Of Expertise, Trustworthiness and Moderation

“Moderation in all things.”

-- Terence
Andria

Now that you know that someone other than a billionaire, a movie star or a recording artist can afford to live large and free, you are probably more interested in what it takes to shift into this life style. The answer is simple . . . you need to know something that others want, be a trustworthy person and ask politely for easily granted favors.

Here's a simple explanation of some of the expertise employed that made theresults possible that I shared with you. For the French students at Harvard, I knew the ropes of how to take the courses, find a decent place to live and survive the harsh New England winters. After sharing that knowledge, they felt indebted to me. For Derek Bok, I was a source of cost-cutting ideas that he used to balance a badly strained budget while improving the school's services for faculty and students. For my Harvard class reunions, I was someone who could easily organize an event to run well at little cost. For the Commencement staff, I could help people solve problems that arose involving tricky situations and who knew the University well from my work at the alumni magazine as a student. For YPO, Carol and I were people who would help the CEOs master a better way of solving their problems to make more money. For the Canadian client, I was someone who knew institutional investors and their preferences better than he did. For ABC, I was a recognized "authority" in oil field-based mergers who would be credible for their on-air story based on my print interview. For the celebrity authors, I'm someone who knows how to write a decent book review that fairly presents the book and describes who would like it. I also have a large cadre of fans who read my reviews and follow my advice. For the companies I work for, I have expertise in management subjects they want to master or better apply. For our friend whose brother is the restaurant reviewer, we've been a source of many ideas for happy events that we have done together. Helping our clients succeed has brought us into contact with many outstanding organizations like Disney, and we have had many great experiences and have established wonderful relationships based on those contacts.

Most of these skills are hardly earth-shaking. Some of them can be acquired in a short period of time. The benefits I enjoyed as a result were driven mostly by my being credible and trustworthy. If I had the necessary expertise but specialized in stabbing people in the back, few of these opportunities would have arisen.

There are potential dangers if you decide to live large and free. You can overdo it and harm yourself. For example, if you always eat in gourmet restaurants, you can end up weighing 300 pounds. If you develop too much of a taste for free things, you can develop a bad reputation as a moocher. If you flaunt what you do, you can annoy all of your friends and those who have provided the benefits. If you become too visible, you become an annoyance to everyone. I’m sure the people who saw us being led into the crowded restaurant by skipping past the long line didn’t see the experience as positively as we did.

So, if you can observe moderation as you live large and free, I suggest you stick with reading this blog as I spell out specific ways to create magical memories from amazing moments for yourself and those you love.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

This blog's entries begin on May 14, 2005. By reading backward through the prior posts, you will eventually see an index to all the posts. You can achieve the same result by clicking on the button for the May 2005 archive of my posts which can be found in the right hand column.

Be sure to check out my blog dated May 16, 2005 on how to plan Your Dad's Best Father's Day!