These Tricks Will Be A Huge Treat 🍬 For You
With October being the month of Halloween, our minds 🧠 tend to shift to those things in life that are spooky and scary.
As we get older, the ghosts and goblins that once kept us up at night 🌛 are now funny, iconic reminders of a nostalgic time of year. However, interestingly, many aspects of Halloween can serve as a great 👍 foundation for entrepreneurs and marketers.
What is Halloween?
Halloween 🎃, contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, a holiday observed on October 31st, the evening before All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day. The celebration 🎉 marks the day before the Western Christian feast of All Saints and initiates the season of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days and concludes with All Souls’ Day. In much of Europe and most of North America, observance of Halloween is largely nonreligious.
Halloween had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. On the day corresponding to November 1st on contemporary calendars 📆, the new year was believed to begin. That date was considered the beginning of the winter ❄️ period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. During the Samhain festival the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their homes 🏠, and those who had died during the year were believed to journey to the otherworld.
People set bonfires 🔥 on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognised by the ghosts 👻 thought to be present. It was in those ways that beings like witches, hobgoblins, fairies 🧚♀️, and demons came to be associated with the day.
The period was also thought to be favourable for divination on matters like marriage 💍, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the 1st century CE, they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest.
Here are 4 lessons you can learn from this spooky celebration:
1️⃣ Choose the path less taken
One easy thing to do on Halloween is follow the crowd of kids and parents down the well lit neighbourhood streets 🏘. In many neighbourhoods, it looks like a swarm of bees 🐝 navigating together. This is safe and easy, but what if you veer down the side streets and venture to the houses just off the main path?
Sure, sometimes you hit a dead-end, but sometimes you also find the wonderful older couple who are so excited 😆 to have visitors, and they graciously give you the greatest treats. If you want two Hershey kisses or a few Tootsie rolls, follow the crowd, but the hand-tied bag 🛍 full of Snickers, Milky Way and Crunch bars are often on the path less taken.
2️⃣ Many fears are irrational
Halloween is full of masks 👺, makeup, decorations, and creepy sounds. All kinds of things that ‘up’ our anxiety and ignite our irrational fears 😨. For entrepreneurs and marketers, these fears come in the form of fear of failure, fear of humiliation, fear of being wrong, and fear of running and pursuing our passions. However, fear is not real. Fear is nothing more than images we make up in our mind. Remember, when you face these fears, you can make them disappear.
3️⃣ Walking door-to-door and starting conversations leads to great outcomes
The great tradition of walking door-to-door 🚪 (often with parents a sidewalk away) teaches us some independence, but also allows us to confront adults face-to-face. This is the foundation for one of your most valuable skills - your ability to look someone in the eye 👁 and communicate clearly.
Sales, marketing, raising capital, hiring a great team, etc. all stem back to strong interpersonal communication 🗣. Door-to-door is a powerful and efficient teacher.
4️⃣ With a little effort, you can be a completely new person
When the shy, quiet boy puts on his Superman costume, he becomes a confident, outspoken actor. He takes on the characteristics of his hero, stands a little taller, and is ready to conquer 💪 the darkest streets in the hood; nonetheless, nothing physically changed.
He did not grow new muscles or drink a special potion 🧪- it was 100% psychological. He just decided he could, so he did. Why not put on that psychological costume, armour, or mask whenever you need it. Just decide you can.
As you walk with your kids or attend your friend’s costume party for Halloween, just remember that even on November 1st, you can be anyone you want to be. All you have to do is be confident, be different, be independent, and be unique. Start a conversation with us in order to get great outcomes 🤩😎.
References:
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. 2021, October 27. Halloween. Britannica.
Lackey, M. 2016, October 28. 4 Powerful Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Halloween.
