What Part of the Story Matters?

Motivational stories sell. Travel through any airport bookstore and the shelves are filled with the same garbage stories relating to "read this and your life will be amazing, promise! (just pay for my life first...) Does that mean that all books in this category are garbage? No, just 99% but SOME may give you advice and help if used the right way. But this isn't the point, they make money and people keep buying them so I can only be jealous I'm not doing the same.

This raised the question for me of "what sells and when does it sell?" We all love the underdog story or the longshot success, but only when its been achieved and its been sustained. Those books would never sell if the success wasn't overwhelming and marketable. We also hate the early years when the failure occurs; when the going got tough, we don't want to hear it. We pretend it doesn't exist only to care deeply about it when the money and fame rolls in. Selective viewing.

Failure can be gross, ugly, and downright unavoidable at times. It can make us feel like the world is cruel or the person is stupid. What's weird is the moment success rolls in, the individuals are "revolutionaries" and "industry-changers" based on their level of success and how deep of a hole they were in. It is always about the bottom-line figures after all. 


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