(Principles are basic truths that, when applied, cause success to come to you easier and quicker.)

 

Sometimes when faced with a sticky business or personal relationship issue — perhaps due to something you said, didn’t say, should have said, or wish you had said — it is easy to start projecting what the other person might do. So you go into a game of if-then and run various scenarios through your mind. While some thinking through of possible outcomes is useful be careful not to get locked up in an endless cycle of if-then.

As a parallel consider a card game. An experienced player will spend some time considering what cards are in the opponent’s hand and as the game progresses the experienced player will have more certainty about the opponent’s hand. However, all you can do is play the cards you’re dealt. It would be silly to think of running around the table trying to play everyone else’s hand.

In like manner, it is ultimately of little use trying to predict another’s behavior; people are a lot more complex than a hand of cards!

Know who you are. Know your truth. Know what you want. Care about the outcome. But play your own hand.

 

Copyright 2000 Steve Straus. All rights reserved.