There is an old story about a man who sold hot dogs by the roadside. Life was simple and very good for the elder gentlemen.
- He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers.
- He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio.
- His eyes were weak, so he never watched television.
However, enthusiastically, he sold lots of hot dogs. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more meat and got himself a bigger and a better grill. Things were certainly going well.
As his business continued to grow, his son, who had recently graduated from college, joined his father. Then something strange happened.
The son asked, “Dad, aren’t you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?” The father replied, “No, but tell me about it.” The son said, “The international situation is terrible. The domestic is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad time.”
The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, and listened to the radio, he ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly.
So the next day, the father cut down his order for the meat and buns, took down the sign and was no longer enthusiastic. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his hot dog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly. The father said to his son, “Son, you were right. We are in the middle of a recession. I am glad you warned me ahead of time.”
This same process is happening to US today. The national media (radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, Internet) reports only the negative for the simple reason that they make more money by doing so. If we allow them to control our dominant thought we downsize, lay off, reduce advertising and training, become less creative, fail to offer service as we should, etc.
This is an interesting concept at a time when we see very successful organizations grow, hire more people, become more creative, increase advertising, marketing and training, enhance customer service, and offer new products and services.
As a result, they prosper at time when we’re told that can’t and won’t happen! You can see examples in most every industry today. The moral of this story SHOULDN’T have to be explained. It’s as plain as the nose on your face! However, it’s quite obvious that far too many CANNOT learn from these positive examples. For those we offer the following:
- Many times we confuse intelligence with good judgment.
- A person may have high intelligence but poor judgment.
- Choose your advisers carefully and use your judgment.
- The tragedy is that there are many walking encyclopedias who are living failures.
- YOU control your most DOMINANT THOUGHT and you will ALWAYS move in that direction! What is YOUR most DOMINANT THOUGHT at the moment?
About Harry K. Jones
Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.