QBQ! (The Question Behind the Question) QuickNote
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Let’s Get Real
I spoke yesterday on “Personal Accountability and the QBQ!” in 80 degree,
sunny Orlando, Florida (it’s tough work, but someone has to do it). The crowd
of 500 evil capitalists work for one of those greedy, for-profit corporations
that was irresponsibly lavishing tons of money on their undeserving, spoiled
people attending an obscenely extravagant boondoggle at a posh resort.
Getting real, we were at a pretty nice Marriott and the audience was made up
of dedicated, hard working, and caring sales and management personnel who
bring drugs to market that reduce pain. A worthy mission, for sure.
And in my talk I chose—dare I say that I dared—to make this statement about
our current world:
“It’s not about Wall Street greed, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the lack
of regulation, politicians, and those bad, bad financial lenders. It is about
the individual who made a choice; a choice to sign a purchase contract for
a home, an SUV, or a new boat that they could not afford.”
Well, as I continued the crowd decided to interrupt (how rude of them!)—with
applause. And I mean robust applause, not polite golf clap. And please
understand: It wasn’t applause for John Miller the speaker. Rather, it was
accolades for an idea that many know is not in vogue:
Personal Accountability.
Yes, I know that some will disagree with me, seeing “both sides of the issue.”
But let’s get real and get to the truth, which is always so simple and healing
when stated clearly:
Nobody makes me do anything I don’t want to do.
Truly, unless a person was mentally incapacitated and someone grabbed their
hand and forced an “X” on a legal document, then it’s all about individuals and
their choices. Now, I expect some will say. “But, John, don’t we need to hold
someone accountable for the tanking economy?! People are losing their jobs
and their homes!” Well, yes, it’s a tough time for many, but here’s a challenging
question:
Why don’t we ever hear about consumer greed? Where is that discussion,
one that involves PEOPLE who chose to go deeply into debt, living on Excess
Street with borrowed money, just to keep up with the Jones’s (who author
Dave Ramsey says are also broke). This truth is ignored by the
point-fingers-and-create-victims old media. Well, I’m here to say I’m sick and
tired of having the wrong discussion. I want to talk about …
Me.
Yes, me. It was late 1999 when I decided to become a “day trader” and began
trading stocks online. And I succeeded! Succeeded to lose more money than
I’ll admit in this QBQ! QuickNote.
Hmm, but now that I think about it …
It was E*TRADE’s fault for letting me open a trading account. My bank
failed me by allowing me to transfer funds from Miller accounts to
E*TRADE. And CNBC, with their on-screen hosts and traders, are totally
culpable since they talked about the NASDAQ going to 6,000 and the
DOW to the moon. And, boy, if only my wife, Karen, had stepped in and
stopped me!
Do you buy any of that? I don’t. Neither do I buy anything that smacks of
blame, finger-pointing, and victim thinking. It’s just such a lousy way to live
life.
Ann Landers, the famous advice columnist, helped a lot of people get real with
this counsel: “Nobody can make you mad or hurt your feelings. You do those
things all by yourself.”
And nobody beyond me is accountable for my decisions, my choices, my
mistakes. I will own my actions. I am not a victim. And I choose to rise above
the current winds of societal culture. For without personal accountability, I
have little left.
Personally, I think it feels good to get real—I hope you’re with me. Based on
yesterday’s response in Florida, I think most of you are. And, believe me, we at
QBQ, Inc. are grateful to each of you who are fighting hard right now for a
grand and life-changing principle that must never die:
PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.
John G. Miller
Author of QBQ! The Question Behind the Question® and Flipping the Switch
With Kristin Lindeen
QBQ! speaker/workshop facilitator
———————————————
Need a QBQ! speaker?: http://qbq.com/speakers.php
Please enjoy two QBQ!® interviews:
Fox TV/Dave Ramsey: http://qbq.com/dave-ramsey-interview-video.php
CBS – http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/?id=30433@kcnc.dayport.com
Visit http://www.QBQ.com today!
Join John Miller at the TapRoot® conference this October in Nashville, TN:
http://www.taproot.com/summit.php?t=keynote
How to reach QBQ, Inc.:
QBQ, Inc.
Helping Organizations Make Personal Accountability a Core Value ™
Denver, Colorado, USA
303-286-9900, Fax: 303-286-9911
Email: info@QBQ.com
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John,
Is it just me or are there 535 pairs of hands pointing fingers in Washington these days? All I hear on the news is how “evil AIG” is paying bonuses to their executives with taxpayers money. And who is doing this moaning and whining? That’s right, the same 435 elected members of Congress and the 100 elected Senators from around the great nation. The same 535 people who decided to grant this money “on our behalf” in the first place.
Here’s how it seems to work:
Step 1. Spend my money
Step 2. Strut around your congressional districts and boast about how you helped “the common man” with your brave decision to help the largest of the American workhorse companies. Choosing not to is a decision “you couldn’t live with.”
Step 3. Watch what happens to the money (even though what some of the money was going towards was in written contracts)
Step 4. Feign disbelief and outrage, saying you’ve been duped!
I’ll be willing to bet that the same Congressmen pass out crisp $5 bills to their local homeless pan handlers when in front of a TV crew to look compassionate yet get angry when that same “beggar” runs to the nearest liquor store for a bottle of Old Crow. “How dare they spend my money (I earn from taxpayers) on themselves.”
At least Popeye’s Whempy said he would gladly pay you a $1 tomorrow for a hamburger today. No rouse, no “smoke and mirrors,” just a simple explanation of what he was going to do with the money.
Enough with the finger pointing Washington. With 535 fingers pointing at AIG, that leaves 1605 pointing back at you!
Thanks for letting me vent! I knew you’d understand.
Sean