Why Smart People do Stupid Things

My nephew Killian attends UofT - Toronto!

And because I choose to donate funds to his volleyball team, I'm on the "thank-you" list of supporters. So I get newsletters and information periodically.

One such information source is their magazine. In looking over some of the articles, I read this one which not only peaked my interest, I thought you would enjoy it as well. It's about why smart people do stupid things.

You're smart, and I bet you don't often do stupid things. Am I right?

Find out what this researcher and psychologist found.

http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/feature/why-people-are-irrational-kurt-kleiner

"Intelligence by itself doesn’t make you rational. Thinking rationally demands mental skills that some of us don’t have and many of us don’t use."

If you’ve done something, don't fret. So have I. Professor Keith Stanovich should know better, but he’s made stupid mistakes, too. Find out more by clicking on this link.

http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/feature/why-people-are-irrational-kurt-kleiner

Enjoy and leave your comments.

have a great day and great job!

Patricia

But They Don 't Have A Budget - Do They?

But They Don’t Have Any Mon*ey – Really Now, Can They Pay?

Last week my friend received feedback for a
new project she was working on.

She wanted advice from her colleagues whether
her commitment to developing content and workshops
as a service to caregiver families would be a good idea.

Several of her colleagues mentioned what an
extraordinary idea this was – a service providing
support and resources for those who care for
their loved ones was a great idea.

And then the economics advice hit her.

“But… they don’t have the mon*ey. Why
would they pay you? Do you really think
you’ll make a living offering this service
as a business?”

I immediately recoiled and said, "And you didn’t
buy into their lack belief, did you?”

There are two extremes when it comes to asking
for advice about a business idea.

One is to criticize and bring out the worst case
scenerio’s and never offer anything
positive.

The other is to flatter and praise and never
offer anything negative.

In both cases, you are given a set of their
beliefs – abundant or lack oriented.

I prefer the middle path. If you were to ask me
I would in return ask you how it felt when
you thought about this project.

I would ask you how much work have you put
into it?

And then I would ask you, how much do think
it’s worth?

Regardless of who advises you and for what -
you have to decide based on what you believe
will and can be created.

I believe in advising others for that which deserves
praise and can be duplicated. Telling someone she's
not going to get paid trying to persuade a certain
niche audience is not one of those situations.

It's feedback that does nothing to move you along the path.
It makes you stop and think, "Am I nuts to proceed?" instead of
thinking, "What can I DO to get what I believe I deserve
for my talents and effort?"

But here’s the pure truth of the belief that “they”
can’t afford you, or “they” won’t pay you:
you have no right to judge whether someone
can or cannot pay you.

That’s a judgement and once you put that out there,
it puts a known universal motion in play – self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you start to believe your efforts are not worth being
paid for, that’s precisely what you’ll receive in return. Nothing.

Let me repeat that. You have no right to judge whether
someone or business, or group or association can or cannot
afford you.

I got caught in that notion once. I was lead to believe
that a certain non-profit association did not have a
budget in place for marketing material.

So I rejected them as a potential client.

I found out later that a freelance competitor of mine
got this great, high paying gig! Wow, who was it?

The non-profit association who receives copious amounts
of funding from sources I hadn’t been aware of – and guess
what? They had a huge budget that year but not for me.

And another case. This time I believed employees of
a business who said to me, “Oh, no, Sadie doesn’t
use marketers. She does that all herself.”

I found out later that she spent over $30,000
in marketing – paid a competitive company most
of it to have signs, slogans and web copy written.

I spit foam!

Fortunately, I've experienced enough to know
when something is judgement and when it’s
an opportunity.

And I've written dozens and dozens of articles
and web copy for a variety of sizes and niches
to know that lack belief will destroy your dreams.

You may be looking for help to write your
next promotion, or you may be looking
for support in your next project.

When you go to www.patriciaogilvie.com
you’ll find tools and tips about how to
build a better web presence.

Great job today,

Patricia Ogilvie

P.S. You may have a brilliant idea and you may have
great friends who are quick to advice you - but as
Albert Einstein once wrote, "There are 3 Rules of Work:
Out of clutter find simplicity; from discord find harmony;
in the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.”