There’s an old saying– and we hear it A LOT in the personal development world…
PERCEPTION IS REALITY
You may or may not agree. But today I was reminded of a funny story from my life that I wanted to share with you…Back with my son was younger we had two dogs.
Max– a golden retriever
and Chumley– a black Chow Chow.
I loved them both very much. And I’d say they both pretty much lived up to what most people expect from their breed.
Max was a gentle giant, loved everyone and basically lived to make you happy. The worst thing he ever did was knock our cups off the coffee table with his constantly wagging tail.
And then there was Chumley.
Chumley was the type dog who always “acted” like he didn’t need much. He was stubborn and proud. And he was ALL bite and no bark. Meaning, if he didn’t like someone–for instance, he HATED the smell of cigarette smoke so if someone came to our house who happened to be a smoker–Chumley would greet them with a nice big bite!
Chumley lived to be 14 years old. Despite his disposition and me having to always be on guard if he got around people outside of our family–I loved him anyway.
Now I’m sure by now you’re probably wondering what in the world this has to do with you…Stay with me for just another minute and I’ll explain.
I went through a period of time when I traveled quite a bit and I had to have someone come stay with the dogs (yeah, Chumley wasn’t welcome at a boarding kennel ;-). Often times my parents would be the ones to stay but other times—when we were all away together–I’d have Harry– a friend who also worked for my companies– come take care of the dogs.
Now, Chumley LOVED Harry. Truly. Whenever Chumley would hear his voice or see him
drive up he would go crazy. Because he knew Harry would always take him for a walk and pay lots of attention to him. It was totally out of character for Chumley to show emotion (like regular dogs) but with Harry, he was one happy boy.
So one weekend when Harry was taking care of the dogs he brought his son Colton with him. Harry was a practical joker and rarely said anything you could take seriously. So in typical Harry fashion he played a little joke on Colton. He told Colton we had two dogs– the big red one (Max)… who was the MEAN one he needed to watch out for and the little black one (Chumley) who was super cool and nice.
Did you catch that? Harry told Colton that Max (the golden retriever) was “the mean one” to watch out for and Chumley (the Chow) was the “super-friendly” one.
Of course, I didn’t know anything about that. Had I known he had told this to Colton I would have had a fit–thinking that Chumley could BITE him!
Anyway, a few weeks later I was back home and we had Colton come over for the weekend (he and my son had become friends). On the drive home Colton started talking about the dogs. He asked BJ to please make sure he got “the big dog” locked up before he came inside.
When I heard him talking, I said, “You mean Chumley?”
Colton said, “No, the big red dog”.
I said, “Max? The golden retriever???”
He said, “Yeah… I don’t want him to bite me. He definitely doesn’t like me.”
At that point I was totally confused. NO ONE has ever been afraid of Max. He’s a golden retriever! He LOVES everyone.
Colton said, “I really like Chumley… he’s awesome!”
OK… that was just too much! NO ONE ever said that about Chumley. EVERYONE was afraid of Chumley.
I felt like I had just tripped off into the Twilight Zone! I was SURE Colton was confused. But eventually, I got to the bottom of it when I found out what Harry had told him about the dogs.
And you know what, that was the EXACT experience he had. Chumley loved him and he loved Chumley. He was ALWAYS afraid of Max–for the rest of Max’s time here on Earth.
Go figure.
I’ll say it again…
PERCEPTION IS REALITY
So here’s what I want YOU to think about…How many Max and Chumleys are in your life?In other words, how many things, people, ideas or experiences are you creating (in a negative light) in your own head? Because let me tell you the truth…..
PERCEPTION IS REALITY
We don’t see things as THEY are–we seem things as WE are…..which is why I often quote Wayne Dyer when I remind people…
“When You Change The Way You Look At Things,
The Things You Look At Change.”
Which means, in reality, YOU have the POWER. The POWER to simply CHANGE your perspective… your attitude…how you look at things and...THINGS WILL CHANGE.
It’s absolutely TRUE. I’ve seen it happen OVER and OVER in every area of my life for the last 20+ YEARS that I’ve been aware of this principle.
I see it happen ALL THE TIME in business–especially when it comes to people looking to start a business or make money outside of their job. Those who see it as hard or beyond their grasp or something that “probably won’t work out for them” get EXACTLY what they expect.
While those who come in with an open mind, expect success and simply follow a process believing it will work out as planned are the ones who usually experience FAST RESULTS and GROWING SUCCESS.
This is something you’ll find true in most every area of life. Kind of like what Henry Ford said…
There’s POWER in your thoughts, words and attitude. So let me give you one piece of Advice…..
When You Change The Way You LOOK AT THINGS…
… The Things You Look At CHANGE!
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For the many years I have known you, this is the first time I have heard the perception message related to this great Harry and Colton story. Loved the guys and both dogs whom you described precisely.