That would mean you'd actually have to change.

December 05, 2016 10:38 AM

Some people
are addicted to being rescued.

Their drug of choice is the euphoric experience
of being dragged out of the tempest, thrown into the lifeboat and saved from
certain danger.

The irony, of course, is that they never make it to shore.
They always end up back in the water. Because deep down, they don’t really want
to be saved.

That would mean they’d actually have to change. And take
responsibility. And surrender their victim position.

No thanks. That’s too much
work.

It’s the same theory behind books and apps and coaching programs about
productivity. People often buy them, but they rarely use them. Why would they?
Becoming productive would only get them that much closer to having to actually
do something.

I have a friend who volunteers as a sponsor for alcoholics in the
twelve step program. He often gets phone calls, sometimes very late at night,
from people in recovery who have a difficult time changing.

But he often won’t
say a word. His job isn’t to rescue people, his job is to listen to them. In
fact, he has a great mantra that I try to practice with my own coaching
clients.

Sometimes you can’t get people to listen
to you until you stop talking.

And so, if there’s a person in your life for
whom you’re tired of being an unpaid, part time therapist, set the boundary of
silence. Try not rescuing them and see what happens.

Maybe they’ll change on
their own clock.

Remember, you can’t take people where they don’t want to go.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Whom are you trying to rescue that doesn’t want to be saved?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com