I was surprised at how much I enjoyed watching The Gruffalo one Christmas.
Let me be clear here, I don’t usually sit and watch children’s films but this came on right after another programme had finished and before I had chance to turn it off, I found myself engrossed.
The Gruffalo is the story of a little mouse which is walking through the woods when it is approached by an owl, a fox and a snake who all want to eat it.
This plucky little mouse – which is at the bottom of the food chain – manages to talk his way out of being eaten by scaring these alpha predators into believing that he is on his way to meet with his friend, the big and ferocious Gruffalo.
Neither of the owl, fox or snake have heard of the Gruffalo – it sounds made up and as you watch the film you think it is.
But somehow, the little mouse manages to convince the predators that the Gruffalo is his friend and that he loves nothing more than eating food made of snake, owl and fox, and if he were to be harmed the Gruffalo would come looking for them.
The little mouse is left to continue on his merry way until… he comes face to face with an actual Gruffalo.
Like all alpha-predators, the Gruffalo sees the little mouse as food and wants to eat him. But, the mouse quickly and calmly tries to convince the Gruffalo that he – the mouse – is actually the most feared animal in the woods.
At first the Gruffalo doesn’t believe him, after all, how can something so small be so feared?
The mouse convinces the Gruffalo to follow him into the woods so that he can show him.
The mouse soon happens across the owl, the snake, and the fox again. Only this time, standing behind the little mouse is the large ferocious Gruffalo which they had come to fear only minutes earlier.
Seeing this large monster-like creature, the owl, the snake and the fox soon cower in fear and quietly slip away.
The Gruffalo doesn’t know that the owl, the snake and the fox were actually scared of him and is surprised to see them scurry off fast as soon as the mouse approaches them.
Now convinced that the mouse is indeed a scary animal and one to fear, the Gruffalo decides to not eat him and walks away leaving the mouse to continue on his merry way.
What I love about this story is that it shows how both brains and communication is far superior to brawn.
In a world where muscles are still admired and the alpha-male and alpha-female are seen as being ‘all powerful’, the Gruffalo puts that notion nicely to bed.
The truth is, alphas are fine when doing alpha things, whatever that is, but have you noticed how cult leaders, politicians and serial killers are often weedy little whatnots who look like they cannot rip open an envelope let alone have power over another free willed and free thinking human?
And yet they very often do.
The power and the fear they have over other people is often implied… or executed by other people who are also under their spell.
So, what am I getting at here?
The little mouse in the Gruffalo implied his power through communication.
He used words to convince the owl, the snake and the fox that he was friends with a large creature which would eat them if they harmed him.
He used words to suggest to the Gruffalo that he was incredibly feared and then used the ‘fear’ the other animals expressed when they saw the Gruffalo standing behind the mouse, as proof to his power.
It was all down to communication and the power of words.
In the second Gruffalo film, The Gruffalo’s Child, the mouse once again has to imply how powerful he is to prevent the Gruffalo’s child eating him.
He tells the young Gruffalo about another big monster living in the woods who will soon appear and that she should look into a large bush for it.
Standing on a branch in front of a bright full moon on a dark winter’s night, the mouse casts large shadows across the snow making him appear like a huge monster with big sharp teeth scaring the Gruffalo’s child who promptly runs away.
The truth is, he was just a little mouse. He always was and always will be.
However, he commanded the respect of the larger alpha predators who left him alone because they feared an idea of who they thought he was. An idea he had created through the use of carefully crafted words.
Words are incredibly powerful, when used correctly, they can build empires and they can generate a lot of money… and you do not need to scare people into it either.
Skinny weaklings can dominate the business world over alphas and bullies by using simple communication and psychology.
There are many alphas strutting around who cannot rub two pennies together and yet there are many non-alpha types, who are incredibly successful in business.
It is through communication how I and many others make millions of pounds. By writing sales copy which communicates directly to people in a way very few alphas can.
With the use of words, I can open hearts, eyes and wallets.
And what is really important to understand is that it really isn’t that hard to do and anyone can learn how to be an alpha of the communication world.
If you would like to learn how I use words and communication to generate large sums of money click the link below:
One Letter From Retirement
Knowing how to communicate better takes you from being the underdog to top dog.
It frees you from feeling like a victim in life to being the one making the shots. Learn to communicate and you will be the one pulling the strings in your own life.