One of the most foolish things we can do on our respective journey through this “life” thing is to fool ourselves into thinking that we can please all of the people all of the time.  I even believe it’s foolish to think we can please all of the people even some of the time.

As a public speaker I’ve been privileged to witness and experience this phenomenon first hand.  When I first started speaking I used to request my audiences to fill out a short, one page survey after each event to let me know their opinions on what worked and what didn’t work. 

After collecting and reviewing hundreds and hundreds of these surveys, one day I came across my “Dream Survey” which reflected what I wanted people to say about my content and delivery.  It was from a student who was soooo impressed with the content and delivery of the presentation that she took the liberty to right even more uplifting and encouraging comments on the backside of the page. 

After reviewing several more surveys that were collected from previous events I also ran across one that was the complete opposite of my “Dream Survey.”  It was from a teacher who was soooo disappointed with my presentation that he took the liberty to right even more attacking comments on the backside of the page.  Out of all the surveys I’ve ever collected to date 98% of them are all positive and .5% or negative and 1.5% are indifferent.

The most surprising thing I noticed about these two surveys was not that they were sooooo drastically different, but the fact that they were both from the exact same event.  So, I had to ask myself the question, “were these two people at the same event?”   Hmmmm…   I must admit that I was a little quietly concerned about this finding but I quickly realized the lucrative lesson in it all.  So as a result, I decided to frame them both and mount them on my shelf in my office.  Today they now both serve as a constant reminder that “no matter what I do, I can’t please them all.”

So it’s for this reason that I remind you today that in your day-to-day pursuit of happiness, no matter what you do or say, or how good you are and try to be, you can never, ever, ever, ever please them all and to think you can is two kinds of crazy and three kinds of foolish.  This is just another one of life’s little guarantees. 

Don’t be discouraged but be encouraged today on your journey in spite of the would-be dream crushers around you and make it GREAT!

The Book:    “Make it GREAT”
www.MakeItGreatNOW.com