Personal Development Blog

Why do most of us put so much stock in the opinions of others?  I think if you really look at many of the decisions you make in your life, they are driven by a desire to gain recognition by others, or avoid others having a bad opinion of you.  The sad thing is that we often just hurt ourselves by doing this- we may waste time and money on activities that benefit us in no way other than impacting the thoughts of others.  What’s even more sad is that we often delude ourselves in thinking we have more impact on others than is really the case.

An Austrian millionaire is giving away £3 million after coming to the conclusion that his riches simply make him unhappy.  He’s giving it all up for a much simpler life.

This is a story to really think about.  So many of us seek more money and things our entire life, equating happiness to obtaining more of it.  Are we missing something about happiness? 

I think the important thing to realize is that most everything in life comes down to our beliefs, attitudes, and thoughts, this is no different.  Perhaps if he had more control over his own beliefs and thoughts, he could find happiness without forcibly removing the thing he is too obsessed about.  I enjoy money and things but I”m generally pretty happy with what I already have, I think that’s the key.

Frank’s Story

The quarterly sales figures just came in; Frank had just learned that his marketing plan had failed dismally. He had been so sure his idea was a winner and that it would lead to a much needed promotion that would allow him to finally move his family out of that dump they were living in. Frank pondered his situation, and started thinking about who must have messed things up. Perhaps it was sales, they clearly must have misunderstood his plan. How could he ever get ahead when working with incompetents like that? Or perhaps it was his boss to blame; maybe his boss had never spoke to the director of sales like he had asked, to tell the director his marketing plan was the top priority.