Monday Morning

Motivation    10/31/2011

THE POSITIVE PLACE. SALES MOTIVATION AND PERSONAL GROWTH

Note to Self

As one of those trendy things, a number of famous people are writing notes to their 16-year-old selves. Presumably, someone is going to climb in a time machine and deliver them, or something.

Anyway, it seemed like a good idea, or at least an idea. So here’s my note to myself:

Dear Self:

Don’t screw it up.

Daryl

All right. That’s a bit short. Here’s how it would really go; perhaps I could learn something from this advice even now. In fact, I’m sure I could.

A plan for the future, written for myself at 16.

Note to self:

Buy shares in Apple Computer, Berkshire Hathaway, and Google., Inc. (I know two of these don’t exist at present, but when they do, buy, buy buy!)

Work harder, but also smarter. Do things better. Don’t settle for “good enough.”

Challenge yourself. Don’t settle for the easy road, unless that’s arguably the best road. The road to the peak is always uphill.

Learn to be more open, more loving, more accepting. Develop the ability to deal with people more. Become more outgoing.

Read “The Greatest Salesman in the World.” Read it again.

Learn to develop hope in the future. Sure, it seems like sometimes the world is going to destroy itself, and perhaps someday it will. But there’s no point in worrying about it.

Pay more attention to looking in front of you, less attention to looking behind you. Nobody gets ahead by looking in the rear-view mirror.

Learn to identify people who are skilled liars. Avoid them at all costs. Never marry one of them, particularly if she refers to her mid-tone brown hair as “ash blonde.”.

You’ll meet various types of sociopaths on your road to success. Learn to identify them, and use them to your benefit if needs be, but never, ever, ever trust one of them. Don’t marry one, either. Marry a good person instead. You’ll know her when you find her (I did, eventually).

It’s important to take a chance, but avoid taking a stupid chance.

Eat less, love more, trust where warranted, distrust where warranted.

Tell your family how you feel about them. Do it now. They won’t always be around. For that matter, you won’t always be around.

Never take a great relationship for granted. Treat it as if it were a spring of clear, life-giving water. Protect it.

Get up earlier; see more sunrises, fewer midnight movies.

It’s all right to make errors from time to time, but don’t keep making the same dumb mistakes.

Give yourself a break. Treat yourself as well as you treat your friends.

Read David Copperfield. Do it now, repeat when you get older.

Give your family members a break when they do something that irritates you. Repeat as necessary, but remember to stick up for yourself.

Don’t carry a grudge for 40 years. The only person that gets hurt is yourself. Give it up and forgive them.

Don’t worry about what other people think of you, unless they’re right and you need to change.

Learn from criticism when it helps you. Dismiss criticism when it hurts you.

Ignore the irritating people you’ll meet on the way.

Don’t pay any attention to self-centered fools and nitwits. Why should you care what they think, anyway?

Treat yourself as a company: Me, Inc., with you as the CEO. Sell your products and services to  companies and employers, but always remember that you are not your job. Your job is merely a product that can be discontinued or upgraded at any time, and you are always in control.

Learn that there are people who will help you and people who will hurt you -- and that sometimes, they’re the same people. Take what you can, where you can, and use it to make yourself stronger.

Do not be self-centered, but be self-aware.

Honesty is always the best policy. Stay away from people who don’t follow this policy on a regular basis. Particularly stay away from people who habitually lie to their family. Honesty is the best method ever found to ensure an individual or company’s success.

Read life histories of great men and women, and learn from their examples.

Always pay your bills on time. Avoid going deep into debt, but realize you will need a good credit rating to succeed.

Learn to know who you can trust, and trust them implicitly. Sometimes you may be hurt by this approach, but not often.

Cultivate a positive outlook on life. Never be a cynic -- they contribute nothing but despair.

Learn to relish the memories of the great times in your life, and minimize the memories of the hard times.

Always remember that you become more self-assured by mastering things that challenge you.

Remember that life is what you make of it, but don’t take yourself so darn seriously.

So there’s my note to self, from a vantage point 40 years down the line. There could be other things, I guess, mostly having to do with avoiding a car crash at the mouth of the canyon when I was out looking for a couple of girls (I found them -- and their car, but we all came out of it all right), but those are the main points: Learn to understand people more, love deeper, tell people that you love them, give up old grudges, avoid the toxic people, and don’t be stupid.

If you would like to comment on this or add something of your own to the list, feel free to make a comment at : https://plus.google.com/110092742198966103213/posts/fvQMegVWa6V

Copyright, 2011, by Daryl R. Gibson. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for the non-commercial redistribution of this document as long as it remains intact with this copyright and all other lines. This license does not extend to the use of this material in a compilation, whether for profit or non-profit use. Join us at http://www.weeklywisdom.com.