Did the title of my newsletter trigger you? If yes, you’ve found your people.
You probably clicked preparing to battle with me in the comments, didn’t you?
It should read, “Those who can’t troll.”
It’s crazy how four words can be so gaslighting.
I saw this in the comment section of a YouTube video the other day, and it ground my gears.
But it wasn’t the first time I had heard or seen it online, and it got me thinking.
Would a comment like this stop YOU from pursuing your dream of helping others through teaching?
I hope not.
There is always someone behind you needing to unlock their next level.
Neither you nor I need a huge following on social media to show street cred to avoid a stranger disqualifying us from sharing our knowledge from experience.
You have value to provide someone else in need. And it is ok to give that away for free or to charge a fair price.
There are people ahead of me and behind me in business, and I’m not above learning from either.
Think of where we would be if this logic were followed.
As you can see above, I am certainly behind folks in comics like
.But what happened to paying things forward?
I chose a movie because I wanted to quote an absolute authority on this topic. Yeah, I’m doing the heavy lifting over here for you.
Did you see the movie Lucy? In this movie, Professor Norman says:
“You know... If you think about the very nature of life-I mean, on the very beginning, the development of the first cell divided into two cells-the sole purpose of life has been to pass on what was learned. There was no higher purpose.”
So, that first cell hadn’t done the split before. Was it not qualified to copy its information to the second?
Don’t keep yourself from helping others with what you’ve gained over your life’s many experiences.
Trapped Crabs
I refer to trolls who use statements like “Those who can’t teach.” as the “Crab People.” I am not sure if it is true or not, but I still love the metaphor:
Crabs climb into a trap to eat the bait. Once the bait is gone, they all try to climb back out, thus keeping all crabs trapped as they pull and tug on one another.
If they would just let each crab, when it is their time to shine and exit to do so, they could all get back out.
Perhaps trolls need more teaching themselves as they are climbing misguidingly without vision of the path upwards.
Thus, the “Adopt a Troll” program was born. (Just kidding…)
The Learner Has a Seat at the Teaching Table
The saying “Those who can’t teach” also implies that the learner has no say in the value exchange of knowledge.
The learner, or reader in this case, ie. YOU hold the true power here.
It’s a privilege for you to be reading my words right now. Without you, there could be no teaching.
It’s unfair to deprive you of access to your next level, not to say this particular newsletter will get you there. But I hope you see my point.
The only ones without a choice of getting my teaching are my children. Dadisms galore pour from my mouth during carpool. The sighs and the “Dad, stop!” are all great feedback on the effectiveness of my parental duties.
The phrase should be “Those who CAN teach.”
If you are trying to start a business and you are offering education as part of your services, don’t listen to troll bullshit.
Build and sell your online course, coaching program, or newsletter.
Let the trolls troll on past you while whistling happiness like the dude teaching people how to survive in Hell in one of my favorite Farside comics by cartoonist Gary Larson:
*I own this entire set of Farside mugs. Love, love, love them. I display them now in my office.
Fun Fact: I drank the best damn cup of coffee I’ve ever had out of this mug as soon as I got home from quitting my corporate job to run my company full-time. The words “You know, we’re just not reaching that guy.” rang so true for me vs corporate cubicles. My wife took a picture of me drinking out of it at that very moment, I should probably frame it.
PS My secret hope is for my drawing to improve weekly to go easier on your eyeballs.