People Matter

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” [i] I can’t think of a better way to describe familiar love than that. Those who know you best (those who matter most) don’t mind as long as you’re honest, open and sincere about who and what you are.

Similar values, attitudes, goals and follow through are some of the most simple but profound ways to establish and strengthen relationships. These characteristics are innately nurtured in healthy families and societies but are ridiculed and squashed in dysfunctional relationships and communities.

It has been said that confidence… knowing who you are…and responsibility… living up to who you are…. are the fundamental keys for developing lasting relationships. “Today you are YOU, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”[ii] But WHO are you is the real question of the hour! That is because WHO you are is more important than the fact that you are.

I’m forever grateful to my parents for teaching me the purpose of meaningful work. There is no better way to build confidence in a child (or an adult) than by providing them with meaningful work to accomplish. But meaningful work will not produce the second fundamental key for developing lasting relationships (responsibility) unless the values, attitudes, goals and work ethic (follow through) is kindled as well. Meaningful work provided without assurance of completion produces arrogance and egotism.

Glumly, this is exactly what government programs like our schooling system, and other social programs, has encouraged and nourished for far too many decades. What we face today is a society of bold, self-centered, entitlement demanders, who have failed to complete the meaningful work which was provided for them.

That is why it is so rewarding to work with folks who have read the Prescription For Wealth and Becoming Your Own Banker. Typically these folks are both confident and responsible. They have, and are continually involved in meaningful work, desiring to build a legacy so that others will be able to carry on with that meaningful work even after they are gone, making the world a better place for everyone to live and interact in. They don’t commit themselves to dead end jobs just in order to survive, but are continually pursuing opportunities which will enrich themselves and others. Essentially they realize that People Matter.

If you, or someone you know and care about understand that People Matter too, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of either of the two books mentioned above, read them and share them. Because “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” [iii] Then you won’t have to “cry because it’s over. (You can) smile because it happened.”[iv]

By Tomas McFie

[i] Dr. Suess quotes
[ii] Ibid
[iii] Maya Angelou
[iv] Dr. Suess quotes