For every cause there is an effect, however predictable or unpredictable it may be when the cause occurs. You know that if you borrow money, you will have to make payments. You also know if you don’t make the payments that the lien holder has the right to take away what you borrowed against. If you are unhappy with the resulting effect of something you have done, then the only way to change it is to cause. If it is too late to change the present, then you can at least change future causes so that future results are less like the earlier bad results. Managing cause and effect is how people control the future.
Just like the laws of physics, human dynamics are the result of interacting components (other people) not just one person. Everything you think and do creates an attitude in and about you. If one person likes another, it is because that person’s thoughts and behaviors are compatible with their own. Conversely, if one person dislikes another, then it is likely because attitudes are not compatible. Each person’s decisions created a cause, and the effect is how well they get along. In a world where networking is essential, a person who has a disproportionately large number of “incompatible” meetings is not going to do well. If success is important, then that person must reconsider what causal choices have been made to create the effective rejection the person has experienced. To change his/her own destiny, a person must change him/herself.
The method of execution is as much a cause as the action itself. If a like or dislike is expressed with respect, then it demonstrates awareness of other people who are exposed to the expression. The internal cause of the feeling being expressed is a sign of the individual’s opinion which may not be shared by the audience, but the effect of a respectful delivery is usually a respectful reception. Exchanges of a positive nature are beneficial even if they are exchanges of disagreements; mastery of cause and effect is a direct path to success in the broadest sense since it exists whether or not people are aware of it. Actively manipulating causes such as your own behavior directly implies active manipulation of the effect – the opinions of others about you.
Successful people follow a similar pattern. They create confidence by being confident and knowledgeable. They generate support by offering it. They generate rewards by offering them. By modeling one’s own behavior after this pattern of positive interaction, a person can create his/her own success. Success is not an accident. It is the logical result of logical events.
Failure is also the logical result of logical events. The choices a person makes affect the choices others make, and if those choices are bad then the results will be too. Who a person associates with himself is an extension of who that person is. If you are not attracting the kind of people you want to attract, then it is up to you to discover what it is that would attract them then decide if you are prepared to make that change. The person you are today is the product of who you chose to be when you were younger, and who you will be tomorrow is a product of who you choose to become today.
