigues, and moves people is infinitely applicable in everyday life.

I think we've all got a list of people a mile long we could communicate with better or things we could more thoroughly understand.

What's yours?

P.S.--- In case anyone is wondering where I got the title from, I have been reading The 50th Law by Robert Green and 50 Cent.  It's an excellent read on living life fearlessly.