Tag: selfish

Letting others down

Posted on by philipdodson

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In life, we are often concerned or even preoccupied with the fear of letting others down.

‘Oh, I can’t do x, as I don’t want to let ‘so & so’ down’.

The thing is, why are we not so concerned about letting ourselves down?

We are taught always to think of others first and when we don’t we are often shamed for doing so by peers.

We need to turn that around and stop letting ourselves down, stop missing our deadlines, stop holding back on the things that make us happy. Stop feeling guilty about others as we could be accountable to ourselves first.

In doing so, we are much less likely to let others down. If we are happy, fulfilled and achieving what matters to us, then we are better placed when needed to be helpful, reliable and supportive of others.

Often, though, it is when other people are letting themselves down that others are needed to step in.

It’s not being selfish to think about ourselves, it is helping us to be happy. Surely that will count to the right people around us.

How kind is your business?

Posted on by philipdodson

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In a world dominated with ‘where is the money it that?’ mentality, it is sometimes seen as weak, or even difficult to even contemplate, considering the notion of kindness in business.

We confuse kindness with doing something for free in order to manipulate others to reciprocate. Many people think it is clever to leverage the basic human instinct to return a favour. I can hear the guru’s saying ‘give and then take’.

I can hear the words of the much lauded Gary Vee ringing in my head ‘give, give, give and the take em for all they’ve got’ or something like that, maybe it’s ‘Jab, Jab, Right Hook’.

Kindness is doing something for others for no gain, other than the chemical release in our own bodies that makes us feel good, makes us happy. This is not a selfish act in a malicious way, it is a way of making us happy, after all happiness is a choice.

So choose acts of random kindness in your business and make yourself happy and spread that happiness to your customers and potential customers, spread to all the humans that interact with.

Simply because you can and simply because creating happiness in your life and that of the others you connect with is a pleasure not to be missed.

After all what is life about, if it isn’t for enjoying the journey.