I remember talking with a relative not long ago who was reminiscing about her childhood, and all the fun she had with her father. She said her favorite time spent with him was when he took their whole family fishing. It wasn't about the number of fish they caught (there were many), or about the work they had to do to clean and cook the fish (which I imagine took at least as long as it took to catch the fish, if not longer), it was about the time they all got to share together as a family. And from what I understand it was a rather large family by today's standards: seven or eight children, if my math is correct.
In the middle of our conversation I asked her a curious question with an obvious answer (you'll see why it was so obvious in a moment). I said, "When you went out on the pond with your dad, did you use any bait to catch the fish?" She said, "Certainly." I asked, "What kind of bait did you use?" She said they used worms, of course. So I asked why she would do that, knowing full well what the answer would be. That being said, I want you to pay close attention to her answer.
She said they used worms to catch the bait because..."that's what the fish want..."
"So you're telling me you wouldn't try to catch any fish with one of those chicken sandwiches you like so much..?" I asked.
"No, of course not," she said.
"Why not?"
"Because they wouldn't want a chicken sandwich...they like worms," she said.
I hope you're not reading this and dismissing this conversation as idle chit-chat; it's anything but, if you know what to pay attention to. There's a lesson there that too many people so easily overlook. We spend so much time trying to get people to like us, trying to get along with people, trying to get them on our side, and we fail miserably. Want to know why? I'll tell you why. We fail because we're trying to get people not only to like us, but to become MORE LIKE US. That's a roundabout way of saying to others, "I won't even consider liking you unless you're more like I am," then we sit around and scratch our heads when people walk away from us with all due speed (my dad liked to call it "advancing to the rear") and whenever we come around them, or they should have the (mis)fortune to find themselves around us, they do everything short of twisting themselves into a pretzel to avoid us as if we were the plague. And many of us still don't get it.
Here's the fishing lesson I spoke of, the one which guarantees you'll catch fish (eventually), and will help you find success in your everyday life, if you apply it properly:
"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people, than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."
- Dale Carnegie, Author "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
In an upcoming post I'll share how a famous television personality used the wisdom of Dale Carnegie and applied the fishing lesson I described to become legendary in the entertainment industry. Nine years after his passing, his name is still revered by those who have followed in his famous footsteps.
That's all for now...hope you were able to apply the lesson here. It's not hard to find if you know what you seek. Gotta run, but until next we meet:
Keep it simple...
See ya!
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