A Blog by Scott Isaacs

RTLB #1: Always Assume Good Intentions

"Rules to Live By" (RTLB) is a new series that I will occasionally be writing here on my blog.  Like every other professional, in every other field, over the years I’ve picked up a lot of things that make my life easier, both professionally and personally.  Most of these things can be summarized in a sentence or two, and I’ve decided to call them Rules to Live By (original, I know).  As much as any other reason, they are here to remind myself of things that I’ve decided to believe in, even if I don’t feel like it one day.

Without further ado, I present RTLB #1:

Always assume good intentions.

This one is not always easy, but I’ve found myself doing this for many years, and it has become second nature.  If I find myself in the situation where someone says or does something that could be offensive in some way, I stop and think, "They didn’t mean it the way it came out."

Most people aren’t intentionally mean-spirited.  Sure, some people are just rude, arrogant, selfish morons, but that is rare.  It is unlikely that they meant to offend me with that comment or action.  There is almost definitely some circumstance I am not aware of that is causing this.  Almost always it is a miscommunication somewhere along the way, on my end or theirs, or both. 

Yes, sometimes it’s my own fault.

Realizing this, it helps keep me from getting unnecessarily angry and reacting in a way that makes things worse, or from sitting and grumbling silently to myself or peers.  Staying calm and humble by assuming the problem is very possibly my own fault, I can often approach the person and work through whatever issues there are, and in the end, we are all happy.

So there you have it, Rule to Live By #1.  I welcome any comments or feedback.  If you have your own rules to live by, I’d love to hear about them.

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2 Comments

  1. http://

    (I cannot say I *live* by them but I do follow them 🙂 to some extent.)

    * Nothing lasts forever (remember the story of king with a finger ring.. even this will pass away?)

    * Nobody comes into contact with another person without predestined (by God or otherwise) will. So show good hospitality to others.

    * God alone IS. Everything else will disappear (including VS 2008 and the VS 3xxx or VS 5xxx are going to be GiGo – garbage in and garbage out. Remember your first PC that you used with your jaws dropped in awe? Where is it now?)

    * You may not get what you “WANT” in life but God will always provide what you “NEED” in life.

    * Never ever comment bad about food placed in a plate for you to eat; even if you do not like the food/eat that offered food. Be thankful you have something to eat (and remember that some of those kids in Africa do not even eat twice a day)

    * Build a cocoon in your own mind to where you can retreat “PEACEFULLY” even if the whole world crumbles. Money or no money, family or no family, world or no world you will always be happy in that cocoon.

  2. http://

    I really like this RTLB because it’s a very professional approach whether you’re a faith leader, the secular business or even family situations. And it saves a lot of time and energy.

    Kudos to SI

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