Who are you talking to (in your mind)?...
 

Conversations in your mind.

That's where everything starts -- or dies.

In my mind there are several people at once (no, I don't hear voices too).

GROUP 1...
The BIG THINKERS. These are the types I can most easily relate to. They see the big picture. They think 'tectonically.' They have a good sense of humor. They are successful. VERY successful. They are magnanimous. They are 'mensches' (or menschettes). The Richard Bransons. They know what constitutes a good idea. Bold ideas. Risky, new ideas. Map-changing ideas.

GROUP 2...
Then, there are the middle managers. People who are INcapable of thinking big. The nit-pickers. The gatekeepers. People only concerned about their career. People MUCH MORE worried about not being wrong, than about being right. People who are submersed in office politics -- and who maybe don't mind that.

Problem is, when I start a conversation with the former, the latter jumps right in and stops things dead.

GROUP 3...
Then there are the desperado people. Another group entirely.

They are the ones (also in my head, y'undersatnd) who are concerned (WORRIED) about where the down + dirty, nitty gritty, needed-NOW money is going to come from. How are the month-to-month bills going to be met. They are ONLY concerned with bread + butter issues. Kitchen table issues. These are the guys who pipe in with LOW-LEVEL (but less risky) money-making opps.

I have trouble concentrating on 'talking to' the GROUP ONEs in my mind.

Group 2 + 3 keep crowding in and messing everything up.

Anyone else experience these problems?

What are the steps to help solve this problem?

It's all mindset issues.

-- TW

Can this really be true?! - Life is just one big prison yard?!?
 

I liked Robert Ringer's book, "Million Dollar Habits," so I 'gave in' to the pull of getting his 'classic' tome, "winning Through Intimidation."

I just finished listening to the cd version that book (now called "To Be Or Not To Be Intimidated").

Dan Kennedy always recommends the book.

I, like a lot of people, resisted reading it because I don't want to even enter that world. But, I was assured that it isn't about HOW TO intimidate -- it's more like how to win IN SPITE OF others intimidating you! The word "through" in the original title being somewhat ambiguous -- as if the title SHOULD have been, "Winning BEYOND Intimidation," or something.

Welp, after hearing the book, I'd say I was right in the first place -- it *IS* about how to intimidate others!

The 'defense' of such a depressing outlook is, everyone's out to get you, so you may as well PLAY THEIR GAME, and intimidate them right back.

It's about fighting fire with fire!!!

Ringer says his 'learning experiences' were enrollment in 'Screw U' and depicts the world (the business world, at least), as being a jungle (or, more accurately, a PRISON YARD).

Everyone's out to get you -- even the 'nice' people are only ACTING nice -- they're out to screw you too!

Can that really be true?

I refuse to exist in that vision of the world. Is that me being blind? Am I just 'relying on the kindness of strangers?'

I have a very good friend who DOES see the world as being one big prison yard. He's doing much better than I am. Is that a sign?

Ringer warns that whatever you try, you'll be met with dishonest people who are out to screw you -- like that movie about the guy who invented the intermintent windshield wipers.

He says there is NO ONE out there who wants to see you (or me) get what we deserve (our 'chips,' as he calls it).

EVERYONE is evil, he says.

Does that mean I cannot get ANYWHERE with ideas that I want to sell to (big) companies? I've heard others who say the exact opposite of that. That one need NOT be guarded. That people are NOT out to steal ideas, really.

What I'm wondering is, I guess, is there such a thing as people who are "BIG" enough to be ***MAGNANIMOUS*** ??? (as in the "GROUP 1" in my OP)

Or, is EVERYONE just out to STEAL whatever they can -- no matter how "NICE" they may appear.

Are the trusting ones (like me) just useful idiots, to be picked clean by the VULTURES out there -- and it's all as simple as that??

Am I just getting by in life to the extent that I ALLOW others to take advantage of me (aka screw me)???
Am I merely 'liked' to the extent that I ALLOW others to STEAMROLL over me?

(I do notice it's a lot easier find people who are very friendly towards me, when I am the one PAYING THEM (relationships in which I am the payER), than it is to find 'friends' who are paying ME (relationships in which I am the payEE).)

Please advise.

Thanks!

-- TW

Re: Who are you talking to (in your mind)?...
 

Hi TW,

I,ve posted this before here on the forum...There are only two types of people in this world. Either you use people to get what you want and need in life or people will use you to get what they want and need in life.

The sooner in life you realize this the more time you will have to decide which type of person you want to be.

My Best 2 U,

LindaC

I just can't bring myself to be that cynical -- now what?
 

Life cannot be that cruel of a joke --- can it?!?

Is it really kill or be killed?

If it is, how do people bring themselves to smile (ever)?*

-- TW

* and, at whom (smile), and for what reason? If your overall mission is to stab + pillage (to be the stabbER, not the stabEE), then all smiles would seem to be fake, yes? Paranoia is supreme then ,huh?

Re: Who are you talking to (in your mind)?...
 

Hey TW,

I'm not a believer in the "everyone is out to get you" outlook. I do believe that the world revolves around needs and wants. The missing link in all this is something called "exchange". There are two sides to needs and wants. There's:

(1) what YOU need and want and

(2) what SOMEONE ELSE needs and wants.

There are also ethical people and unethical people in this world.

Unethical people try to get what they need and want from someone else without making some kind of a fair exchange for it. Something for nothing, or something to their advantage to someone else's disadvantage. Not talking about "bargain hunting" or "haggling". There's an INTENTION there to get it without making a fair exchange for it.

Ethical people also try to get what they need and want from someone else, but they are willing to make a fair exchange for it. Something for something, or some benefit to them and some benefit to someone else too. Ethical people will also "bargain hunt" and "haggle". But their INTENTION is not to push your face in the mud while raiding your piggy bank.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which kind of a person you are dealing with . . . ethical or unethical:

"Something to benefit them with disadvantage to you = UNETHICAL."

"Something to benefit them with some benefit to you = ETHICAL."

Again, the key is EXCHANGE. Does the exchange result in "even-Steven" or "win/win", or is the result "got-Scott" and "win/lose"? Ethical people strive for win/win. Unethical people strive for the opposite.

Most people, in my opinion and experience, try their best to be ethical. One incident or mistake doesn't mean the person is evil. You can know them and judge them . . . both the ethical and the unethical . . . by their INTENTIONS and the RESULTS OF THEIR ACTIONS.

Hope that helps . . .

---- Hugh