Human Opinion is Plastic 3

My blog posts this week have been focused on the subject of human opinion and I’ve consistently stated that human opinion is plastic.  What people think of you does not matter as much as what you think of yourself.

You can click on the following links for a quick look at what we’ve covered so far:

Greatness Attracts Criticisms
Human Opinion is Plastic
Human Opinion is Plastic 2

I encourage you to bookmark the pages and print them out later, if you need to, for later reference.  I believe that the contents of this series on human opinion ,and dealing with criticisms, will inspire and empower you to rise above whatever folks think of you, and create your own personal success.

At this stage in the series, let me take you beyond the point that you should never be a victim of human opinion, to the point that you should become a master, or moulder instead.  In other words, you can actually use the plasticity of human opinion to enhance your career, leadership, influence, business, and personal success.  When you recognize human opinion for what it is, a fickle, non-dependable, but very tangible leadership resource, the awareness empowers you to harness it, or ignore it, as the situation demands. 

Ultimately, though, you must retain control over your destiny and your life.

The dynamics of human opinion…

In other to be in this very powerful position of being able to take advantage of the plasticity of human opinion, you should be able to study and master the dynamics of the phenomenon.  This is not a very difficult thing to do, in fact, it is extremely simple.  It’s all summarized in the following verse:

“…Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” ~ God to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7c

God looks at the heart, and so bases His judgement on what He sees there.  As I wrote in How To Manifest More of What You Want in Life God does not judge us strictly by our words or actions.  He weighs our deeds and words on the scale of our hearts, motives, and intentions.  Man, on the other hand, looks at the outward, and so bases his judgement and responses on what he sees there.  Intentions are not always obvious to us, we can only hear words and see actions and we make our decisions primarily on the basis of what we see and hear.

So, in order to influence God, your heart, or intentions/motives  must be right, whereas in order to influence man, your deeds, or actions must be right.  I believe that’s a very interesting distinction in view of the fact that success in life has a lot to do with the favourable disposition of both God and man towards you.  If you can influence God and man to be favourably disposed towards you, you will enjoy ‘sweatless’ success.  By implication, therefore, your intentions and actions need to by synchronized if you must enjoy favour with God and man.  Never excuse wrong actions on the grounds that your intentions are right.  Equally, don’t be fooled by the apparent ‘rightness’ of your actions, when your intentions are not pure.

Vital questions…

You should be able to engage your intentions and actions in such a manner as to be able to mould human opinion according to your own purposes.  This is a position of great strength and power.  It allows you to lead, influence, and guide others, hopefully, towards worthy ends.

What I mean is this, as I’ve often told Christian leaders, preachers, evangelists, and so on, people will not follow you if you lack proof – that is, convincing results.  For instance, I made a statement recently at the Success Academy Nigeria that, “Your personal success is as important as, if not more important than, your religious lifestyle in influencing your world for God.” Why would I worship your God if He has no practical and effective solutions to my daily challenges?  If you ignore this question in your gospel or missionary efforts, don’t complain when you are generally ignored by those you are trying to reach.

Why should I adopt your ideas and principles if they do not provide solutions to my problems?  If you ignore this question in the formulation and presentation of your ideas as a leader, don’t complain when you lack fans and followers.

Why should I use your products if they provide no lasting values for me?  If you ignore this question in the packaging and marketing of your products, don’t feel frustrated when you are unable to attract and hold customers and buyers.

It’s entirely up to you!

There is a time to respect human opinion.
There is a time to ignore human opinion.
There is a time to exploit human opinion.
But, you should never be a slave or victim to human opinion.

You must be in control of what you chose to do with human opinion.  Freedom is your capacity to think your own thoughts and reach your own conclusions.  Wisdom is your capacity to discern differences; to know the actions that suit any situation.  So, whether you chose to respect, ignore, or exploit human opinion should be entirely up to you.  It’s your right, never give it up.

Be inspired!
Discover yourself!

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