Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when and where you're tuning in.  This is episode 18 of The Blue Collar Executive podcast.  I am your host Lewis Taulbee, Jr.  We all perceive things differently.  That's our God given right and a good thing.  We don't have the right to force our perception onto others.  Some see a glass half full, some see a glass half empty.  I see a glass that's twice as big as it should be.  I want to share my perspective on perspective so let's go.  Dad wasn't a political guy.  He never chose a party rather he just always based his vote on the candidates beliefs and what they stood for.  I never even heard him complain or talk about politics.  One day we were watching this debate on television and one party was completely wrong with the facts.  The rival party was trying to help them understand.  I don't remember what the topic was  but it was obvious that the party in the wrong was too stubborn to admit it.  The more they argued, the more they looked like complete idiots.  Dad just turned the television off and said a wink is as good as a nod to a blind mule.  I laughed and asked what does that mean?  He said it means you better never get your hues and hoes mixed up.  Then in true dad fashion he just walked away.  What in the world was he talking about?  I thought he had finally lost it.  Over the years I have actually heard that comment a few times and I've later learned that once again his off the wall comment carried some pretty good advice when you peel it back.  To understand this advice, we have to first see it from dad's perspective.  As I've talked about before dad plowed fields with mules.  Actually mules were a big part of his young life and a hot commodity for farmers before tractors came along.  I once heard a story that my grandpa had a mule that was so good someone offered him a 400 acre farm for it and he turned them down.  He said he needed the mule to feed his family and it didn't matter how much land he had if he couldn't tend it.  Here are some mule fun facts.  A mule is a crossbreed between a horse and a donkey.  While they are very strong, they're also stubborn hardheaded animals.  While they may not look like it, they are very intelligent.  To communicate with them you can actually guide them in different directions with different motions unless of course you have a blind mule in which case no amount of motion is going to motivate or steer them.  You can wink, nod, stomp, wave your hands, do jumping jacks in front of them and it's not going to change its direction in any way.  The only way you can communicate with a blind mule is to say go or stop or in mule language hue or ho.  You could use a blind mule to plow a field, just put them in a straight line and say hue and he'll walk a straight line until you say ho.  If he's walking straight toward a tree or even worse walking toward the ledge of a mountain, you have to say ho to stop him.  Hence dad's advice when you're dealing with a blind mule, never get your hues and hoes mixed up or you could drive that mule and yourself right off the side of a mountain.  There is always going to be people with different views than us and sometimes they will be a hundred percent wrong and we can jump, stomp, wink, or nod but it is not going to change their direction.  They are blind to the facts and the truth.  Some people are so blinded and closed minded that no matter what you show them, they'll never listen to reason or facts.  If they say the sky is green you can show them a hundred times it's blue, but it'll never change their perspective that it's green and that's okay.  I sincerely hope they enjoy a great life under their green skies but it becomes a problem when they try to impose their views on others and not allow others to live under their blue sky.  Let me put it another way.  Let's say someone or some group believes that grass is a living creature and at night while we are sleeping each blade of grass wakes up and talks to one another.  Even sings together in harmony.  Nuts right?  It is nuts and it is wrong, but it's their belief.  They can do whatever they want with their grass.  It's when they try to impose rules or laws that say I'm not allowed to cut my grass on my property because of their idiotic belief that it becomes a problem.  Some form an opinion about something not based on facts, rather based on their own beliefs then they try to force those opinions on others.  That's usually the ones that think the grass is singing at night.  It's okay to be nuts, but live and let live.  It's okay to have different perspectives.  In fact, we will never all have the same perspective because we are all different and come from different walks of life.  Remember what we see is not what we're looking at it's where we're looking from.  My mom used to use the saying a lot don't judge a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes.  It's hard not to judge, especially when someone's being an idiot.  It's just important that we always remember when we disagree with someone to not get our hues and hoes mixed up as dad so eloquently put it.  Winston Churchill said courage is what it takes to stand up and speak and courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.  The one thing that we own is that perspective.  Perspective is the only thing that's more powerful than the answer itself and the great thing is that our perspective is ours alone.  We were created with a freewill.  We own it.  No one can change it or diminish it without our permission.  We are in control and can be credibly successful if we harness our perspective correctly.  We have all heard that perception is reality, but it's critical we know the difference between perception and perspective.  Perception is how a situation is perceived based on what the facts are.  Perspective is what one interprets the facts to mean.  Perception is about it what is and perspective is what we do with it.  So again, we all have different perspectives and that's a very good thing.  Our perspective is based on our beliefs and where we came from.  We are the author of our own reality.  So when we're writing that, it's very important that we don't be a blind mule.  We need to consider all the facts and principles when choosing our perspective.  By having all of this, we can create more peace, less stress and better results in our life.  See perspective can change the results without changing the facts.  Let me give you an example of using the same facts, but coming to a different perspective based on different values and beliefs.  In the fast food industry studies show that the busiest day of the week is Sunday.  Most fast food in the world is sold on Sundays.  Also studies show that there is a positive impact for fast food establishments to remain open for 24 hours.  Most fast food companies take these facts and form the perspective to remain open 24/7.  However, there's a company called Chick-fil-A that uses the exact same data and facts and formed a totally different perspective based on their values and beliefs.  They believe it's important to close at night and on Sundays for their employees.  Now here is the kicker.  The average chain fast food establishment does about $1 million annual in revenue.  In fact, $1 million is kind of the benchmark where they really need to be to succeed.  Of course McDonald's is still the Big Mac and they average about $2.2 million per store.  Then we have the odd man out.  Chick-fil-A does on average over $4 million per store even though they close at night and never open on Sunday.  As you can see, they're all successful despite their different perspectives but the biggest lesson here is that you will never hear Dan Cathy, the CEO of Chick-fil-A, criticize any of his competitors for being open on Sunday nor will you ever hear any of them criticize him for closing on Sunday.  Our success can be determined by our perspective.  If we perceive things to be one way and we're wrong, we can fail.  However, if we stay openminded and base our perception not only on our beliefs, but consider all the facts and principles, we have a much greater chance for success.  My beliefs are not always right, but I have learned to respect and listen to other's perspectives.  Sometimes they change my mind and sometimes we think each other are crazy and we agree to disagree.  I don't push my opinions on them nor do they push theirs on me.  Some see the donut and some see the whole.  King Solomon wrote that we should seek wisdom as a lost treasure.  Having a full understanding of the foundational truth, facts and principles before we form an opinion about something is an absolutely key for our success.  The only thing that we can change is our perception.  We may not like the facts and principles, but they're not going to change whether you believe them or you don't believe them they're going to stay the same.  Ignorance of a law is no excuse nor is it protection from violating the principle.  Gravity was a law long before that apple fell on Newton's head so being ignorant of it still wouldn't have helped you if you walked off a cliff.  On the other hand, having a full understanding of that law has led to the invention of airplanes and many other great things.  So instead of moving along with a blind perspective, always remember that a little more understanding can change the world.  I've missed some great business opportunities because I didn't perceive them correctly and it's simply because I didn't take the time to fully understand the facts and the principles behind them.  The same is true about people.  I have looked at people and never really seen them.  As crazy as it may seem sometimes we have to stop and remind ourselves that we're all just one big dysfunctional family.  We are all God's kids and because he is a much bigger person than any of us, he loves each and every one of us.  Even our idiot siblings.  He gave us all a free will.  Now he may look down some days and regret that, but he's not taking it back.  We all have to respect each other and understand that we all have different perspectives based on who we are and where we've been.  Webster defines perspective as a particular attitude towards something or a way of regarding something, a point of view.  We all have our own opinion and point of view for everything and that is our right.  We will always be far more successful in business and in life if we always take the time to understand the facts, truth and principles before forming our perspective.  Remember everyone has the same right to form their own perspective.  Everything that irritates us about another's perspective could actually give us a better understanding about ourselves.  Abe Lincoln said folks are usually about as happy as they make their mind up to be.  I wish for a world like Mayberry where we did deals on a handshake and everyone held themselves to truth, value, and integrity.  Where everyone cared about each other and accepted each other despite their differences in perspective.  If they didn't agree, they just called each other a nut.  They still loved each other.  We can have this in our own lives, but it starts with us.  Remember Jesus said don't worry about the splinter in your brother's eye first take the beam out of your own.  We can create our own Mayberry.  Now if I could just find an Aunt Bee to come and cook for me, I would be in Mayberry heaven.  That concludes another episode of The Blue Collar Executive podcast.  I hope you found some value in it or at the very least found it entertaining.  I wish you all great happiness and success and thank you so much for listening.