[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Gordon,

This made me think of the following...

There's the claim that, your income will be the average of the income of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

I don't know if that's precisely true, but the gist of it may be true in many cases. That's because our friends and family influence us.

I have friends who are of the opinion that, if someone made money, they must have made it by doing something unethical. I think that point of view is completely wrong. But I can see how, if you were surrounded by people who think like that, you might think like that too.

And if you think like that, it will hold you back. Why? Because you won't want to make any money, as you will believe it must be unethical!

Here's why it's wrong. Many people make great money because they are very good at what they do, 100% ethically.

Roger Federer makes a lot of money from winning tennis tournaments, and from sponsorships. He didn't "screw" anyone over to do it. He just worked hard, and combined with some natural gifts, he's arguably the greatest tennis player in history.

I've met several people who've made a lot of money. Some of them are unethical, but others are in fact extremely highly ethical. (And then there are others in-between.)

The ones who made their money ethically are the ones who, I think, sleep best at night. The unethical ones are always worried if one of the people they screwed will try to come for them to get revenge.

Those who made money ethically often solved a problem for people. If you can solve a problem for people - and if you have a "toll position" in place - you can make a lot of money, 100% ethically, with very happy customers.

Anyway, those are some thoughts your post triggered... Thanks for sharing, Gordon!

Best wishes,

Dien

Most of us know Robert Cialdini via INFLUENCE and other works, but his latest "7th Principle" as found in PRE SUASION is:

the UNITY PRINCIPLE: The more we identify ourselves with others, the more we are influenced by these others.

Look no further than current events to see this principle in action.

OH, and I have a new HOTSHEET on Persuasion. 5 bux. For all my bookmarks and book suggestions. One page with links to articles, sites and books. Send me an email.

Gordon