Why is it so much harder to endure criticism and judgment from a loved one than it is from a client or someone you don’t know as well? I believe it is because it is so much easier to not take it personally when you can have empathy for the other person. However, when it is someone close to home, it is easier to have the expectation that ‘you know me better than that’. Let’s try to give the same grace to those close to us as we do clients and strangers.

There is anarchy in traditional sales.  The best selling, most popular, most effective selling techniques of the past are becoming not only irrelevant, but they are also becoming repulsive.  When facing a SALESperson, if you feel the slightest hint they are trying to tell, convince, or sell you, subconsciously, if you are like me, you sense the odor of disingenuousness.  It is repulsive and leaves some of the greatest traditional minds of ‘Selling’ frustrated, confused, and ineffective.

Catch yourself believing the best of yourself and others.  Hear the story of my daughter Scarlett and her determination to convince us and herself she could not read.  Our determination to remind her of what we believed about her was the encouragement she needed to change her outcome.

There is more than one side to you. Know who you are and realize you have many strengths!

I am going to take a risk and make an assumption about you.  You may say, ‘You don’t know me!  You don’t know what I’ve been through.  You don’t know what I have to deal with! … how can you make an assumption about me?’.  

Not only am I going to declare an assumption of you, I am also going to assume, that you will agree with my assumption as truth.

What can he possibly assume about me that is not only true but that I will also be willing to agree is true?

My assumption, my belief, my bias, my prejudice is that you are DOING the BEST YOU Can.

The absolute quickest way to meet someone where they are, to be empathetic, to see them, and have them feel seen and heard is to ASSUME they are doing their best.

Assume - We are all doing our Best

In life, there is suffering.  Aspiration is suffering and Life!  As soon as you go to another level, you see a new vision of how infinite the possibilities are, and often, it all becomes too awful to live without the continued pursuit of the next thing.  It is a magnificent thing to be awakened to aspire for the rest of our breathing days AND you will encounter suffering anyway, might as well suffer with Purpose.  

Wellness is suffering.