How do Wisdom and Selling go together?

Welcome to Wisdom Selling. So if you are like me, you are always wanting to learn more. Well here is the deal about selling. It is the desire to exchange something you have, for something of more value to you. You may have an idea, a product, a service which people will want to pay for, allowing you to make a profit. You have to seek out people who might want it, and convince them it is worth the price you are charging. Or like me, you may just have a little wisdom, and are looking for someone who values it enough to want to use it. My value received in return is the joy of your feedback. So, I am selling wisdom. The cost to you, your interest. I want to help others as well. Visit the links page and shop for some good deals. Any profits on money you spend there will be used by Wisdom Selling to support non-profit businesses in developing their strategies.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

What if the glass is neither half empty or half full?

We have all heard that phrase used to separate optimists and pessimists.  It is a way to define a view of life wherein it is halfway to something.  Either it is on the way up, and we might consider the optimist approach, which says - it is half full, thinking I have gained and might gain some more, or... the glass is half empty - far from its potential and and sinking fast. 

Let's look first at the negative - the pessimistic viewpoint.  The implication is that there is a big container that could potentially be filled up, yet it is only halfway there, and all that can be focused on is the empty part.  It is an analogy for unfulfilled potential, something that many of us dwell on.  What a difficult way to view life, when all we can see is the part of life we are not experiencing.  The water in the glass is almost invisible to us, as we see the "empty part" only.

The optimist on the other hand, focuses on the water in the glass, not the empty space.  The empty space is some nebulous unmet potential that is not going to get in the way of enjoying the half full glass.   The difficult part here is the tendency to become content with the fact that there is something in the glass, without realizing the potential that exists.

I propose a more radical view of this simple statement, and it is the basis of the question at the beginning.  What if indeed the glass is neither half full or half empty, but rather the glass is too large for the contents?  What if we need a smaller glass so that we can see both the content and the potential?  Is this an impossibility or even too nebulous to think about?  Let me try and explain.

A person who is experiencing a pessimistic view of life, cannot get a grasp of their potential due to the overwhelming size of the possibilities.  Without any guidance or the ability to filter out the noise of life, it appears that there is a lot this person could be doing that they are not.  There are things they could be experiencing but are not.  It is so easy to fall into this trap, sort of a grass is always greener philosophy.

I contend that by taking the time to go through an exercise of what it is you really want to accomplish, setting some goals with realistic milestones, you can begin to get a handle on what is really important in life that you have not yet experienced.  The amount of empty begins to shrink down to the most important things, not everything.  If you are able to add to this an ability to focus on what is good already in your life, since there is less undone now, then a more positive and potentially fulfilling life becomes available to the pessimist.

For the optimist, sometimes it is easier to focus on what they have already done that face the fear of doing something different.  In the same way, the ability to focus down the not yet accomplished to a few key goals with attainable milestones may be the answer.  Diving into the pool is not as hard when you aren't on the high dive, and often the optimist doesn't want to get out of the pool where they are comfortable and satisfied for the excitement of the dive.

Choosing to pursue a goal can help the optimist see that there is opportunity for new, without it discounting what they have already attained. 

So maybe the glass is just too big, and the current contents are just right, we just need a little less air space to make it not so formidable.

Ponder this today.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Gut check time!

So, I made my confession to you.  I do indeed suffer from fragile arrogance at times.  Do you?  Are you afraid that depending on others, and listening to their advice constitutes weakness?

Well, time to deal with it, don't you think?

Learn the difference between fragile arrogance and measured confidence.

So there are always situations in life where we are challenged to listen to the advice of others.  If you are not careful, you will find that you think you know more than you do, and you will not be willing to listen

As a new senior manager, it was very difficult for me to see that others could be more intelligent on a subject than I was.  I was, after all, in a position that was expected to be able to make decisions wisely.  I could not get past this fact for quite some time, and I am sure I gave off a sense of arrogance to others, as they tried to help me become a better leader.  This arrogance was in fact very fragile, and caused me to second guess myself, but not to let on to others that I was unsure. 

The alternative of measured confidence has come upon me more recently.  This is the ability to realistically approach life, with a boldness that comes from confidence is what I know and who I serve and am associated with, but a willingness to listen to and learn from others.  The value of their advice has changed dramatically to me as a result.  It was always valuable, I just never dealt with it the right way.

What a great learning that was!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Would you be satisfied in life if only 70% of the people you meet desire to connect with you?

So, let's consider this question for a moment.  If 100% of the people around you were interested in connecting with you, could you even stand it.  Think of all you would have to remember about those who are marginal connections at best.  I don't believe any of us could survive having to be a friend with everyone.

Therefore the question before you is, can you survive on just 70% of the people around you connecting with you?  If so, the next question is, are you so picky that only the "right" 70% will work for you?  If you only want to connect with your idea of the perfect connection you are going to be extremely disappointed every time that type of person doesn't consider you their perfect connection.  Then you lose out on them, as well as those you could have invested in.

If you can just allow the laws of attraction to work, and quit specifying your desired connections, you will be surprised at the results you will have and the feelings of value that come with these outsiders wanting to connect!

I think therefore I am...responsible for my thoughts

Sometimes we get into a situation where others around us appear to be dictating our thoughts.  Whether they cause us happiness or create a level of resentment, we begin to dwell on the feelings related to these thoughts.  It is nice when someone says or does something to spur us to happy thoughts.  However, are we only able to have happiness in our mind when those around is influence it, or can we develop a way to think positively regardless of the situation.

See, when a negative image comes on the TV or movies, we can turn it off, and prevent it from having a detrimental affect on our thoughts.  However, we cannot turn off the people with whom we have to work, our families or our ministries without drastic actions, which most of the time we would be unwise to do.

So we must recognize that at all times we are responsible for our reactions inside to what is going on around us.  We must take hold of the thoughts we have and seek the self control needed to not react on emotion, but on facts.  This is so hard, it takes serious concentration at all times.  Something we do not really possess.

Prayer is a way to help this, as well as finding a mentor who can advise you when these thoughts begin to control you instead of you controlling them.

Today, if you can just recognize that you are responsible, you have reached the first milestone.

Been Twittering and realize that a lot of what I say needs more explanation

These next several blog entries will be short and sweet, but will catch me up on some of the wisdom I have been sharing via twitter.