Sometimes looking at opposites brings things into greater clarity…

  1. Be Reactive: Give away your personal power; hold others responsible for your emotions and reactions. See yourself as a powerless victim with little opportunity to create change. Vent and complain bitterly, hang around others who do the same and enthusiastically support your downbeat world view. Attribute the success of others to luck or favoritism.
  2. Begin with No End in Mind: Be impulsive, follow the crowd. Derive your values from Madison Ave and social media. Live exclusively for the moment, give no thought whatsoever for the morrow. Let your emotions rule supreme.
  3. Put Second Things First: Follow the brightest, shiniest object around until it loses its luster, then look around for the next exciting thing. Respond to the loudest bell, regardless of who or what is ringing it, prioritize the most urgent regardless of importance. Let others set your priorities.
  4. Think Win-Lose: Life is all about WINNING! Life is a zero-sum game and in order for me to win, you are going to have to lose! Sorry about that… NOT!
  5. Seek First to Be Understood: Hey! I’m in a hurry here and I need you to understand what I want. Got it? So, listen up. Oh and no need to tell me your point of view, I already know where you are coming from because I’ve just projected my autobiography onto you and I’m great at diagnosing without understanding. So much faster that way!
  6. Differences/Disagreements = Weakness/Threat: Synergy is just a buzzword. Need to get everybody on board ASAP and signed on to the program that I’ve created. Any disagreement, feedback, or input is an attack upon my competence and don’t think I don’t know it!
  7. Sharpening the Saw = Waste of Time: There are so many fun, interesting things do other than self-improvement/personal growth! Boring! The saw works, right? So, what’s the big deal? What’s on TV? What’s in the frig? When is happy hour?

As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier