This isn't about you.

It never was. But you always thought so. Just like most other things in your life. If you feel you've already reached the point you desire to in your life, please stop reading this. If you're still searching for it, go on to read this short heartfelt article of mine.

History always spoke about POWER. It was about the little control a human had on a small part of this huge planet earth. It always exchanged hands with defeat or death. But it always transferred from one to another. Sometimes it took generations, sometimes years, & now it can happen in an instant. It's critical we understand this before it gets late, whether to hold or lose it all.

I've never read about this concept before but here's my take on it. I believe there are different kinds of power and they all point in one direction at the end. The power to INFLUENCE. Not our own selves but others. Most of us subconsciously like to influence others in some form. Through advise, motivation or suggestions. Parents to kids. Friends to Friends. Employer to Employee.

Imagine you're selling Lemonade on a busy road, you're influencing every person who passes you. If they simply turn their head & look at your stand, you've influenced their attention. If you made them stop & give your lemonade a try, that's influencing their decision. If they wanted another glass or take one home to make others try, thats maximum influence. Now imagine doing that to the millions of people who take the same route over a year's time. That's how powerful a simple lemonade stand can be, if done right.

That's pretty much what the Internet is capable of right now. Direct access to billions across the world who could be influenced with your lemonade stand instantly. Since you cannot sell lemonade online, you could still sell the story of it. Stories often sell more than the product. The power to influence increases with better story telling. Thats the point of this article. STORYTELLING. Whether you're looking for a job or selling something for your startup, storytelling is the strongest power you hold to influence others. You get to choose between Speaking & Writing, two different forms of the same skill to tell a story.

Bringing that to social media, the modern day power is being able to influence the internet users. The earth has 150 million sq. kms for you to tell your story in the physical world, but the digital world exists behind a 6 inch screen. And thats the ENTIRE challenge. Whoever controls this is the most powerful right now & everyone's racing for it.

Once i understood this, I stopped caring about Followers & started caring about Views instead. The more the views, the more the likes, the more the comments & as a result, more are the followers. Forget the likes. Write & Speak for the views. Thats the power to influence right now. Whatever platform you choose to tell your story, FOCUS ON VIEWS. Rest will come to you. May the power to influence be with you.

Thank you reading.
Sai Mutyala
the cognitive founder