Of all the “Hallmark holidays” I love Valentine’s Day the best.
It takes the “gratefulness” from Thanksgiving and adds in “all love, all the time.”
And rumor has it that sex may be part of the deal too…but this is a “G-Rated blog…”
I started writing this blog February 14, 2014, in honor and memory of Marty Edelston (my friend and mentor) who had passed away in October of 2013.
It is no accident that the man with the biggest heart in the world was born on February 14th…yes, Valentine’s Day is Marty’s birthday too.
So I kicked off this blog two years ago sharing a quote from my good friend Sean Stephenson, a psychotherapist, author and internationally known speaker:
“I love everyone because as soon as I don’t love you, you own me”
The lesson here is quite simple:
When we spend our energy NOT loving someone, we willingly hand over our power (and more than likely, our confidence) to them.
But if we work on eliminating the things in ourselves that keep us from loving others, what’s left is just love and gratefulness (and more confidence).
Although I am far from a student of religion, Sean’s quote is a modernization of something we should all practice in our lives…that is, “love your enemies”…wish them well…so you can move on to what is really important in your life which is your own happiness and well-being.
I know…old news…but how many of us spend more time and energy making others’ wrong, creating anger (and stress) while we ignore all the good stuff we could be focusing on?
Someone recently “quoted me” on Facebook with a quote that I did not author but it’s one I try to live by…and I hope it’s meaningful to you as you move through this Valentine’s Day, loving everyone.
The quote goes like this:
“The only consistent feature of all your dissatisfying relationships is you.”
Isn’t it funny that the people in our lives who have the longest lists of people who have wronged them, made their lives miserable, caused unhappiness for them, rarely come to the realization that they are the CEO of their life and that there is only one thing that is present in all of those relationships?
OK…enough on the lecture…Valentine’s Day is simply the best holiday…and I will close with one more quote which is the same one I closed with two years ago.
From the great Stephen Stills:
“Love the one you’re with”
With love and gratitude (and wishing you an awesome “V-Day”),
Brian
P.S. Whether you read last week’s post “The next milliondollar copywriter” or not, I said at the end that I would be recording a podcast with copywriter (and copywriter coach), Kevin Rogers.
His listening audience is one of the most active groups of copywriters in the world…and together we want to continue this very important discussion I began last week.
I received more response to that blog than to any I have written over the last two years. It’s clearly a hot topic for copywriters and marketers alike.
As promised, I will be sending you the podcast I did with Kevin (which we recorded this past week) in my next post to you.
Stay tuned.
And we are also planning a live webinar on the topic which you will be the first to know about.
P.P.S. You also might be interested in an event I am hosting on March 31st and April 1st (near New York City) called “Titans Master Class”–two full days with 30 thought leaders, marketers, entrepreneurs, copywriters…everyone getting a focused Hot Seat…sessions and discussions…
Plus there will be a “Boardroom-style Dinner” for the ages (a format made famous by the aforementioned Marty Edelston–and I will also teach attendees how to run dinners like these themselves based on my experience hosting over 150 of them).
The event is already two-thirds full but I would like to open up the remaining seats to this list by invitation only.
If you would like to apply for one of those seats, please send me an e-mail with “Titans Master Class” in the subject line.
I’ll send you all the details and we can see if the event is a fit for you. It’s shaping up to be something very special.
Good stuff.
Two suggestions:
1. You can throw someone out of your life without throwing them out of your heart. However, make no mistake that you will encounter many people in business and elsewhere that you need to keep out of your life at all costs.
For example, like or not, there is a statistically meaningful number of bad players in the direct marketing and Internet marketing worlds.
Love everybody? Sure why not?
But no one should mistake this as a directive to trust and work with everyone. It is literally a jungle out there, especially for “newbies” who are the favorite target of predators.
I don’t want to get all Biblical on you, but a great line of advice from the Good Book: “Be as wise as a serpent and as gentle as a dove.”
2. Your comment on gratitude and confidence suggests a great interview question:
“Name some of the people who have had the biggest positive effect on your life and how they helped and/or inspired you?”
If you get a “deer in the headlights” on this question, you may be dealing with someone who has a serious gratitude deficit.
This is a bad sign in an individual for numerous reasons. These folks tend to discount or develop total amnesia about the good others have done for them. If you hire or work with them, this will include you. The loyalty quotient of such people is near and sometimes even sub-zero. Grief – for you – will usually follow at some point if you get involved with them.