Even YOU Can’t Please Everyone

The 1887 illustration by Walter Crane says it well.You can’t make everyone happy… Mayor Giuliani learns his lesson.

Rudy Giuliani tells the story of when he was first elected Mayor of New York City he learned that lesson immediately.  He said, “…I quickly discovered that if I came up with a plan to hand out $100 bills in Times Square there would be some people who would come up and say, 'Why are you giving $100 bills to these useless people for nothing? You're encouraging laziness, sorriness, you're encouraging people to look for handouts - This is crazy!'" He said on the other hand, there would be another group lined up to say, 'Why are you giving such a small amount of money? $100 is not going to make a difference in their life. If you're going to give money, why not give $1,000, something substantial, something that could make a difference? Why waste your time giving out $100 bills?'

He said, "I quickly learned that as Mayor of New York City there was no way I was going to come up with any kind of program that everybody would be happy with."  

The story of the Grandfather and the Young Boy
In a similar vein, there is a story of the young boy and the grandfather who lived outside of the village and wanted to go into town. The next day the grandfather put the little boy on the donkey and led him into town.  When they got there, they could see the town people whispering among themselves.  

“Look at that old man. Look how he's spoiling the young boy. He's making the young boy lazy. He's coddling the young boy. This is crazy! The young boy needs to realize he's got to pull his own weight in the world. He's got to take care of himself. He's got to grow up. This is terrible”.  

So the grandfather listens to this. The criticism stings him and he thinks about it as he's going home. and so the next time he went to town, he rode the donkey and had the little boy lead him.  

Now when he got into town, he heard others talking among themselves saying… “Can you believe the old man taking advantage of young, poor boy, making him work while the old man lazily rides the donkey?  

The boy's too young. He's not strong enough to lead the donkey. If something were to startle the donkey, he wouldn't be able to control it. This is crazy! What is the old man thinking? He's only thinking of himself.” 

So the old man pondered this in his heart on the way home and he came up with a plan to solve all the criticism. So the next time they went to town the old man and the young boy carried the donkey.

The Moral? Try to please everyone and you’ll just frustrate yourself.

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Feedback: Have you ever got caught up in a losing effort like this yourself?

Do You Ever Get...Confused?

"Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success." —Bo BennettAre you ever totally confused about what to do next?

FRUSTRATED? Ever get so totally frustrated that your head almost explodes?

HERE’S HOW TO USE THOSE UPSETTING EMOTIONS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

When you are confused, realize it's a a good sign. The reason is that if you have something you care about, something you are trying to make happen. You are simply at a point where the course of action you chose didn’t work, so realize this….

Confusion is the beginning of clarity. When you have made your best efforts to make something positive happen and instead of turning out great it bombs, you say to yourself obviously I had the wrong idea on this so now what? I’m confused about why it didn’t work.

Exactly at this moment when you have your full attention on the problem you perfectly prepared to learn something surprising and magical. You are prepared to see what actually needs to be done to solve the problem: YOU ARE READY TO LEARN!

The information you get will be insights you can use the rest of your life. How do you get it?

ASK! GET SOME FRESH IDEAS

Ask someone who you know or can find who has gone through the same or at least similar situation successfully and see how they handled it. Or get a book on the subject and get fresh insight on how to approach it.

Where will you get the energy? FROM YOUR FRUSTRATION! Properly understood, frustration can be a great advantage to you because…

Frustration is the fuel of growth. I feel sorry for those who never get upset about things, never explode, never get excited or never get angry because it seems as if they just don’t really care about anything. They are so blasé, nothing bothers them. As a result they never really account for much. They never stand up and fight injustice. They never find anything they are willing to fight for. They never care enough to make a positive impact and change things for the better. They just can’t be bothered.

But that’s not you. You get confused, you get frustrated because you care. You care deeply. As a result, you will be one who makes a difference.

So remember when you get involved in the fight to make good things happen…

CONFUSION IS THE BEGINNING OF CLARITY and FRUSTRATION IS THE FUEL OF GROWTH!

If you "walk" when you chase, you never "catch."

Stay on the Attack when pursuing Greatness!

When chasing a big dream—when you’re trying to make a huge breakthrough and it’s taking forever to get there, you’re frustrated. You’re confused. You’re doubting.

Here’s what you’ve got to do: stay on the attack. You cannot afford to back off. Nothing good comes from backing off. Stay on the attack!
 
Why does this work? Success, big discoveries, big breakthroughs are always very elusive, very tough to find, very tough to make happen. Especially the first time. That’s why they’re so rare and precious.

The fact that  you are wildly frustrated is a sign that you have put in massive amounts of time, energy and effort and are closing in on your breakthrough! If you were not close you wouldn’t be expecting the breakthrough and you wouldn’t be so incredibly disappointed that it hadn’t happened yet. 
 
That is a clear sign to you that you’re on the right track and you’re getting closer. You are eliminating the things that are standing between you and success and you’re just about there, so…

Stay on the Attack. You’re almost there!

Stay on the Attack when Pursing Greatness!

IF YOU "WALK" WHEN YOU CHASE, YOU NEVER "CATCH."

When chasing a big dream, when you’re trying to make a huge breakthrough and it’s taking forever to get there. You’re frustrated. You’re confused. You’re doubting.

Here’s what you’ve got to do.  

Stay on the attack. You can not afford to back off. Nothing good comes from backing off. Stay on the attack!

Why does this work?

Success, big discoveries, big breakthroughs are always very elusive, very tough to find, very tough to make happen. Especially the first time.  

That’s why they’re so rare and precious.

The fact that you are wildly frustrated is a sign that you have put in massive amounts of time, energy and effort and are closing in on your breakthrough.
 
If you were not close you wouldn’t be expecting the breakthrough and you wouldn’t be so incredibly disappointed that it hadn’t happened yet. That's a clear sign to you that you’re on the right track and you’re getting closer.
 
You are eliminating the things that are standing between you and success and you’re just about there, so…
 

Stay on the Attack. You’re almost there!