by Rick Baker
On Aug 28, 2014
The Thinking Behind The Tweet
When 'No' thoughts are filling the brain there is little room for 'Yes" thoughts. In fact, chances are 'No' and 'Yes' thoughts will not want to occupy the brain at the same time. They would rather take turns. And, for most people the 'No' thoughts are much more sticky. When they find their way into people's brains they stick there until they run out of reasons to defend and bolster the ego.
While 'No' thoughts are sticking around the brain, working away to defend and bolster the ego there is little, if any, opportunity for constructive communication...particularly communication involving the person who triggers the 'No' response.
by Rick Baker
On Aug 28, 2014
The Thinking Behind The Tweet
Seek first to be interested and to understand. If you cannot handle that maybe you can compensate by being entertaining...or, at least, interesting.
Stephen Covey - Seek First To Understand.
Perhaps people will warm up to you and remember you if you seek first to understand them?
That's consistent with Dale Carnegie's teaching.
If you cannot bring yourself to be truly interested in understanding other people then your opportunities for influencing them drop significantly. You may be able to squeeze in some opportunities by:
- being interesting...attention-getting, magnetic...those sorts of things
- being entertaining...like a motivational speaker or a magician or a clown act
by Rick Baker
On Aug 27, 2014
The Thinking Behind The Tweet
When I was a child, neighbourhood parents had a habit of stopping me and asking me to answer math questions. [At one point I thought none of the adults in our subdivision knew how to count their money.] I suppose I was naturally talented at math. Later in life I found myself answering math questions during university level exams...dozens of exams. So, I understand I developed a habit of knowing math.
That knowledge of math has a few side-effects. One side-effect is, when people make claims like they are doing things beyond 100% it catches my attention and my thoughts. I have thoughts like, "Don't these people know when you've got 100% you've got it all & when you've given 100% you've given it all?"
Giving 100% is superlative territory....that's the limit of your giving.
Giving more than 100% - well, that's defying the laws of at least mathematics...probably, the laws of physics...and possibly even the Laws of Nature.
How can you trust a person who makes claims like, "Boss - I'm giving 110%!"? [Some go even higher. You hear 150% regularly and some people have the habit of claiming a preposterous 1000%!]
Don't you think all of these people going overboard?...being excessive?...being exorbitant?...over-killing their point and beating it to death too?