Influences

Why do we do the things we do?

It's an important question. We don't have forever; we don't get an infinite number of chances to create the kind of life we truly want. Anything that distorts our decision-making can wind up wasting our time -- which, as we all know, we don't get back.

Understanding how our important decisions can be influenced can help us to keep things in perspective. It's not a guarantee -- we will likely still make some mistakes from time to time.

Since they will be our mistakes, however, we will be highly motivated to correct them. Best of all, by learning to incorporate the various "inputs" from others, while retaining the ultimate responsibility for the results, we become highly qualified as well.


Family and career happiness

Imagine yourself talking to one of your family members about your new-found success. It doesn't really matter which one, although it is probably best if you pick the one you felt most influenced by; probably one of your parents.

Go ahead and imagine yourself having a complete conversation with this relative, in which you explain in great detail how thrilled you are to have achieved exactly the kind of career that you had hoped for. Include as much detail and as much excitement as possible.  read more »

Friend's Opinion -- How Important?

This, then, was an excellent example of someone -- me -- paying too much attention to input from a friend. I didn't have a lot of self-confidence at the time, so my reaction was to pretty much put my plans on the shelf because my friend didn't think they were very workable.  read more »