Monday Morning Check In: Lyndon Johnson's Ten-Point Formula for Success

Written by Paula E. Bird ©2013

Recently I was thumbing through a favorite book of mine, The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D., which you can find in the Teach Suzuki Resources Store (store). This book has been around since 1959, and it is full of those little gems and treasures of wisdom that lead a person along the path of success. As I was looking through the book and reminding myself of some of the points of advice, on page 153 I came across a list of ten rules Dr. Schwartz attributes to President Johnson. I thought these were timeless rules and well worth sharing:

1. Learn to remember names. Inefficiency at this point may indicate that your interest is not sufficiently outgoing.
2. Be a comfortable person so there is no strain in being with you. Be an old-shoe, old-hat kind of individual.
3. Acquire the quality of relaxed easy-going so that things do not ruffle you.
4. Don't be egotistical. Guard against the impression that you know it all.
5. Cultivate the quality of being interesting so people will get something of value from their association with you.
6. Study to get the "scratchy" elements out of your personality, even those of which you may be unconscious.
7. Sincerely attempt to heal on an honest Christian basis, every misunderstanding you have had or now have. Drain off your grievances.
8. Practice liking people until you learn to do so genuinely.
9. Never miss an opportunity to say a word of congratulation upon anyone's achievement, or express sympathy in sorrow or disappointment.
10. Give spiritual strength to people, and they will give genuine affection to you.

I think these ten basic rules pretty much cover the topic of being a better person in terms of building relationships with others.

Take your sixth penny out of your penny jar today. You have 46 pennies left to accomplish your annual plan for 2013 (What's this?).