Do you even care?

Do you care about something? What do you care about? Of course, you care about yourself. And then your family. Maybe your friends. And then what? What else do you care about?

Maybe you care about your work and your career – but to what extent? Do you care about your work because you want to earn from it… Or do you care about your work so that the results of the work will impact others?

The most successful people in the world became successful not because they cared about their own success. They became successful because they cared for others. They created value through their work and their personal success was a by-product of their care. When you care for the world, the world will shower you with care.

Entrepreneurs build very successful businesses when they care for something deep. They look around them and see what breaks their heart. And then they improve it.

Elon Musk genuinely cares about sustainable energy. And hence he made Tesla. When was the last time you heard from the CEO of GM or Ford genuinely caring about something?

Steve Jobs cared about bringing the computing power to the masses, bringing innovation to the hands of consumers, and making computing easy. When was the last time you heard from the CEO of Dell, Lenovo, or HP… care about something?

Sara Blakely, the creator of Spanx, became the youngest female billionaire because she genuinely cared about comfortable clothing for women. She created the spandex line of clothing. She was driven to make things better. Because she cared.

Will you pay attention to someone who doesn’t care about you?

When you care for something, people respond to it.

People take notice.

Because the world is full of takers, and a very few givers.

One of the reasons I’ve been able to grow my brand Digital Deepak as one of the top digital marketing training brands in India – is because I care.

Now I am making good revenues with the sales of my products, and the revenue gives me profits, I can buy things with it – but that’s not the core motivation. That’s not what makes me work. That’s not what makes me write a post like this on a weekend.

What makes me work is because I care.

I care for education.

I believe Digital Marketing education is important because it helps you grow your personal brand, your company brand, and your company can create value in the niche of your choice.

I don’t have any investors. I don’t come from a wealthy family and inherited a lot of money. I did not marry someone rich. I don’t have any secret tricks up my sleeve. I don’t have any secret connections in the industry.

I have what you have.

A laptop and an internet connection.

A healthy body, a sound mind, and plenty of time.

But I am beating my competition. Very clearly. Some are big corporates with a lot more leverage and their customers and coming to me – through word of mouth marketing.

Because I care for my work and the value that my work creates for others – more than anyone else.

That’s my biggest competitive advantage.

But where does that care come from?

I don’t know.

I am just a caring person – now.

I was not like this before.

When I was in my early 20s, I was an idiot.

I just cared about what I wanted for myself.

I was a taker, not a giver.

And it is easy for the world to see who is a taker and who is a giver. We can see it all the time. When people found out that I am focused on taking, they held it back.

My friends, my “lover”, and every close person around me, was focused on what they can take from me because I was focused on what I can get from them.

(Parents are always an exception because they keep giving even if kids keep taking. We should be grateful for that.)

My employers did not give me much of a raise because I was focused on how much salary I can take, and they were focused on how much work they can get done from me, for as little salary as possible.

When I started my business, I focused on how many sales I can make, and my customers focused on how much discount they can get from me.

It took me a long time to come out of this negative cycle.

When you are a taker, you attract takers in your life. With work, with family, with friends, with business, and with everything. It becomes exhausting to keep taking from others, while they are holding back.

And the rest of your energy goes into you holding back things and preventing people from taking things from you. Because if people keep taking things from you, you will become empty. And that scares us.

Remember. You cannot stop people from taking things from you. And they would never give you anything just like that. There are no free lunches.

The only way to balance is to start giving before people start taking from you. And what people give back will be more than what you give to people. And you will be soaking in abundance.

When you are a giver, you attract givers in your life.

I became a giver and I attracted givers in my life.

I started to build a new circle of friends around me… and I took the first step. I helped whenever someone needed help. And they became friends. And they now help me.

I got a new job, and instead of worrying about my career growth, my salary, my influence within the company… I started focusing on what I can do for the company with my skills and expertise. People above me took notice and they paid me more because they didn’t want to let go of me.

I started a company and started focusing on what I can do to help people than focus on how much people can pay me. My customers are now happy and do not hesitate to buy my products.

I focused on what I can do to help the career growth of my employees than focus on how much work I can get done from them. Now they are focused on what they can contribute to the company and our customers (and students) than how much salary they can take from the company.

When I became abundant, the world became abundant around me. I live in a new reality where everything is abundant and unlimited.

Close friends who would go to any extent to help me when I am in need. A love that I can die for, and a lover who loves me with life. A business where customers don’t just like me but love me and respect me.

I feel like I have tapped into an unlimited fountain of wealth, abundance, love, and friendship. And I was able to tap into that fountain because I became that fountain in the first place.

This came because of an incident that shook me.

I went through a major life-changing event 3 years back.

I hit rock bottom.

I had nothing to give. Nothing to take. Or so I thought.

But I had nothing to lose.

I had a bit of time and energy with me.

And I used that time and energy to create value. To give.

And things started changing from there.

My giving & my care for the world started getting into compounded growth as I built my business from the ground up (with 20 lakhs in debt and just an email list). And since then I have never lost the focus on giving.

Whatever I do, and whatever my team does – it is to give.

Because we care.

We want to transform people’s lives through innovation in education.

I am not focused on how much profits I can make. And my team is not focused on how much salary they can take. We all get paid to live a comfortable life so that we are capable enough to continue the mission we are on.

To make the world a better place in any way we can.

And things have started to change.

Since I started focusing on what I can do and what I can give for my students, my students are throwing money at me. They are literally saying “Deepak, shut up and take my money, you are changing my life.”

My competitors are now seeing my growth. And they are like “What does Deepak do to get these kinds of results?”

They look at what I do and try to replicate my methods. And they fail.

And they will always fail.

Because what they need to copy from me is not what I do – but how deeply I care about the things I do.

I dare my competitors to copy my care.

Can they ever care as much as I do? I don’t think they can.

That’s how I compete. That’s how I am the best at what I do.

I don’t care about the results. The results are the by-product.

I care about the work and the impact of my work.

Everyone in this world has a calling. Has a niche. People create value for the world in different ways.

Some are doctors. Some are scientists. Some are coders. Some are politicians. Some are journalists. Some are writers. Some are entertainers. Some are philosophers.

I’ve found my calling to be a teacher.

Yes, I am a CEO, a startup founder, an investor, a son, a father, a lover – but more than anything else – I am a teacher.

I love teaching and I love the impact that I create on other’s life through teaching.

And if you don’t know where to start. If you want to move and get ahead in life…

Start teaching.

Start teaching what you know to others.

Not because teaching can be profitable, but because you care.

Start with a blog. Write an article with a genuine desire to help people with what you know.

Post a video on YouTube. A video that might have an impact on someone.

Conduct a webinar. Create a course. Mentor students under you.

Not just for the results but…

Because you care.

Caring for others is fulfilling.

It fills your soul with happiness.

Do. Something. To. Care.

I will keep teaching all my life as long as I have a laptop and an internet connection. Because teaching is a good way to care when you don’t have anything to start with.

And I dedicate this message to all the teachers around the world. And I am where I am because of the teachers and mentors I have learned from.

They cared for me, which enables me to care for others.

On this teacher’s day, if I have inspired you to become a caring teacher, my work for today is done.

Just remember. Care deeply. And the world will care for you back.

The world becomes as you are. You create the world around you with your attitude. Care for the sake of caring. Not because you are expecting the care to be reciprocated.

True love is unconditional. And true care is unconditional.

Instead of searching for the fountain of abundance, become the fountain of abundance.

Happy Teacher’s Day.

And comment on this post and let me know your thoughts and feelings about the message I shared today.

Your Teacher & Mentor,
Deepak Kanakaraju