“Our choice of associates will have a tremendous bearing on our confidence level.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2013-02-15) From his book, Be A People Person: Effective Leadership Through Effective (p. 46). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

And this is very true with what is happening to us right now as a nation.  We are in the middle of hearing a lot of negativity because we are in an election period and it is killing our confidence. 

John says, “Most people fall into two categories: confidence builders and confidence shakers. If you are unsure of yourself, a confidence shaker can do you in.” 

He says, “The following story provides a great example of confidence breakdown. A man lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspapers. But he sold good hot dogs. This man put up signs on the highway advertising his wonderful hot dogs. He stood on the side of the road and cried, ‘Buy a hot dog, Mister?’ And people bought his hot dogs. He increased his meat and bun orders, and he bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He made enough money to put his son through college. Unfortunately, the son came home from college an educated pessimist. He said, ‘Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio? Haven’t you been reading the newspaper? There’s a big recession on. The European situation is terrible, and the domestic situation is worse.’ Whereupon the father thought, ‘Well, my son’s been to college. He reads the paper and he listens to the radio; he ought to know.’ So the father cut down his meat and bun orders, took down his signs, and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hot dogs. Of course, his sales fell overnight. ‘You’re right, son,’ the father said to the boy. ‘We certainly are in the middle of a big recession.’” 

Hebrews 10: 35 in the Bible says, “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.”  That is a confidence builder.

So which are you listening to, the builder or the shaker?