Never Tatoo Your Judgements on Others

We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them. ~ Elbert Hubbard ~

You decide how you feel about others in the first few minutes of meeting them.  What kind of labels do you assign them?  Friend, foe, stupid, intelligent, kind, mean, selfish, open, shy, funny…You will tend to put the descriptors on them with a tattoo needle.  After time you will look for behaviors in them to defend your opinion about them for fear you may have been wrong. If you decided early on that you do not have high esteem for someone then everything they do will irk you.  You will make assumptions about their behavior that will validate the feelings that you hold toward them.  If you instantly decide they are an enemy, then they will always be an enemy.  

Leaders who are enlightened will open up the possibility that they might not be one-hundred percent accurate in their assessment of someone.  Instead of sizing someone up immediately, they will take the time to get to know them.  “What are their values?”  “What motivates them?”  What is it that they need to be successful?”  As a leader, you too must not immediately judge and hold so tightly to those attitudes.  Otherwise, you might create an undesired self-fulfilling prophecy.  Sometimes it better to be wrong than right.  Those you have judged – revisit your feelings about them.  You might find a new ally.

1. Close your eyes
2. Breathe
3. Empty your mind
4. As thoughts come in, acknowledge and whisk them away
5. Focus on your breathing
6. Think about the affirmation:

"I will give others a second chance."