From: The Stay-at-Home CEO [dave@DaveBalch.com] Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 11:13 PM To: article_announce@yahoogroups.com Subject: [article_announce] How to Be Wrong 50% of the Time This message sent to article_announce@yahoogroups.com The following article pertains to anyone with a small business or home business. Please feel free to use it for your e-zine, website, or any other electronic or print publication, with the following exception: you may not use this article in any form of spam. I only ask that you: 1. do not add or delete anything from the article 2. include the resource box at the end 3. notify me that you are using it Synopsis -------- If you have ever made a mistake, this article will probably explain the reason why. Be very careful that you don't fall into this all-too-easy trap! Word count according to Microsoft Word: 686 including title, byline, and contact info. Other articles on small/home business are available for your use at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/bucksfreestuff.htm Enjoy! Dave (If you would like it in a different format, please let me know and I'll do my best to accommodate!) ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ How to Be Wrong 50% of the Time By Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO(tm)" Have you ever made a mistake? Duh, of course you have! We all have. I have good news, and bad news. The good news is that it's not your fault. Up here in the Stay-at-Home CEO's private laboratory (!) we have identified a new disease that is running rampant among the general population of our country. We call it "C.A.D.": "Chronic Assumptive Disorder." This insidious condition causes us to assume things. The bad news, unfortunately, is that there is no cure. We can, however, put it into remission, so that's what I'm going to try to do in this article; help you put your CAD into remission. (I offer a 45-minute program on this very topic; visit my website and click on "Speaking Topics" for more information. I'm assuming that I can condense that presentation into this short article!) The problem is a serious one for several reasons: 1. A small assumption can have a huge effect on your life. A good analogy can be found in the Voyager spacecraft, launched on a mission to Jupiter in the 1970's. A few days after launch, it was determined that the Voyager, on its current course, would miss Jupiter by MILLIONS of miles! They calculated that burning the on-board rocket for just 45 seconds would fix the problem, so they did the 'burn' and several YEARS later, Voyager arrived at Jupiter. Think about that: a 45-second rocket burn made a difference of MILLIONS of miles. So it is with assumptions: I assumed I couldn't afford a mountain cabin, but when I realized that I was assuming and looked into it, I discovered that I could, in fact, afford a mountain cabin. Now I live in the mountains full-time. My life is millions of miles different that it would have been had I not made that "45-second rocket burn" and simply inquired about the cost. 2. An assumption can have a huge effect on a moment of your life. I left a conference late one evening, way too hungry. All of the restaurants in the area seemed closed except for one, which had a line out the door and down the street. I almost walked by, assuming that the line was for seating in the restaurant. When I realized I was assuming, I went in and asked and was seated IMMEDIATELY. I never found out what the line was for, but I was sure glad I asked anyway. 3. An assumption can cause havoc in your life. The evening before a big party, we went to pick up party supplies and party platters that we had ordered and discovered that the store closed earlier than we thought it did. We had no food for the party! We ended up having to pick up the food the morning of the party; the store was 45 minutes away, and 45 minutes back. 4. Assumptions can cause us to lose sales. It's too easy to assume things about someone by the way they are dressed. Someone at Harvard made that mistake when a large donation was offered, so the contributor was sent packing... and founded Stanford University! So what do we do about this? How can we put our CAD into remission? The key is AWARENESS; be aware of your tendency to assume. It is human nature to make assumptions about people, situations, and things. If you can catch yourself in the act of assuming, you're way ahead of most folks. When you catch yourself in the act of assuming, ASK QUESTIONS. Never let down your guard because it's much easier to assume something than to ask the necessary question(s) ------------------------------------------- "Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your small business! Dave will show you how with his FREE newsletter, or his FREE 'Min-E-Seminar': "Secrets of an Actual $5 Million Home Business." Visit http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/art.htm to sign-up, for information on speaking services, or for copies of past articles and newsletters. Comments and/or questions are always welcome at 1-800-366-2347 or Dave@DaveBalch.com. (c) Copyright 2002, Dave Balch. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ######################################################## Looking For Quality Content? The Syndicator provides free, quality syndicated articles for your website that are automatically updated each week. 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