Immature Vs Stupidity

In business we meet a lot of people. Some of them are wonderful, and some of them are just plain stupid. And that’s OK to admit. I mean, we have a very small amount of time throughout the course of a day to get done everything that needs to be done in order to grow a business, or even just to be our best self in life.

So it’s our responsibility to spend time with quality people, AND ALSO to minimize the number people who slow us down, or anchor us down, or who are always negative… because those people eventually can cause you to make poor decisions.

The speed at which you reach your targets in life, whether they’re personal or business targets. Has more to do with who you surround yourself with than almost anything else. I mean… Yes, your results are determined by your ACTIONS, however your actions are determined by your THOUGHTS, and most of the time your thoughts are determined by the conversations you have with those around you.

So it becomes essential that we limit the amount of time we spend with stupid people. But here’s where so many people get this wrong…

There’s a BIG difference between STUPIDITY, and IMMATURITY.

STUPIDITY IS A LACK OF INTELLIGENCE.

IMMATURITY IS A LACK OF EXPERIENCE.

The difference is that… a stupid person can be EDUCATED BEYOND BELIEF but they don’t have the intelligence to use that education. So the more time you spend with stupid people (people who talk about politics, or business, or anything, without first doing the due diligence, and actually understanding the topic they’re talking about) the worse decisions you make.

Stupid people go out there and will swear the sky is blue one day and convince everybody that it’s blue, and then the next day (because they read an article by another stupid person) they swear it’s green, and they try to convince everybody around them that the sky is green. They will argue all day every day about something that they have no ability to justify, or any substantiation to prove, just because it’s the most dominant thought in their head at that moment.

We’ve all met people like this!

On the other hand…

IMMATURE PEOPLE simply don’t have the experience.

In fact, someone who’s immature, is often highly educated in certain areas, but just in-experienced in others. But they’re OPEN TO LEARNING.

I’ve had hundreds of people inside of my companies over the last several decades, who were wonderful at one or two things, and that’s why they were hired, but they were very immature, or inexperienced in other areas. Many of those SAME PEOPLE, are now leaders in my company and developing leaders under them… Often… developing leaders in the exact areas that they once were inexperienced in.

Because they learned, and in learning they matured into experts.

Immaturity is NOT something to be avoided in business. Stupidity is.

We hire people… who are already ROCKSTARS at what we need done by them, but… we’re constantly growing… and to keep up with that growth… we’re a learning organization, so we are constantly educating everybody on our team to become better at whatever they want to become better at. So they can mature and grow with us, and become significantly happier and more productive people in their own lives.

Take a moment and think about the people around you - in your life and in your business.

How many of them do you believe are already rock stars for you? Meaning they’re a perfect complement in your life in whatever capacity they hold whether that’s as a mentor, as a spouse, as a friend, or whatever.

And now… how many of them are immature? Meaning their wonderful, dedicated, loyal people however they need a little bit more experience to become rock stars.

… Finally, how many people are in your life right now who are just plain stupid? Probably holding you back from the greatness within you?

Think about that, and then share in the comments. Then, share this article with a friend. Not a stupid friend, because they’re not gonna know what to do with it ;-) , but share it with friends or team members who have a lot going for them, and who you believe that maybe this could accelerate them towards their goals.