We’re All the Stars of Our Own Movies

Photo by Laura Bailey

People All Love Their Own Choices

People write a lot about what they think when they blog. And in either the positions that are taken in the posting, or the responses to the post, the passion of the writer’s positions are evident. But passion by itself doesn’t make a position tenable. My Brand is the best. Your Brand is the worst. I love a National Brand. I don’t like National Brands. Big is better. Small is better. I generate all of my own leads. My company generates all of the leads. I do make money from referrals. I don’t make money from referrals. Anyone who doesn’t blog will be extinct in (blank) years. Everyone should blog. All of them are arguments that should be quantified in order to have some validity.

I’m OK With Opinion

Opinions are great. They’re like nostrils, everyone has at least one, most people have at least two. And that’s fine. Your opinion is as important as anyone else’s , more valid then those with less experience, less valid then those with more experience. But they are opinions, one person’s perception of a particular issue in a wide universe.

We live in a place where the free expression of opinions is encouraged. Just don’t try to impose your opinions on me. If you want me to buy into your point of view Convince me!

Doubt Can Be a Good Thing

I like the way my business is structured better then any other structure. I like the size, the brand, the technology, the locations, the culture, and the people. Because these are my choices, I believe they are best for me. I see other people’s choices and they don’t make sense to me, but if they did, they would be my choice, and I would think that it was the best thing in the world. Even so, we constantly work on the business to make it better, because I believe that you cannot achieve perfection, you can only strive for it (with the exception of my wife, who is indeed perfection) But its a mistake to think that our choices are the only choices. Nor is it good to believe that other choices are wrong because they are not our choices. Doubt everything so you question everything and can measure it again and again so you can try to make things better.

Vanilla is not better then chocolate, its different. I am a chocoholic (not recovering, but in an active addiction thank you) and I am married to a wonderful woman who hates chocolate. We are proof that a mixed marriage can work, and that differing points of view don’t have to be right or wrong sometimes, they can be different.

We are all the stars of our own movies. But I think we do better if we remember that there is much to be learned from the successes of others who have made different choices.

Look, my movie still isn’t over, and I don’t know where it will lead, but I do know that I choose to listen to everyone’s story, and take from their choices something I can use. I don’t assume that my path is the right path for everyone, just that it works for me. And always try to remember , that maybe, even the paths that don’t work for us have some valuable lessons for us.