How to Be Genuinely Cool

My beautiful wife and I are currently in Georgetown, Malaysia on a vacation from our already 6 month vacation, hehe. We decided to stay in an area known as “Little India” and have been awesomely fascinated with the diverse and yet rich culture here.

It is certainly very different from what we know from back home in Canada, and is quite different from what we had gotten used to in our last 6 months Krabi, Thailand, but we are both fairly adventurous and have no problem adapting to different cultures, traditions, and to the people in it.

Just last night we were looking for a restaurant to have a quiet sit-down supper. We were walking down a couple of streets checking out different shops as we walked by, and one gentleman – like many shop owners – stood in front of his small video store and – unlike all other owners – asked us to have a look at some Bollywood movies inside.

Now, my wife has been telling me “we have to check out a Bollywood movie while we are here” but last night was not the time for it. We were both tired from our 8 hour trip in to Malaysia and were both only interested in getting something to eat and then be off to bed.

So I kindly declined and said “no thank you. We’re …”. He interrupted and said “You looking for a good restaurant?” and out of nowhere he pulled out a pamphlet and recommended a fairly nice restaurant a few streets down.

Surprised and amazed at his ability to read my determined “must have food” mind, I thanked him and we were about to be on our way when he offered to have us driven there – free of charge – in one of those bicycle chariots (rickshaw).

I was even more blown away by this guy.

“For free? You sure?” but he insisted he’d take care of it.

Well, I really DO want to take a ride in one of those while we are here, but it somehow did not feel right to take advantage of him like that, so I told him “we need to stretch our legs some more so maybe next time. Thank you for offering, that is very kind of you!”

He insisted it was not a problem and he’d be happy to help anytime.

As we walked away, I turned to my wife and said “he is a genuinely-cool guy!” and she agreed with me.

Giving Better than Receiving?

Somehow he left an impression on me and I had to think about that incident a few times since. For him it might have been a routine thing but to me – and I am sure many others – he became known as a cool individual.

In fact, if I were to need anything movies related, I’d be willing to walk across town to get it from him.

I had to think of how I could apply his being “Mr Cool & Helpful” business strategy in my SEO business. To somehow give, give, and give again, without expecting anything in return. After all, giving is better than receiving… and to take that a step further: it is by genuinely giving that we also (hopefully) genuinely receive!

To somehow stop doing things for the precious dollar, and instead just genuinely help people.

This is a little easier when one makes plenty of money to cover all bills and expenses each month, but even then it is so easy to be overcome by unnecessary greed.

As Bob Proctor would say: greed comes from thinking there is limited wealth and we need to get as much of it as possible. Our thinking needs to shift to one of abundance where there is plenty for everyone.

Any thoughts?