Stanley F. Bronstein – Personal Development BlogPersonal Development Blog of the Founder of the Achievement IQ Movement and Creator of the Laws of Positioning

People who have the most contempt for fame are those who have long ago resigned themselves to mediocrity.

– O. A. Battista

People – Human beings, as distinguished from animals or other groups.

Contempt – The feeling with which a person regards anything considered vile, mean, or worthless. Disdain or scorn.

Fame – Widespread reputation, especially (but not always) of a favorable character; reknown; public eminence.

Resigned – To submit; to yield.

Mediocrity – Of only ordinary or moderate quality. Barely adequate.

What does this mean?

Human beings who show disdain or scorn for other human beings who have achieved a widespread reputation, especially one of a favorable character, have already given up on their chance to be anything more than of ordinary or moderate quality.

Resentment of those who have done better than us.

Resentment – To feel annoyed about something because one thinks it is unfair or insulting.

One trait that I’ve observed, over and over is that of less successful people resenting those they encounter who have been more successful. I too have suffered from that trait from time to time. I have been in situations in my life where, in my opinion, I have helped others obtain massive success, yet I was not similarly rewarded.

The truth is, I was rewarded appropriately. While I may not have received the fame or the monetary reward to which I felt I was entitled, I obtained something even more valuable I obtained knowledge and experience. That knowledge and experience has served me well since then and it will no doubt continue to serve me well for as long as I live. Of that I’m certain.

What am I getting at?

The point I’m attempting to make is that we should learn to recognize whenever we are feeling the emotions of contempt or resentment. We should learn to recognize them because, continuing to experience them can only serve to bring us down, into the pit of mediocrity. If we instead, learn to recognize these emotions and then ask, what can I learn from this experience? If we can do that, we have a chance to immediately overcome the resentment and contempt and to move forward in our lives, toward creating our own successes.

What did I learn from my resentment and contempt?

I learned that I did not like the way I was treated and thus I vowed:

• To forgive the persons who treated me that way
• To examine their behaviors and reasons for treating me this way
• To figure out how to implement different behaviors in my own organization so I could avoid causing others in my organization to feel resentment and/or contempt as I became successful; and
• To implement appropriate procedures within my own organization designed to minimize the chance of others in my organization feeling resentful of my success.

In other words, I learned from my experiences.

You too can do the same thing.

How was I able to do this?

I did it because I chose to focus on the good in my experience, as opposed to the bad.

One person who has learned to do that is Roy Sakuma or Honolulu, Hawaii. Roy is the owner of a group of ukulele schools in Hawaii and is really a kind, wonderful person. Roy says that he tries to see the good in every person he meets. Watch the video below and you can hear Roy talk about this subject.

Roy Sakuma is one of the persons who will be featured in my upcoming book:

If you want to view that portion of the interview, click on the image below.

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