see through illusions

Hello everyone,

I want to talk about a concept that is involved in achieving success. That concept is seeing through illusions. Let’s dive deep. Don’t look at things at face value. I’m sure you’ve heard the cliché that you can’t see past the tip of your own nose. When we cut through the dishonesty and the surreal, we find so much more. Sometimes we get caught up in life and never take a closer look at the environment around us. Let’s look at some forms of illusions that surround us on a daily basis.

First let’s look at an example. Love and relationships. This is an issue that affects us all. I am going to use myself and my previous experience as an example. I met this beautiful girl many years ago. We instantly had a strong attraction for each other. Over a period of time, we had developed a strong bond, it seemed. We had a girl and you would think that having a child would increase the love between two people, but in reality it just created stress. Now, don’t get me wrong, we still loved each other. This change in our lives brought stress.

Our personalities seemed to work well with each other. I was very immature when we met and she seemed very grounded. Long story short, we had a few things in common, but one was missing. I have been and always will be a dreamer. She lives her life in an orthodox way. We could connect on so many levels, but we always had trouble agreeing on this particular topic. I’m sure she and I thought at the time that this was insignificant.

It turns out that when you take a step back and look at the whole picture as if you were on the outside looking in, you see through the illusion. On the outside we seemed like a beautiful couple made for each other, but when you look closer, we were two totally different people with different ideals, philosophies, parenting techniques, and so much more. This caused a lot of distress. He resented any ideas I had about making more money, starting a business, intimacy, and so much more. I don’t have to tell you how it ended, let’s just say it was painful. If we had both been more mature, we would have seen that we weren’t compatible and it basically wasn’t going to last. You see, if I had taken a deeper look at the situation, it would have saved me and her years of heartbreak, hurt, resentment, and so much more.

Here is another story I want to share with you. It’s about seeing through illusions (to the essence of what is). I want to share this story with you because I want you to see what is the driving force behind sales. This gentleman had a good driving business. He had two restaurants. He had these restaurants for many years. He could maintain a good life, but he was frustrated. He had always wanted to grow the business, but he didn’t know how or where to start looking. He tried to change the menu, lowering some of the prices, focusing on increasing customer service. It seemed as if nothing worked. He still saw little change. One night, tired and upset from failed attempt after failed attempt, he had enough. He was about to give up. He needed to vent and so he shared his frustration with his wife. Little did he know that these little ears were listening in the next room.

He finished his story to his wife and his daughter entered. She was worried and she felt that she needed to help him. She said “daddy I’m going to help you”. He was grateful, but skeptical about how this little girl would help him grow a business. He then went to his room and started brainstorming right away. Now this goes back to what I said about essence. She puzzled and puzzled “what is the purpose of the business. It is to make money and provide customer service. Many questions went through her mind. What do customers want? What do they like?”

How would I find this information? First, customers sustain the business. She decided that he needed to look at the competition to differentiate between his success (owning and operating many stores) and why his father could only run two restaurants. She took the time to look at customer service, prices, special value, and what was most popular. What were the best sellers? He found that in every store he went to there was a common denominator. It was the fries. Customers loved the fries. They attracted client after client. She was excited for her father, so she couldn’t wait to tell him. She sat down with him and told him what she had been researching and offered advice on how to stimulate business. She said, “Dad, the key is to offer free fries. Offer them at a cheap meal and offer them with every meal.” She also said “make sure they are hot, fresh and readily available”. She decided to take her advice, hey, what could she have to lose?

He implemented this in his restaurants and observed the customers. He immediately had to hire more staff to provide the service and had to increase his orders, but the customers and sales allowed him to minimize his expenses and explode his profits. He could no longer accommodate this traffic. He had to expand. His business grew to become a dynamic restaurant franchise. All this was possible with a simple concept. He looked at what were the common denominators that allowed competition to thrive and profit. He saw past the frustration and skepticism. He looked at the essence.

We can achieve so many great things when we break down its components and begin to understand what its purpose is, what its essence is. In a sense where to see through the illusions.