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Sometimes it takes years, but eventually we all learn valuable lessons. Here are some things I wish I had known years ago.

Now I know that no matter how hard I try to please others, some people will refuse to be pleased. And at that point it’s their problem, not mine.
Now I know that I am 50% of every relationship, no matter how powerful the other person is. I can never be more, but I can pretend to be less.
Now I know it’s up to me to teach people how I want to be treated and that people will never give me any more respect than I am willing to give myself.
Now I know that if somebody offers me something, and I want it, instead of politely saying, “No,” it’s smart to say, “Yes, I’ll take it. Thank you.”
Now I know that whenever I propose a positive change, I’ll get 3 responses. Some will embrace it, others will cautiously accept it, and the rest will instantly resist it. It’s smart for me to first win over the embracers and acceptors and then together we will work on the resisters.

I want to pass along some other smart ideas to you. For a free subscription to SMART IDEAS for Leaders monthly e-newsletter, click on Smarter by the Minute at the DAER site and then click on “Talk Back to Doug.” The newsletter is free. I look forward to hearing from you!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 5:30 am and is filed under Podcast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.