I LOVE DANIEL PINK!

Welcome to the latest edition of our irregular and irreverent newsletter. Thanks for being one of more than 100,000 people around the world who subscribe. 

In this issue, you’ll find a list of my 10 favorite books of the year — along with advice on how not to get conned.

Let’s get started.

MY 10 FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
Okay, every other “media outlet” is assembling its end-of-year best books list. Why not the Pink newsletter?  Herewith, in alphabetical order by author, the 10 most compelling books I read this year.  

The Light of the World: A Memoir
by Elizabeth Alexander
In 1996, Alexander, a well-known poet, met Ficre Ghebreyesus, a chef originally from Eritrea. Within a few weeks, they decided to get married. Within three years, they had two sons. Then in 2012, Ficre dropped dead of a heart attack. Alexander’s account of her grief is riveting. I read nearly the entire book in one sitting. 

Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Justice
by Adam Benforado
Law professor Benforado argues that our legal system is built on assumptions about human behavior that just aren’t true.  Some examples: Eyewitness testimony is utterly unreliable, yet we use it to convict people. Human beings stink at detecting lies, yet jurors think they’re great at it. And, amazingly, false confessions are quite easy to produce. This book deserved way more attention than it received. 

Friend & Foe: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both
by Adam Galinsky and Maurice Schweitzer
You might remember this one from the 4Q4 this duo did for this newsletter. This is a smart, practical book that lives up to its promise to help you become “a better friend and more formidable foe."

Fates and Furies 
by Lauren Groff
Whenever a book gets as much acclaim as this one — glowing reviews, a National Book Award nomination, even a Presidential endorsement — I become a bit skeptical. But this fast-paced literary novel, which tells the story of a marriage from two contrasting perspectives, deserves every plaudit. It’s gobsmackingly good. 

How to Raise An Adult 
by Julie Lythcott-Haims
Another 4Q4 book. Former Stanford Dean of Freshmen Lythcott-Haims aims her howitzer at helicopter parents — and teaches us how to trust our kids. 

The Road Not Taken: Finding America in the Poem Everyone Loves and Almost Everyone Gets Wrong
by David Orr
You wouldn’t think an book-length dissection of Robert Frost’s “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” poem would be a great read. But Orr’s book is a gem — wise, funny, and insightful.

Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life
by Tom Rath
This slim book packs a massive punch. Rath, who has a string of culture-shifting bestsellers, harvests a trove of science to explain the importance of pursuing meaning, improving your interactions, and taking common-sense steps to boost your energy. 

Infamy: The Shocking Story of Japanese American Internment in World War II 
by Richard Reeves
Shortly after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor 50 years ago, the U.S. government rounded up more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans and incarcerated them at "relocation centers.” This remains one of the most disgraceful episodes in American history. I read this back in April, but Reeves’s elegantly told tale has new relevance today as some of the very same xenophobia and racism rear their heads again. 

The Arab of the Future: 1978 to 1984
by Riad Sattouf
Young Riad has a French mother, a Syrian father, and a head of shockingly blond hair. In this graphic novel he tells the story of his early childhood. Fans ofPersepolis will love this one.  

The Speechwriter: A Brief Education in Politics
by Barton Swaim
A regular guy leaves academia to become a speechwriter for the Governor of South Carolina. Complications ensue. This chronicle — at once hilarious and sad — is the best book on politics I’ve read in years.

HOW TO OUTSMART TRICKSTERS, FRAUDS, AND CON ARTISTS 
4 QUESTIONS FOR MARIA KONNIKOVA

Have you ever been conned? Chances are, you said no. And chances are, you’re wrong. Human beings — including smarty-pants humans like you and me — turn out to be incredibly susceptible to trickery, deceit, and flim-flammery. That’s one message of The Confidence Game: Why We Fall For It Every Time (Buy it:Amazon | BN.Com | IndieBound), a great new book coming out in a few weeks from New Yorker writer Maria Konnikova.  In this elegantly written and deeply researched work, Maria uses confidence games as a window to understanding human behavior and cognition — especially our hard-wired desire to believe and our tendency to confirm our existing beliefs and to discard contrary evidence. 

I asked Maria to give us a preview by being our latest participant in 4Q4, a regular feature where I ask authors four questions about their book — the same four questions every time. 

1. Maria, what’s the big idea?
At its core, The Confidence Game is about the nature of belief: why we believe the things we do, how our beliefs are formed, and why they are so persistent. Human nature craves meaning—and good con artists are only too happy to provide that meaning for us. They are experts at reading our deepest desires and at crafting a version of reality that makes those desires seem possible, even likely. Every single one of us is a potential victim, because every single one of us carries a deep-rooted need to believe in a better, or at the least, most logical, version of the world. And the more immune and urbane we think we are, the more likely we are to fall for the grifter’s wiles. 

2. How do you know?
Over three years, I interviewed dozens of conmen and their victims, learning their stories and discerning patterns in their experiences, comparing them to grifters of yore to see whether the essence of the confidence man remains the same in the twenty-first century as it was hundreds of years ago. I supplemented those interviews with hundreds of psychological studies, ranging from work on psychopathy and narcissism to research into our self-serving biases to experiments on how beliefs are formed and how we perceive and interpret reality. 

3. Why should I care?
All of us come face to face with potential cons on a daily basis: that weight-loss product that will let you lose the last few pounds with little effort, that multi-hundred dollar face cream that will make you look ten years younger, the street hustler who has lost his wallet, the brilliant investor who will make you rich, the love of your life waiting just on the other side of OkCupid. This book will teach you how to spot them—and how to know yourself well enough to recognize when you just might be falling for wishful thinking.

4. What should I do?
There are a number of steps you can take to both recognize a con in progress and improve your ability to avoid getting conned. Some examples:

—  Learn how some of the most common persuasion tactics work, such as the foot-in-the-door (someone will ask you for something small, and then work up to a much bigger request) or the door-in-the-face (someone will ask you for something big, you will of course say no, but then you’ll feel guilty—and be much more likely to say yes next time around, which is what the con artist was counting on all along).

—  Learn to recognize the things that can be easily manipulated to make you like and trust someone, like familiarity (you’ve seen them around before, or they seem to know someone you know…think of all the Facebook friend requests from friends-of-friends who seem trustworthy by virtue of that connection) and the chameleon effect (they seem like you, in beliefs, background, and actions).

— Set limits and learn to exit any situation with grace. Many of us fall for cons because we don’t know how to say no without losing face once we’re hooked part-way. Pre-commit yourself to certain limits, and have a goal-oriented action plan for possible interactions (If I am asked to do this, then I will respond by politely saying that I can’t, for this reason…).

More: The Confidence Game: Why We Fall For It Every Time

That’s all for this edition and for 2015. As always, thanks for reading our humble newsletter. Have a healthy, happy, and hopeful New Year.

Cheers,
Daniel Pink

Which Category Do You Fall Under?

Which category do you fall under?

Guest Blog: On personality, emotional labor, and surviving the holidays

I ran across this blog post this week and thought it would be very appropriate to share.

On personality, emotional labor, and surviving the holidays. By Anne on Nov 23, 2015 08:11 am I just finished listening to an old podcast where Dan Pink interviews Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. I’ve read (and loved) Quiet before, but here on the cusp of the holiday season—for my own survival’s sake—I’m making myself revisit a concept I learned of from Cain: emotional labor. In the podcast, Cain explains that introverts can be extremely, genuinely social—even for long periods of time—and enjoy being so. But for true introverts, putting on this extroverted front over a period of days or weeks isexhausting. This phenomenon has a name: it’s called “emotional labor,” and it’s what you experience any time you project (or, to put it not-so-nicely, fake) an emotion or attitude that doesn’t come easily. In Quiet, Cain describes emotional labor as “the effort we make to control and change our own emotions,” and says it’s “associated with stress, burnout, and even physical symptoms like an increase in cardiovascular disease.” That doesn’t sound good, but it nevertheless rings true: I’m no stranger to the peculiar introvert exhaustion she describes. And while I hate the idea that I work to project emotions I don’t really feel, I have to admit I do this all the time—especially as an introvert. There are many, many times every day when I make myself get interested in my kid’s art project instead of heading out for a walk by myself, or tell my kids they can dance to the Laurie Berkner Christmas album for the third time in a row when I would prefer the quiet. These issues are top of mind right now because the holidays are especially taxing for introverts. It’s taken meyears to realize that as much as I enjoy the holiday festivities, they’re incredibly draining. Seeing old friends, visiting family, packing and traveling, and the kids’ contagious excitement are all good things, but they take their toll. I still need need to remind myself to plan accordingly: to take that walk by myself, go to bed early, or curl up for an hour with a movie or a good book. Do you relate to this experience of emotional labor? How do you manage it during the holidays?

Kicking The Cat

The master motivator, author, and speaker Zig Ziglar came up with this wonderful analogy years ago. Here’s a paraphrased version of his great work.

Mr. C was the top dog.  He could come and go as he wanted. He enjoyed lunches at the club almost every day.  One day he simply lost track of time.   He looked at his watch and realized he was going really late in getting back to work. He left the restaurant and jumped in his car. He burned rubber leaving the parking lot. As he got on the freeway he put the pedal to the metal.  As he sped down the highway, his heart skipped a beat when he heard the siren. He’d been clocked doing 96 mph.

As he stopped the officer simply asked, “Where’re you going in such a hurry?” “I’m needed at work,” he replied abruptly, “I’m a very important man!”  “Well, you’re not above the law.”  “I didn’t say I was … but shouldn’t you be chasing real criminals and leave me alone?”  “I’ll leave you alone in a few minutes. Let’s see your driver’s license, registration, and insurance card.”

Mr. C handed him the requested information. Then he sat there and stewed. As the minutes passed by, he got more and more angry.  The officer came back and handed him a ticket, along with the rest of his documents. He grabbed them out of the officer’s hand, rolled up his window, and took off down the road.

He finally arrived at work. He was really late now. When he finally got to the office, the first person he saw was his sales manager.

“How’s it going, Mr. C” said the sales manager with a smile.  “I want to see you in my office NOW!”, was Mr. C’s response.  The sales manager followed him into his office.

As Mr. C  threw his coat down on the couch, he yelled at the sales manager, “You fell short of your goal last week for the second week in a row. I want to know what you’re going to do to get back on track and I want to know now.”  “Mr. C, we talked about this yesterday. We have four big deals. Any one of them will put us over the top and I’m sure we’ll get at least one of them.”  “I’ll believe it when I see it,” Mr. C blurted out while looking at some papers on his desk. “You’re dismissed.”

The bewildered sales manager walked back to his office. When he got there, the first person he saw was his assistant. He screamed at her. She screamed at someone who screamed at someone else.

And so it went for the rest of the day.

Eventually the receptionist got yelled at. When she got home, the first person she saw was her twelve-year old boy. She yelled at him and sent him to his room.

On the way to his room, the family cat walked in front of him. He kicked the cat!

So here’s the question –
Wouldn’t it have been much better, for everyone involved, if Mr. C had just gone directly to the receptionist’s house and kicked the cat?

I love this story, there are rough days almost every week and I really hope that I do not spend my day kicking other people, or as far as that goes even kicking my cat!

Nothing Changes When Nothing Changes

Today I was reminded of some really good principles in the John Kotter book, Leading Change.

John is the  co-founder of Kotter International.  As business consultancy firm they apply Kotter's research on leadership, strategy execution, transformation, and any form of large-scale change to businesses of all sizes.
I believe these principles apply to both my business and my personal life. 

Here’s what John’s book has taught me:

1.  Establish a sense of urgency.  So, what am I dissatisfied  with?
2.  Form a guiding coalition. Leading change of any size requires getting buy in from people around me.  Does our mission and values align and are we committed to our future.
3.  Develop a vision and strategy.  Have we put in the time to really develop a vision that attracts  and drives action?
4.  Communicate the vision.  This one is a favorite.  Do I communicate our vision effectively. Without great communication, a vision is a mere dream.  Mr. Kotter is right—“Behavior from important people that is inconsistent with the vision overwhelms other forms of communication.”

5.  Empower others to act.  Do I empower and deploy others for action?  Have I removed obstacles?
6.  Generate short-term wins.  Have I identified and complimented others around me? I remember being taught as a parent that it takes 7 praises  to counteract one put-down comment!7.  Consolidate improvements and produce more change.  Effective change gives me more credibility to keep making changes.
8.  Anchor new approaches in the culture.  Great culture is what helps us thrive. Again,  Kotter stated: “Culture is not something you manipulate easily. Culture changes only after people’s actions have been changed”

A semiannual habit of mine is to take half a day alone and consider changes I need to make.  I ask myself:
Who am I?  What am I doing?  How will I reach my goals?   When will I implement change?  Finally, if I continue on my current path will I be where I want to be in six months?

If  the answer is NO --- What needs to change?  Time is of the essence for me in both my business and my personal life.

I don’t know about you, but years ago I learned, “Nothing changes, When nothing changes!”


It really is true, “This world will simply push me through---I must be strong and open to all the constant change I need to make in order to stay up with this fast paced world.” 

Happy Days

Did you hear an icon died on October 30^th?   

Al of “Happy Days” is gone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Molinaro

“Happy Days” was a favorite TV show of mine.  Yes, it was predictable and impractical, but it painted a very romantic picture of the 1950’s, my kid - decade.

As a kid I remember dreaming of being an adult:

I would make my own decisions.  No one would tell me “Go, pick up your room.” “Carolyn, stop talking, listen!”  Remember, “Yes, ma’am or no, ma’am”.  “You may play in your own yard.”  “No snacks before dinner.” 

There would be diners where I’d sit and share hamburgers with all my friends.  We would eat all the french-fries we could hold, and drink chocolate milk shakes anytime of the day. 

We could dance all day and talk all night. Our clothes would stay clean and our shoes would never wear out.  It was going to be a perfect world!  After all, I would be an adult.  I’d be entitled.

Unfortunately as a child I didn’t understand King Solomon’s words, in Proverbs 4:26-27:  “Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.  Don’t get sidetracked”.

As an adult, I lead others. 

Our team is a collective whole and we have a vision:

“We exist as an Escrow Team to provide Arizona Realtors and Lenders cutting edge marketing and educational opportunities.  In turn providing them the most effective and efficient escrow closing process achievable while maintaining a high standard for Great American Title Agency, Inc.”

So, I will admit I do not live in the wonderful world of the 1950’s, however I love what I do.  I love who we serve.

As 2015 draws to a conclusion we are once again looking forward to serving you on November 19^th at the 9^th annual Thanksgiving Lunch at the Stapley Center.  Please mark you calendar for lunch with us between 11 and 1 on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, as we will again celebrate some very happy days!

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In The Dance

I’m in the middle of a 15 day leadership challenge.
  

Leadership is a lifelong passion.  I want to grow in my understanding of life and help others grow as well.  Simply put, I desire to be better and aspire for both myself and others to do different. 

With that in mind here’s what I learned today from  “The Power of Vulnerability” presented by Patrick Lencioni. 

Patrick began his talk with a simple quote: “ People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” Samuel Johnson English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 - 1784)

His talk highlighted three basic fears: 

1. The fear of losing - We have a fear of losing so  we simply do not tell the truth.  Not that we are to be rude, or curse however we need to learn to tell the kind truth.
2. We are fearful of being embarrassed - Therefore, we avoid saying anything.  Really as a leader it is not my job to look good it’s my job to express opinions about what might work.
3. And then there is the fear of being inferior - It’s difficult to admit when things may not be up to snuff.

You know, life is interesting. Just before I participated in today’s challenge, a good friend stopped by. In our conversation we commented to each other  “We’re out of shape as an industry. We like to look to others and cast blame.”

Numbers are down across the board and I often hear, “It’s not my fault”.

Guess what? We’re ALL responsible! There’s lots of work, but to secure it may not be easy! 

Experience has taught me, if we are unwilling to put in the effort we’ll not reap the reward.

So today’s thought:  Life in the world of residential real estate is simple,  “It’s all about closing the escrow. The escrow is all about getting through the loan process, and we cannot get through the loan process when there is not a contract.

A contract is written when folks find a home they want to buy or sell the one they are in.  People find homes when they have  Real Estate Agents, show houses or sit down to talk about listing the home for sale.  Agents list homes and show houses when they meet people who they have been introduced to.  Buyers and Sellers are found when we all listen and talk to others.  We create conversations when we spend time sending cards, talking with friends and family, and visiting in our spheres of influence” (the old send, call, see). 

Sound familiar?  The progression from start to finish is about 90 days.  We’re all in the dance somewhere.  The real question for each one of us is, when are we going to start?

It's That Time of Year!

I’m devoted to fall---it my favorite time of the year!

Did you feel the change this past week?  That last monsoon rain changed everything, no more 100 degree days, at least not till May. 

I adore the Arizona winter!  The evenings, for me, are reminiscent of a slower pace of life.  Quiet evenings beside the fire pit, beautiful sunsets, light jackets and a hot toddy.  Oh, and let’s not forget fresh citrus right off the tree.   

We experience a magical transformation!  Right now it’s the perfect time to plant a fall garden and the roses are bursting with color.

It’s hard to believe that we’re in the last quarter of 2015. 

October brings Halloween (The Valley of the Sun is the only spot I know, where in the 1960’s grown ups actually dressed up and went “trick-or-treating”). 

In case you forgot, October holds one of my fondest childhood memories.  Mother simply created costumes from hotel bed sheets and we went on the hunt for candy in a Tucson neighborhood - I’m sure the hotel never forgave her for ruining their sheets.

November hails Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving means lunch on November 19^th - our 9^th annual event.  Thanks to our administration, this GAT tradition has become one of my favorite adult memories. We all crowd into the office standing shoulder to shoulder or sit on the floor with plates full of food. You, our friends, help us be so successful.  This year lunch is between 11am and 1pm.  As my old tee shirt says, “it’s not about me!”

Christmas day this year is going to be a very special one for Ken and I - not only will it be perfect picnic/hot tub weather, it’s just a week before our son Cory and his wife, Lori fly in from Alaska for New Year’s. Guess what! I’m looking for the perfect New Year’s Eve Celebration - let me know if you have a spot in mind.

Yes, I have a weakness for fall. However, fall is also my best bi-annual planning time. 

I enjoy stopping and taking the time to reflect on what worked and what needs to change. This year I am strategically planning for 2016. 

Over the years I’ve learned some of us see more than others do. We need to look at what worked and plan for what needs to change. 

Sometimes I find myself so busy in today’s tasks I fail to plan for where we need to be down the road. 

So, enjoy this last quarter - but take the time to really think about 2016.  

What memories will you hold onto?

Who will you impact?

How will you change?

Daniel Pink's Thinking

I really love Daniel Pink’s thinking and this is timely!

Welcome to the latest edition of our irregular and irreverent newsletter. In this issue, you’ll find: another installment of our new interview feature, “Four Questions For” and 5 books, docs, and podcasts I’ve recently discovered. Let’s get started. WHEN TO COMPETE AND WHEN TO COOPERATE:  4 QUESTIONS FOR ADAM GALINSKY & MAURICE SCHWEITZER One of the questions we face — in business, school, or  just about any human system — is this: Should we cooperate? Or should we compete?  Now two eminent social scientists, Adam Galinsky andMaurice Schweitzer  have mined the research and discovered the answer: Well, you should kinda, sorta do both. Actually, the answer is far more sophisticated and fascinating than that. And they reveal it one of my favorite books of 2015, Friend & Foe. (Buy it at Amazon,B&N, or IndieBound.)  The book is rich with research, crisply written, and packed with shrewd advice. I asked Galinsky and Schweitzer to be our latest participants in 4Q4, a new feature where I ask authors four questions about their book — the same four questions every time.  Gentlemen, what’s the big idea? We are hardwired – in the very architecture of the human brain – to both cooperate and compete. We do both all the time, in every relationship, often unconsciously. That means that all of our relationships are characterized by the tension between being a friend and being a foe. At work, we collaborate with our colleagues to complete projects, but we compete for raises and promotions. As new parents, we cooperate to raise our infants, but compete for sleep. As siblings, we experience both “brotherly love” and “sibling rivalry.” Simply recognizing that this tension exists in every relationship can help us find the right balance between these forces and  achieve better outcomes at work and at home.   How do you know? Our book draws on hundreds of studies from the social sciences, animal studies, and neuroscience. Beyond the scientific evidence, we supplement our findings with real-world stories from a wide variety of areas. So you’ll read about how both airline pilots and Capuchin monkeys react furiously to unfairness, how cuckoo birds and Bernie Madoff engaged in deception, and how hierarchy helps bees, basketball teams, and Wall Street researchers succeed.   Why should I care? By understanding the tension between cooperation and competition, you will become a better friend and a more formidable foe.   What should I do? Because every relationship faces the competing forces of cooperation and competition, we need to find the right balance between being a friend and a foe. Here are some practical pieces of advice from three of the chapters.   How to nail a job interview: Balance confidence and deference. For confidence, just before the interview use our validated method: think of a time you had power. To be properly deferential, be sure to ask knowledgeable questions about the interviewer’s experience. How to apologize: Be fast, candid, focus on the victim, offer penance and articulate a commitment to change. How to negotiate:  If you have full information and know the other side deeply values what it seeks from you, make the first offer. When you make the first offer, present a choice among multiple offers. This allows you both to anchor the negotiation to your advantage and to signal cooperation. More: Friend & Foe: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both   5 MORE THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE Here’s some other stuff I’ve enjoyed recently: BOOK: Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking.  The work of renown social psychologist Richard Nisbett, this somewhat loosely organized book is a smart primer on how to avoid thinking mistakes and reason more rigorously. NEWSLETTER: Next Draft. I’ve recommended this before, but it bears repeating: This free daily newsletter offers the finest (and most eclectic) collection of stories you’ll find anywhere. VIDEO: Being 12: The Year That Changes Everything. What’s it like to be 12 years old? This 7-minute video, from WNYC, captures the essence. DOCUMENTARY: The Battered Bastards of Baseball. A Netflix documentary about a remarkable independent minor league baseball team in the 1970s. You might think it’s about sports. But it’s really about the importance of taking risks, defying convention, and serving others. STORE: CW Pencil Enterprise. Folks, you should know this about me: I write with a pencil (and not the mechanical ones, which are Satan’s favorite tools). I use the old-fashioned wood kind. And I now buy them from this one-woman store, a veritable Valhalla for pencil nerds. That’s all for this edition.  As always, thanks for reading our humble newsletter. Cheers, Daniel Pink

Here I go again talking about books, blogs, newspapers, letters and all that stuff that is on the internet!

It was on the internet I learned about Jim Rohn's series entitled "The Ant Philosophy".

Jim says, "everybody should study ants."

Ants are interesting! Ants never quit! Ants think WINTER all summer and SUMMER all winter. Finally they do all they can do, all the time.

Jim's thoughts took me back to what I learned in Proverbs 6:6, "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. Without having any chief, officer or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest." And according to Proverbs 30:25, "The ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer."

"Never give up, prepare for the future, stay positive and go for everything you can get."

Right now I know when you consider October 3rd and the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) - there were a lot of changes.

But just consider this: our weather is changing, our nation is changing. Schools change and our daily work changes. Our lives are never the same.

Still, I have High Hopes - just like the Frank Sinatra song.

Yeah, "Just what makes that little ole ant think he can move that rubber tree plant ...no one can tell that ant can't move the rubber tree plant ... cause he's got high hopes!"

That's me. We're gonna get through these changes just like an ant!

I just received the below post, originally posted by Michael Hyatt.

TWO TYPES OF THINKERS Posted: 26 Sep 2015 09:15 AM PDT Over the years, I have noticed that there are two kinds of thinking. One kind leads to success, joy, and fulfillment. The other leads to failure, fear, and discontent. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). My friend Robert Smith is a great example of the first. He is one of the most generous people I know. He always greets me with a big smile, a hug, and an encouraging word. I always leave his presence energized, feeling great about being me. And I have noticed that he is like this with everyone. He treats employees, vendors, booking agents, publishers, and everyone else as if they were his best customers. He routinely invests in their success. It comes back to him in a thousand ways. Robert is my best example of an abundance thinker. One of my former clients, Charlie (not his real name), is just the opposite. He exhibits a hoarding mentality. He never picks up the check, even if he asks you to lunch. He constantly complains—about everything. I haven’t seen him in years, but when I did, I always left his presence drained and diminished. It turns out that he, too, was like this with everyone. His employees—and even family members—rolled their eyes when you mentioned his name. They lived in constant fear that their livelihood and well-being were at risk. Interestingly, the success he craved seemed to elude him. Charlie is my best example of a scarcity thinker. The question is this: Which type of thinker are you? Maybe it’s time to do some honest self-evaluation. Better yet, ask those closest to you. Abundance thinkers believe there is always more where that came from.Michael Hyatt As I was running this morning, I noted eight characteristics of abundance thinkers: 1.They believe there is always more where that came from. 2.They are happy to share their knowledge, contacts, and compassion with others. 3.They default to trust and build rapport easily. 4.They welcome competition, believing it makes the pie bigger and them better. 5.They ask themselves, How can I give more than is expected? 6.They are optimistic about the future, believing the best is yet to come. 7.They think big, embracing risk. 8.They are thankful and confident. Abundance thinkers ask themselves, “How can I give more than is expected?”Michael Hyatt I also noted eight characteristics of scarcity thinkers: 1.They believe there will never be enough. 2.They are stingy with their knowledge, contacts, and compassion. 3.They default to suspicion and find it difficult to build rapport. 4.They resent competition, believing it makes the pie smaller and them weaker. 5.They ask themselves, How can I get by with less than is expected? 6.They are pessimistic about the future, believing that tough times are ahead. 7.They think small, avoiding risk. 8.They are entitled and fearful. The truth is that, for most of us, we are not either/or. We are a little of both. I certainly want to grow as an abundance thinker. Reviewing these characteristics has given me some clarity. How about you?

Interesting isn't it???