Thought for the Week

Timothy D. Stein, MFT, CSAT

January 30, 2017

“It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.  If you think about that you’ll do things differently.” –Warren Buffett

The human mind is a combination of Velcro and Teflon.  It hangs onto negative information as a means of protecting us from being hurt.  It tends to let go of positive information because having or not having this information will not harm us.  This velcro/teflon effect applies to how others think about us as well.  If we do something that is hurtful or scary to others, they will remember this easily.  If we do something nice and loving, this may be remembered but less strongly.  When considering our reputation, it is important to see our positive choices and actions as one step forward and our missteps as 5 steps back.

When have I damaged my reputation with minimal effort?  When have my positive choices or actions not been noticed?  What gifts await me as I become consciously aware that I need to make multiple, positive choices to overcome a single misstep?