'Do as I do' - What people think and do and say

by Angela Lansbury

The Majority Of People (British People)

People do not want to hear that they are wrong. They want to hear that they are right.

They do not want to hear that they are ugly. They want to hear that they are beautiful.

They do not want to hear complaints. They want to hear praise.

They do not want to hear that you disagree. They want to hear that you agree.

They do not want to hear that you despise them. They want to hear that you admire and respect them.

They do not want to hear that their admirer and fan is an incompetent idiot. They want to hear that their rival is brilliant, but they are even better.

They do not want to hear I told you so. You never listen. You never learn.

If you say ‘you always’ the phrase should be followed by a compliment.

They are easily depressed and discouraged. Just say ‘you can’t’ and they will give up.

They are easily encouraged. Just say ‘you can’ three times and they will act.

People are not rational. They are unreasonably optimistic. They don’t think they will get caught for wrongdoing. They believe they will win the lottery.

People who are accident-prone and careless blame everything except themselves. They don’t think about science and cause and effect and that life is under their control. They think that they are just unlucky if they have an accident. They won’t avoid walking under ladders in case a ladder falls. They will avoid it because it is ‘unlucky’.

They will not avoid breaking mirrors because mirrors are expensive and make a dreadful mess when broken. But tell them they risk seven years bad luck and they will take care.

They identify with and support the loser and the underdog.

They are jealous of the winners. (Evil eyes.)

The Miniority

A small minority

This includes the Chinese who live in large families and compete to get ahead (kiasu).

When you tell them that they will never amount to anything that spurs them to work harder and get ahead.

Introverts (From my observation of Trevor.)

They do what they like. They are self-motivated. They think you cannot inspire others. They do not bother encouraging others because, they say, ‘motivation has to come from within’.

They like to train others. But they see no point in attending any kind of course or counselling because they are above average IQ and can research everything they need from books and the internet.