After numerous angry phone calls at the Maroochydore High School in Queensland Australia faculty decided to record this answering machine message.

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And it serves as a great object lesson that you can never truly succeed if you try to be something or someone that you know in your heart isn’t the real you!

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Sadly in life and in business many people are quick to make judgements without a full knowledge of the situation at hand.

As a marketer I have dealt with literally tens of thousands of people worldwide both face to face as clients, in seminars and via my various ezines.

I have learned a very valuable lesson: “Don’t Believe Everything That You Here!”

Or as one of my business buddies likes to say: “What are the FACTS, Jack?”

Stop and ask yourself that question next time you are faced with a situation that requires you to exercise judgement. It could save you from looking like a fool down the track…

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In reality, it has everything to do with it. You see, when people come to us as marketers they are literally placing their hopes and dreams for a beter, brighter, future for themselves and their loved ones  in the palms of our hands.

And… if we treat that lightly – something dies on the inside of us and after a while, just like a corpse, it begins to stink.

Lets face it…

People aren’t stupid.

Even a dog knows if you like it – how much more a person!

We have all met people who have the ‘Love-People-Use-Things’ formula the wrong way around.

No matter how charismatic, talented and  gifted these individuals are – there is something about them, isn’t there? that makes you feel strange and uneasy on the inside and, on a gut-level, you start to hear the warning bells ringing long before you see the fruit of their actions.

One immediate warning sign about such people is that they are often quick to run others down.

Another is that they lack substance and often are found doing what my good friend, James Yuille from MediaGlue.com.au calls, “Selling Hope to the Hopeless”

I have decided in my own business that I just won’t wast a single minute in giving  my energy to negative people. 

I refuse to associate with them, listen to  or work for them.

Okay – lets look at the right way and the results it creates.

When you treat your role as a marketer as a sacred trust- when you appreciate the fact that people are trusting you to help grow their business and increase sales – it literally releases a flow of creativity that can ONLY happen when you truly have the welfare and prosperity of others in mind.

It creates clients that stick with you for years and makes for a wonderful life!

Love People – Use Things! You’ll Never Regret It!

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“Okay, he can leave school this week” she replied.

The ‘They” he was referring to were a group of about 20 kids who hated him and used to take turns in picking fights with him almost every day.

His crime?

Having a different accent.

He was one of just two kids in the East Fremantle  high school with a British accent. For some strange reason this was enough for them to hate him and to do everything they could to make his life an absolute  ’Hell on Earth’

This was back in 1974 when Australia was far less the tolerant and multi-cultural place it is today.

And so the kid would go to his locker after sport only to discover 20 kids had spat on the inside of his shoes – or worse sill to see that they had shoved his shirt down the urinal yet again.

The anger in his heart led him to fight and he could mix it with the best of them – except for the fact that only in the Kung Fu movies can someone really take on multiple opponents and win.

Worst of all, the teachers did absolutely nothing. Some even joined in the bullying calling him a “Pommy B” at every opportunity.

As he sat there that day hearing the words of the headmaster and seeing his education being torn from his grasp, he thought to himself; “This is so unfair!”

But he determined that it wouldn’t be the end.

And ever a few months later, when he tried to stop his Stepfather from killing his Mother in a drunken fit of rage – only to end up having to leave home for good (because to stay would have invited serious injury even death) the kid still tried to keep his dreams alive.

But it wasn’t easy.

Just 14 years old, out of school, no money and now a street kid is not exactly a recipe for happiness is it?

The kid absolutely hated ‘Sleeping Rough’ and  the dangers involved in living on the streets – well you can only imagine how that would be enough to break anyone’s heart.

But still he kept his dreams alive.

He dreamed that one day he would have  a warm, loving relationship with the girl of his dreams. He dreamed of being able to travel all over the world to meet amazing people of being able to see and do amazing things.

He dreamed of having his own business that would touch lives and really make a difference for the better.

He dreamed of writing stuff that would be read all over the world. It wasn’t easy but the kid never let go of his dreams.

Sometimes, down through the years, it felt as if his dreams were a stream that had dissapeared deep underground and out of sight (Like the time he was divorced after years in an empty, loveless marriage and was convinced he’d never ever find love again) only to see them burst to the surface once more – bringing fresh hope and new found inspiration, direction and purpose.

Along the way he discovered that he had a special gift. He could use words to grab attention, inspire and motivate. He never felt more alive than when he was speaking to others, showing them how to see their dreams come true.

Eventually, the kid grew up into a man and started his own company, went all over the world helping others find the keys they needed  to grow their business and increase sales.

He even  found the absolute love of his life in a beautiful Chinese  woman that shows him more love in a day than he used to see in a year.

And who makes him feel so deeply wanted, loved and appreciated that even a few weeks ago, when he turned 50, he was able to stop and look back on all the hard times and think to himself…”Thank God I never let those dreams die!”

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Make sure that you give the children in your life ‘Quality’ time.

One day – when you are gone- it won’t matter that you made heaps of money or that you got that extra deal. They won’t remember that.

But they will remember (and hopefully treasure) the time that you spend with them.

There is another way that children spell the word love – L.I.S.T.E.N. Listen when they ask you questions. You don’t even need to know all the answers but you do need to listen.

So you need to spend quality time with your kids and listen to them.

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