Three Part Post....actually a RE-post from Oct. 13, 1999

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Now write down the names of all the people that were in your life during this time. Include mom and dad, or foster parents, or adopted parents, brothers and sisters, friends, Anyone and everyone you can think of.

Try to do this quickly, without emotion, without falling into a state of either pleasant or unpleasant memories. The point of this exercise is to SHOW you what the major influences were in your life at the critical DEVELOPMENT periods. Because who and what you are today, is for the most part, the same person you were when you were 12.

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