Things Everybody Needs to Understand About People

Knowing what people need and want is the key to understanding them. And if you can understand them, you can influence them and impact their lives in a positive way. Lately, I’ve been boiling down all the things I know about understanding people and I have narrowed them down to a short list. I’ll share the first one with you today.

Everybody Wants to Be Somebody.

Nope, I am not talking about the new song by the group Nickelback all over the radio these days. That’s actually my daughter’s favorite tune and a good one. There isn’t a person in the world who doesn’t have the desire to be someone, to have significance. Even the least ambitious and unassuming person wants to be regarded highly by others.

I remember the first time these feelings were stirred strongly inside of me. It was back when I was a sophomore in high school. I went to my first ever Phoenix Suns game at the old “Madhouse on McDowell”, Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, with a group of friends and their parents. As I sat there watching, the thing I remember most is the starting lineups and this booming voice that was talking during the actual game…the announcer. I asked a parent, “Who is that?” and it was soon pointed out to me where the announcer was located (mid-court scorer’s table) and what he did. I sat there mesmerized by his voice and really paid attention to him the whole night. It didn’t matter that Larry Bird lit up the Suns that night for 39 and the Suns lost. I remember thinking “Now that is a pretty cool gig…sitting courtside and announcing a game. That guy is heard by everyone!” I went home that night and told my dad, “I’m going to be a sports announcer someday.” Soon afterward, I asked the varsity basketball coach at my school if they had an announcer and when he answered that they didn’t…I told him, “Now you do.” That was back in 1989, and today I sit with a resume of having been the P.A. Announcer for the Phoenix Suns, Arizona Rattlers, Phoenix Mercury, Arizona State University, Phoenix Coyotes…and much more. My point is not to share that with you, but to point out that no one knows about the dreams I had as a youth and where they started. I put the announcer at the game that day on a pedestal and said…”I’m going to be someone like him” and even wrote a goal down to become the Phoenix Suns P.A. Announcer, a dream I realized ten years later.

Life also changes and so does the notion of who we want to be. The announcer position for me was just that, a position. Over the years, I have been truly tested. My spirit and willpower have been tried and tried again. It wasn’t too long ago that I was taught a very valuable lesson on becoming a person of influence and significance. I use the lesson learned as the cornerstone of which my business and personality was built upon. I care. Read my home page on my website and you’ll know now that those are true stories, albeit the short versions. Do you think I mattered to those people? Do you think I mattered to the 120,000 people out at Phoenix International Raceway in 2005 for the NASCAR event? I would say probably not. I was just fielding my position as the track announcer that day. But what about the kid in the stands that day for the race who possibly was mesmerized by my voice, asking his dad who that was and where he sat? Do I matter to him? I think of everyone in my life as that kid. Because I was that kid. Everybody wants to be regarded and valued by others. In other words, everybody wants to be somebody. Once that piece of information becomes a part of your everyday thinking, you’ll gain incredible insight into why people do the things they do. And if you treat every person you meet as if he or she were the most important person in the world, you’ll communicate that he or she is somebody – to you.

I encourage you to be a person who is of major influence to others. Be somebody and let others around you be too. The valuable lesson I learned about Success vs. Significance long ago is on a small card I carry with me daily and read to myself each morning. Maybe mine will inspire you to have one of your own.

Jim’s Daily Dozen

ATTITUDE – Because it gives me possibilities
FAMILY – Because it gives me stability
HEALTH – Because it provides me strength
PRIORITIES – Because it gives me focus
THINKING – Because it gives me the advantage
COMMITMENT – Because it gives me tenacity
RELATIONSHIPS – Because it gives me fulfillment
FINANCES – Because it gives me options
FAITH – Because it gives me peace
GENEROSITY – Because it gives me significance
VALUES – Because it shows me direction
GIRTH – Because it gives me potential

I hope that you are taking the time in your life to find out who you really are.