Our 36th President of the United Sates, Lyndon B. Johnson, once remarked, “If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking.”
I have no doubt that all of us have encountered people in our lives whose insecurities and need for continually acceptance causes them to AGREE with everything a person says.
They have no opinion of their own (at least nothing ever expressed verbally).
The rarely contribute anything constructive to a conversation for fear of being judged.
They lack the courage and personal confidence a person needs to be proud of who they are and the many skills and abilities they possess. In short, their fear of failure or being criticized cripples them in every facet of their lives.
How do I know all about this? Because that used to be me.
But as I began to mature and become more comfortable with the person I was inside, I realized that I don’t want to be someone’s puppet – that person who always agrees with the thoughts and ideas of others without ever offering my own.
While I sympathize with the “agree-ers” of the world, there comes a time when all of us should have more respect for ourselves, and less respect for those individuals who continue to propagate our behavior to feed their own insecurities. Yes it’s a psychological cycle, but it’s not one that can’t be broken.
William Wrigley Jr. once said, “When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.”
Don’t allow yourself to become “unnecessary” in this life. Be proud of who you are and what you have to offer both professionally and personally. Be the one who “is doing the thinking”.