Heroes & Legends

This may be strange advice to hear from a blind person, but everything in life is not as it appears.  I have shared in my books, from the arena stage, and in these columns that we should never take advice from anyone who doesn’t have what we want. The challenge today is to get an accurate reading of who has what. Given our banking system and the availability of easy credit, many people appear to be far more successful than they are. With the proliferation of social media, people may appear to have happy and healthy personal relationships and family lives when, in many cases, nothing could be further from the truth. We should never judge people for the sake of judging them, but whenever we take someone’s advice, influence, or example, their personal business becomes our business. 

 I have always been a big sports fan, and I remember a prominent media sports figure throughout my youth and young adulthood. He was everywhere on TV and radio, and he seemed to be sitting atop the world for decades. Recently, this heroic figure of my youth called my office and set an appointment to come and see me. I was very excited to get to connect with him, but it wasn’t long into our discussion the reality of his situation revealed itself.  He was deeply in debt with multiple business failures and a personal life none of us would wish for. Warren Buffett may have said it best, “You can’t tell who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.” 

 Everyone has qualities in their personal or professional life that we would want to emulate just as they have qualities we would want to reject. If we seek perfection of the people around us, we will never be able to have a mentor, advisor, or role model. It’s not fair to put anyone on a pedestal and under a spotlight. None of us can live up to that kind of scrutiny, but before we seek to follow someone’s example, we must get the true story.

 I often admonish my audiences at live events, “Please don’t miss the power of this message due to the weakness of the messenger. I have not arrived on the mountaintop, but I am a fellow traveler seeking the summit just like you all.” When I wrote my book The Millionaire Map about my journey from poverty to prosperity, I felt as if I owed my readers total transparency, so I violated one of the rules in our society and printed my personal financial information in the form of a statement from my broker and banker. This information is no one’s business outside of my family, but I make it your business when I ask you to make decisions based on my advice. 

 I’ve written over a thousand of these weekly columns, and they generally deal with issues I am struggling with, not challenges I have mastered.

 As you go through your day today, allow people to be imperfect and seek the best that everyone has to offer.

 Today’s the day!