I am the first one to admit that I’m not the smartest person in the room. I’m certainly not the brightest color in a box of crayons – but come on – give me a break. The fact of the matter is people do some pretty dumb stuff. Some people say you can’t fix stupid – and I’m starting to believe them. Stupidity, for the most part, is a choice. Some people choose to be dumb.
Have you ever wondered why people don’t wait to get on the elevator until you have gotten off? Have you ever been riding up or down the elevator, have it stop on your floor, and before you have a chance to get off – someone starts trying to get on? What were they thinking?
Have you ever wondered why people wait in the checkout lane, holding up everyone else in the lineup, until after the cashier has finished ringing in and bagging their items before they get out their wallet or purse to pay for their purchase? At what point did they realize they’d have to pay before leaving the store? And worse yet – they start rummaging through their pockets or purse for the exact change. It’s like they are in their own little world – oblivious to everyone else. What were they thinking?
Have you ever wondered why some people wait until they get to the counter before deciding what they want to eat? Fast food restaurants put the menu in bright lights, with fancy pictures above the counter so you can decide your meal choice before it’s your turn to put in your order. They call it Fast Food for a reason. Get with the program people. What were they thinking?
Have you ever wondered why some people haven’t figured out what the passing lane is all about? Have you ever been stuck behind someone going 102 miles an hour – trying to pass a truck doing 100? Worse yet is being stuck behind a truck trying to pass another truck and both are barely going the recommended speed. If you are holding someone up behind you – then you are going too slow. Put it in gear and stay in the slow lane. That’s what the slow lane is for. What were they thinking?
To steal a line from Larry Winget – The Pitbull of Personal Development (R) – “People are idiots and I can prove it”. If you haven’t tuned into Larry I recommend you check him out. (www.larrywinget.com) – If you’re like me – you won’t be disappointed. Have you ever wondered why people do some dumb stuff? I’ve cited just four examples. Feel free to add yours to my list.
Copyright (c) 2017. Brian Smith-PLD. Are you looking for a Professional Speaker or Seminar Leader who can entertain and inform your audience on a variety of topics including team building and leadership development? Visit https://briansmithpld.com
Practice the 3 R’s – to establish trust and build relationships with the people you work with and interact with. Have you ever met someone for the very first time and thought, “Yuck – what a dink?”. (I don’t mean Double Income No Kids). There is just something about them that you don’t like. For what ever reason they rub you the wrong way. The truth of the matter is sometimes you have to work with – or interact with – people you don’t like. Even if you don’t like them – you still need to find a way to work with them. I have a solution for you. Think of someone who you work with that for what ever reason, you are having difficulty getting along with them. I want you to try this little experiment and see if it helps repair that relationship or a least make it bearable. I call it the 3 Rs to building relationships and establishing mutual trust with just about everyone and anyone.
Who Knew? Who knew that a high school drop out would become an award-winning entrepreneur, college professor, published author and a successful motivational speaker. Certainly, not me – and likely not most of my friends and family. I was never a very good student. I was the class clown, always going for the laugh. I went to school to play sports, and when they took that away from me because my grades weren’t good enough – I quit – and got a job working retail. It was the sixties, life was easy. I was ok with hanging out in the slow lane, in no particular rush to get anywhere in a hurry. If you asked me back then what I wanted to do with my life I would have told you I wanted to be a musician or truck driver. I still think being a truck driver would be pretty cool.
I gave up celebrating my birthday years ago. Once you reach my age, the thrill of blowing out a bunch of candles looses its appeal. Besides, I’m so old you can’t get a cake big enough for all of them. I have my parents to thank for my good health because the only pills I take are vitamins. Birthdays for me are a time for reflection. A time to look back on the year that was and think about the lessons learned. I figure if you aren’t learning anything new you are robbing yourself of the opportunity to grow. It’s a time to plan for the year ahead. Life is a planned event. Wishing and hoping won’t make it so. But mostly my birthday is a time to celebrate my accomplishments and think about all those things that I am thankful for.
Enhancing Lives & Transforming Leadership 
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