Dig for Gold, Sell Shovels (or Neither)?

"If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." ~ Henry David Thoreau

Are your digging for gold or are you selling shovels?  Which is best for your career, for your business, for you?  Is it possible that neither career or business strategy is best for you?  Let's begin with a bit of a history lesson for background:

The California Gold Rush began in 1848, when gold was discovered in Coloma, California.  By the beginning of 1849, word of the Gold Rush had spread around the world, and 300,000 gold-seekers and merchants rushed to California from virtually every continent.  By 1850, most of the easily accessible gold had been collected and only a small percentage of people actually struck it rich with the precious metal; however, the impact of the immense population increase built a new, vibrant and diverse economy.

Today, many marketing strategies are built around the competing ideas of digging for gold and selling shovels, inspired by the California Gold Rush: 

• Digging for gold is attributed to the human tendency of seeking the quickest route from Point A (where you are now) to Point B (financial wealth); largely viewed by the non-gold diggers as a foolish, greedy endeavor. 
• Selling shovels is attributed to providing products and services to meet the demands of gold diggers; often perceived as the intelligent, virtuous strategy, summarized in the mantra: "Stop digging for gold and start selling shovels!"
• As the economy shifts ever more to a service based economy, the jobs and careers that seem to be the most promising are those that help others sell their ideas, products, and services; which makes the "selling shovels" strategy appear to be the most viable, and therefore the wise career choice.

A prime example for the competing ideas of digging for gold and selling shovels can be illustrated in the ultimate serviced-based engine -- the Internet -- and the explosion of blogs and other search engine-friendly marketing tools.

With well over 100 million blogs on the Internet today, the statistical likelihood of earning big money writing in a blog is not much better than playing the lottery. There are, however, millions of people who enjoy creating blogs and are quite confident (or delusional, depending upon the particular case) that their writing and marketing skills, combined with incredible luck and timing will enable them to strike it rich. These are the gold diggers.

But are we now in an 1850-like environment, where the easily accessible gold has already been collected?  Many of the most successful bloggers are now selling shovels; they are selling products and services to other bloggers, such as this eBook on (you guessed it) how to sell your own eBook.

"One's own self is well hidden from one's own self; of all mines of treasure, one's own is the last to be dug up." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

But is there really anything wrong with digging for gold? What makes the shovel sellers smarter?  Aren't they really trying to "strike it rich" also? 

Neither pursuit is inherently wrong (or right).  The only foolish pursuit is the one that is blindly chosen -- the one that is chosen for reasons, such as money, other than self-actualization.

I believe the true key to success at anything you do is rooted in self-knowledge, which largely consists of defining terms for yourself. Perhaps "digging for gold" is not even a pursuit of monetary and material wealth at all. To know the Self is to be rich. Digging for gold is a passionate pursuit. Selling shovels can also be a passionate pursuit. The gold digger and shovel seller may view their own particular career as prudent and the other as foolish.  One would not be happy being (or would exist without) the other; but this is precisely the point!  

You may never find gold, in terms of monetary wealth; you may never own a successful business; you may never make six figures as a blogger; but if you discover your Self, you have found gold, in the form of meaning, purpose and self-actualization, regardless of the monetary or material result...

Do not endeavor to dig for gold or sell shovels; be yourself.  Just consider the example and words of someone who happened to write a little book called Walden during the prime years of the Gold Rush:

"A grain of gold will gild a great surface, but not so much as a grain of wisdom." ~ Henry David Thoreau

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Related: Man's (Career) Search for Meaning

Comments

[Thanks]

Sorry for my very poor english (and my crazy and very long comment).

Thanks for this post, I´m happy to being reading one of those few valuable blogs on Internet. For sure your site is not about digging (material) gold or for sell shovels. But, without doubt is a great source of reflection, and that for me is like find gold itself.

You said:

"I believe the true key to success at anything you do is rooted in self-knowledge, which largely consists of defining terms for yourself. Perhaps "digging for gold" is not even a pursuit of monetary and material wealth at all. To know the Self is to be rich."

I´m trader, I try to make money from the stock market with small movements within a few days.

Basically I started with a few thousand greenbucks.

Let me tell you the truth, as 99% of humankind money was something interesting for me, but was a vague interest. I found a deep interest in money after have a girlfriend and "understand" money was more important of what I thought.

"If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning."
(Aristotle Onassis)

In fact I think the real foundation of the capitalism are women. Imagine a world without sex genres and without competition for copulate with the more "optimum" woman and push our genetic identity before other one does for us.

There is a biological foundation of capitalism? I think so. Maybe is very dificult to see, but I think communism failed cause was against biology, against the rules of life, rules wich have been there before we tried to manipulate the world with our futile ideologies. Maybe someone would mention other motives for the demonstrated failure of communism, like "dificulties to put the ideology in practice" or something like that.

To have money today is like the troglodyte who had more bones and stones and was admired for that by the troglodyte women.

Anyway, a woman was the first reason for focus my interest in financial markets.

But, that was just the beginning. Secondary motive for my interest in financial markets was how easy was to start: No burocracy (where I live burocracy is similar to the old Roma burocracy), no rentals, no stocks, no customers, no suppliers, etcetera.

Of course, this have a price, all these advantages only mean the business is very dificult.

After being 3 years trying to make a life of this, my effort have been near to be futile. Despite I try and try again, there are some circumstances wich make not very viable my success. I was ignorant of the economic and financial world, I´m not enough capitalized and I had all the problems one can find when start an activity being so naive and dreamer as I was.

But, I still continued trying. I´m the kind of guy who abandoned all things I started in my life. But not this purpose.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” (Coolidge)

At some points, like 3 months ago I tought to myself: Well, now you know a little more about what you are doing, you are starting to be consistent in a monthly basis, but you are still undercapitalized and not able to make a living of this. ¿So why don´t start to give trading classes?

This mean sell shovels of course. I looked at me and I didn´t see myself giving classes. Just looking to all those people selling trading classes in this new 21th century gold rush called "online retail trading".

I didn´t see myself saying "trading is easy" cause is the more opposite to the truth. I didn´t see myself saying "buy/sell the support or the resistence or low P/E ratios" or any other futile way of make money you can read around.

"You can't get an edge by reading the finance or technical analysis books you bought on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble. The information they contain is fine as far as it goes, but the trouble is that it is information that everone else has too! It can't give you an edge on other speculators. For the same reason you can't get an edge by attending a seminar that promises to reveal market secrets which will lead you to wealth." (C. Futia)

This was all I could understand about myself. My research in my deep thinking (self-knowledge), was telling to me I´m not going to feel good doing that: Saying where is the gold when Is so dificult for me to find it.

I thought was an excuse to not end the job when I´m more close to the finish line than ever. I thought was a distraction from my main goal, a goal wich have mutate to something more complex than just having money for push my genetic identity in the most optimum woman or to develop a non burocratic business.

Now the goal have evolved to reach the freedom. Freedom of a very unfair world, a world where burocracy and corruption put obstacles to the true businessman. Freedom of the business cycle. Freedom of bank credit. Freedom of crowd thinking. Freedom of doing something I hate and I don´t believe.

I had failed, I had the temptation of lose the focus of my goal, but thanks to blogs like this one, where someone (you) talk about self-knowledge, people like me can think twice, and try to hear what my heart says. Thank you

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It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

(Teddy Roosevelt - 1910)

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Thanks:

I'm happy to have provoked so much thought! I will respectfully disagree with your idea that "the real foundation of capitalism [is] women."

While I agree that women inspire and motivate a wide variety of financial activity, the biological function you speak of is rooted in nature, of which biological drives are only a part.

In my view, much of financial activity, including capital markets, is driven by the human ego, which is not the true self -- it is the "voice" in your mind that constantly compares; it is competitive; it wants to win; it wants to prove others wrong.

When you become aware of the ego, you are enabled to stop the noise of inner turbulence and find peace. Zen Buddhists call this enlightenment.

I would say that capitalism exists because the vast majority of the human population is not enlightened...

Thanks for provoking thought...

Kent

[Thanks]

Well, I don´t mean all capitalism is founded in women ,or lets say in a better way, in copulate with the most optimum other sex genre person.

I was not trying to use that argument in a so narrow way.

Anyway, let´s say Ego. But, what is ego?

You say is "the voice in your mind that constantly compares; it is competitive; it wants to win; it wants to prove others wrong."

But why we have that voice? why we need to "fight" all the time, why we want to win?

If I watch a TV documental about monkeys, lions or any other animal they are all day fighting for the best female and for have a place where to stay and have something for eat. Those animals where designed for that, survival, right?

What make humakind diferent?

We not know a lot of certain things about the world and our place in the universe, but death, reproduction and eat are true things we are designed for.

So, if Ego is this, why go against what it is evolutive design?

This is the point where the debate turn to things less certain and more metaphysical.

Why we are suposed to need to "stop the noise of inner turbulence and find peace"?

There is something more than fight, eat and stay alive?

We are a subproduct of natural world and we must follow the mandate of life and fight to push forward our ADN without know why this happen....or we are a final product of natural world/God/Universe and we have a destiny for ourself?

Finally, our brain is designed for survival and our spiritual thinking is only a defect/misinterpret of our brain or the "natural world" o God put that feeling/thinking there?

Why we have spiritualy and for what?

I have no clue.

[GregLinster]

This is a very timely post. I'm currently reading "Walden" right now; I've really enjoyed it thus far.

Anyway, if I were blogging purely for income purposes I would certainly choose to write about different topics. I'm sure you would do the same. I write for the joy of it. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with making some extra income through affiliate marketing for certain products (such as books).

I'm really curious as to who buys these e-books about e-books. Can you say sucker??? Then again, marketing is one of the most powerful forces in the universe.

I hope you have a great 4th Kent!

Cheers,

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Thanks:

Animals do not have a developed frontal cortex in their brain, which is why they do not suffer from human psychological issues, such as self-doubt.

I will expand on "ego" in a future blog post. For now, I will say that ego causes human suffering (spiritual/emotional/mental). For this reason, it is important to be aware of the ego to lessen its negative impact.

Certainly the ego is a function of human survival, the "selfish gene," if you will.

There is no reason to deny the ego; simply be aware of it. Awareness minimizes the negative effects of ego.

Thanks again for your thoughts...

[Thanks]

For sure, awareness and understand it better can calm us. That is why I will wait for your post :-)

Probably in this affair, the Aristotle middle point is the right thing.

Have a good 4th July (here we celebrate the conquest day hahaha, is what have live in Europe)

Cheers

[Maxjpucher]

To believe that hormonal/sexual drives are not the key to it all means to deny the true reality of who and what we are.

Our ego is an abstraction in our own mind. Our hormones are real chemical that define what that abatract ego apparently feels. I have never met anyone who wasn't defined by his hormones, just those who are too afraid to accept it because the self-image that they would like to carry in their ego might get tarnished.

I am a quite happy animal (with a neocortex AND an amygdala). Accepting my drives as who I really am has taken me a huge step forward ... and stopped me from having self-doubts ... and feeling guilty for my drives ... and made me also financially successful.

So be who your hormones make you feel like ...

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Maxjphucher:

I appreciate your comment and will not completely disagree.

If, however, hormones are "the key to it all" what purpose is there for those who feel no sexual drive, such as the very young and the very old?

Hormones, in my humble opinion, are but one small, yet quite important, piece of the structure of nature.

Thanks again...

[Trading Course]

Our hormones are real chemical that define what that abatract ego apparently feels.I will say that ego causes human suffering.For this reason,it is important to be aware of the ego to lessen its negative impact.

[LACEYHead21]

Some time before, I needed to buy a house for my organization but I did not earn enough money and could not purchase anything. Thank God my colleague suggested to take the loans at banks. Thus, I acted that and was satisfied with my student loan.