I first encountered the term “begging letters”, from reading a biography of Karl Marx. Many books have been written about Marx, and NONE fail to mention that he wrote “begging letters” (read this one).
That’s why I know that the SMSes/emails I’ve sent to ONE friend (few times in 2002), and many relatives (over the years) as I pursued success, were mostly “begging letters”!
But I often wrote such “letters” ONLY when I’d pushed myself to the limit and could find no other way to progress.
For instance, on more than 2 occasions, I ran out of fuel on Lagos’ 3rd Mainland Bridge, due to lack of cash to by fuel even as I was trying to squeeze in one extra client visit!
Many times the inability to provide for my family made it imperative I ask for help in this manner, even when my pride and fierce sense of independence would be wounded. I had to learn to think of those who depended on me.
I’ll never forget one day few years after I started out.
My second son was down with severe malaria attack. I had no paid projects in hand, and no money. With my wife and kids in the car, I visited Ikeja computer village, and after going from shop to shop for hours, begged a PC dealer who showed interest, to buy my new CD writer (bought for N35,000 some months earlier), for N10k.
Just so I could get money to take my son to hospital.
Believe it or not, he COLDLY offered me N5k, and I gladly took it!
If your business is not doing well, get help to fulfil your obligations. Don’t punish your loved ones because of “foolish pride”!
Oh…how I’ve learnt so much from prolonged exposure to hardship…!
It is for the above reason that I LOVE the quote below – by Emerson – so much:
“When man…is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something; he has been put on his wits, on his manhood, he has gained facts, learns from his ignorance, is cured of the insanity of conceit; has got moderation and real skill.” – Emerson
Here’s something important to take note of:
Not once did I ask for help to fulfil pleasures or pursue trivialities. I literally punished myself to maximize any money I had. Sometimes I’ve eaten ONCE a day. I’ve even gone without food over an entire weekend, just to have money to continue my work at a cyber cafe. That’s why I often produce results with little money!
The above explains why I LOVE this quote by Dan Kennedy…
“I have long taught:: if you can’t make money without money, you won’t make money with money either. And if you’re going to back somebody, pick an entrepreneur who has proven that he can survive without adequate capital” – Dan Kennedy
My experiences informed my decision to write my article advocating – as Kennedy did – giving support to people “worthy”of it – instead of giving it to people who routinely (due to sloth and indifference), rarely have tangible results to show.
Here’s something I read by James R. Cook that further explains how this kind of suffering makes a person GROW (Get his New York Times Bestselling “Startup Entrepreneur” here).
And that’s what I did: I stuck with it long enough – drawing inspiration from quotes like the above, when things got “unbearable”.
Believe me: It is true that BOOKS STRENGTHEN THE MIND!
And that’s why I write so much. I want others to find useful ideas and inspiration from reading my stories, the way I did from reading those of other! It is also why I’m writing a novel, about my journey so far. Names etc will be changed to protect privacies.
Here’s a fact: I have no secrets. I always tell my “whole story” even when doing so does not make me look “cool, calm and collected”.
In my Forthcoming Novel, there will be a chapter titled “The Begging Letters I wrote…”
I’ll publish many of the email and (sometimes bulk) SMS “begging letters” I sent with my LAST kobo when I was hard up.
It is noteworthy that not all those letters “worked”.
Therefore I’ll be adding narratives how I survived those periods. Some people already know parts of this story. But there’s a LOT more!
One thing I can assure you is that those “letters” will make for entertaining reading…:-)))