#friends #FriendsInLowPlaces #relationships
Garth Brooks famously sings, “I’ve got friends in low places.”
That’s opposed to friends in “high places,” that might give you an advantage.
The friends in “low places” are just, well, friends.
That begs the question: would you rather be needed (in high places) or wanted (perhaps in lower places)?
You may need people for what they can do for you, and/or what they can give you.
You may want people for who they are.
Perhaps your parents told you that it’s not what you know, it’s whom you know that will help you the most.
So, ask yourself this: Will your friends in “high places” come to your aid in the middle of the night if your car breaks down?
Your friends in “high places” may be able to pull some strings, exert some influence, to help you in other areas. But you may never be sure of their motivation.
Your friends in “low places” wear their motivation on their sleeves. In other words, they just like you. Hopefully, you just like them, too, regardless of circumstances.
In business, and social media, one may work to cultivate friendships even among people he or she doesn’t know well. Sometimes, these people can help that person along the way by, say, becoming that person’s customer. But it can turn into a true friendship if the favor can be returned. In business parlance, that’s called networking.
On social media, one may solicit “friends” for all kinds of purposes – often legitimate, sometimes not.
Before the days of social media, the best way to meet people was to be introduced by a mutual acquaintance. To hasten or broaden one’s social circle, he or she may attend events and strike up conversations with strangers. One never knows what potential “friends” are out there.
In business networking, there is a deliberate science to meeting people who are strangers. Each party knows the purpose is for each other’s business, and acts accordingly. The motivation of networking is clear.
Another question often posed is, whom would you love to have a beer with? It implies you want to have a beer with someone in a “high place,” or a least a place higher than you perceive of yours.
In low places, “The whiskey drowns and the beer chases,” the song says. In other words, drinking buddies can be your best friends.
But if you are looking to friends, or soon-to-become friends, in “high places,” to give you what you believe is missing from your life, friends in lower places may be able to give you much more, even in practical terms.
Someone you know, regardless of education, background or experience, may be part of one of the many programs that can change anyone’s financial life for the better. That person would love to introduce it to you. If asked, open your mind and check it out.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, have many friends in many places. You never know which of them could help you – and which of them you would like to help.
What your parents may not have told you about whom you know is that it’s best to know someone who will come to your aid if your car breaks down in the middle of the night – regardless of what “place” that person is in.
Peter
Tag Archives: friends
DON’T WORK TOO HARD?
#workhard
We’ve all had friends who have, usually as they are leaving us, wishing us well and telling us not to work too hard.
Our parents, teachers, coaches and other mentors all tell us that hard work is required to get almost anything.
So why would our friends tell us not to work too hard?
Let’s forget for a minute work-life balance, and overwork-induced stress. Our friends don’t want us to work too hard because we might give our employers more than the employers are paying for.
Most good, conscientious people don’t want to be deliberately unproductive, or give less than they know they should. Most of them want to be as productive as they can be. Some will risk their physical and mental well-being to be so.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do things right, and pleasing your boss. But there should come a point at which one asks himself, who’s working for me? If I’m working for him or her, is he or she also working for me? If I am helping him or her get what HE or SHE wants, is he or she returning the favor?
Many people believe that they work for a paycheck. They get so busy doing that, they don’t even think about their own big picture. Sure, your boss might ask you in a performance review where you want to be in five years, 10 years etc. You give some pat answer, even if you KNOW you may not want to be in that place, doing what you are doing now, all those years later.
Even people who want to be doing something different in the future are so consumed by their circumstances that they not only can see no way out, but also they won’t even consider great alternatives that may be presented to them.
Those that do consider alternatives sometimes find great things that they never knew existed. To do that, one has to be willing to look. Serendipity is great when it happens, but, generally, one has to be willing to look for alternatives to find them.
If you believe your current situation needs to change, AND you are willing to see what might be out there to help you change it, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. Some may not find what they are looking for there, but others may find just the thing. You may also find not only that you can work hard for you, but others will work hard for YOU!
Polls show people dismayed, pessimistic and downright hostile to the future. But, when one looks at facts, rather than conjecture, he will likely find many good things out there to be had. He will also see that he can HAVE them by doing something a little different.
In short, don’t work too hard for someone else. Work hard for you! Very few others will work for you. Do what you need to do to make your situation better. Complaining requires energy that you need to do what you need to do.
You don’t have to abandon what you have, but you may need to have a different attitude about it. Good, hard workers in bad situations know that the situation is only temporary. They know that one day, what they want will be theirs.
Have a good mind-set about any task you perform. Always believe that the future not only can be bright, but you will make it so.
So, work hard, but have a reason, besides a paycheck, to do what you are doing. Take steps to get control of your future – control that no one but you can take away.
Peter
CONFIDENCE, BELIEFS AND DREAMS
“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. Anatole France
#dreams
Were you raised to believe you would only go so far?
Sure, your parents didn’t want you to be too cocky. And, to go where they have gone turned out pretty well for them, didn’t you think?
Then, you go through adolescence. You start to believe you can do anything, and usually try stupid things that get you hurt, or in trouble.
You recover from adolescence and get out of high school. Perhaps you tried to “find yourself,” by traveling around looking. That didn’t really work for you, so you settled down to college, the military or a job. Then, you start to believe that your parents were right. You start to follow their tried and true path. You got through a career and life didn’t turn out so bad.
But what if you want more out of life than just a job, a career, a family and friends? All of these things can indeed make for a great life, but they may not get you everything you dream about.
Oh, your parents discouraged you from dreaming? Perhaps you were told that dreaming was what drifters did. Or, perhaps, what those rich people do. You may have been told that settling down and doing what you know, or have been taught, is the best way.
Those who really make a difference in the world are dreamers. Those who innovate are dreamers. And, they don’t just dream. They go for their dreams in a big way.
They may defy conventional wisdom. Their “friends” may laugh at them. Or, perhaps, invite them back into their lives when they come to their senses. After all, your friends may believe that if we all stay together, the rut will not be bad at all. We can all long for 5 p.m. on Fridays, weekends, vacations etc., but the rest of the time, our nose is to a grindstone that is making the boss rich.
But some of us believe we are better than that. We use a job as a springboard. We use our jobs as a way to earn immediate cash, while we work on our dreams. We learn that we can ACHIEVE what we want eventually, no matter what happens to us.
How do we change, if we’ve been taught differently? First, we have to know why we are doing something. Money for the sake of money is not what we want. We want money to do things we want to do, to give to things we feel will make the world better and to live our dreams.
So you’re abuzz in thought. You think you can’t make a lot of money doing what you’re doing now. If that’s the case, you probably need to keep your job, but develop habits like saving and investing, as opposed to spending. It may take time to get what you want, but if your dream is big enough, you’ll be patient.
But, if you are willing to do something part time that will speed up the process, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. Check out how other people just like you have amassed fortunes, without interfering with what they were doing at the time.
They had dreams that were powerful enough to choose a different path – for not settling for an ordinary life. You can do the same.
Once you allow yourself to dream, you can then act. You can plan, then believe. By combining your dreams, actions, plans and beliefs, you can achieve what you want.
Peter