There are no end of gags related to Seargent Joe Friday (the best one is the movie Dragnet with Dan Akyroid and Tom Hanks!) and that line. I used to work for a company called MyFax, and we had our own gags! Just the fax, man...just the fax. (I even participated in a joke like that...me and the fellow in the cubicle next to me dressed up for Halloween as cowboys, and we strung up a banner between our cubicles that said "BrokeFax Mountain." We won best costume!) But have you ever thought about what that means? Just the facts?
What it does NOT mean is the facts according to (fill in your own name here). Everyone on Earth has a set of rosy-coloured glasses that they filter everything through. Don't believe me? Look at Dr. Phil's interview with Casey Anthony's mom. Everything she says is to somehow try to make sense of what her daughter did and absolve her of responsibility. Contrast George, her dad. He thinks Casey is guilty and should pay for it. My point isn't to pick on Casey herself (she gets enough of that on HLN), but to show how we all view things and come up with our own version of reality. And that so-called reality can be influenced! Originally, the jury acquitted Casey. After about 4 hours of outraged public opinion, they changed their tune, and fast...only too late to actually do justice.
The really interesting thing about the filters that I'm refering to is that you can, with a conscious decision on your part, set them aside and look at the facts by themselves. Eastern philosophy says to let everything be equal. Then sift through the facts and see what you come up with. Facts found in this way are singularly unique and without filter. We have a specific term we use to describe it: Truth.
One of the biggest obstacles I have found to seeing the facts as they are is emotionalism. I know, it isn't kosher for a man of 44 to start talking about how emotional he is, but it's the best example I can think of, and it's certainly the one I'm most familiar with. I'm still learning to set aside how I feel about an issue before I look at the facts, but that's the way I can see the situation the clearest. I see it too in my financial planning practice. When dealing with investments, you really have to remove emotion from the table, or you can make bad decisions.
Remember - don't make decisions in the middle of emotions. Calm down first. Many sales guys appeal to the emotion (I know, I are one), and that gets the prospect excited and ready to buy. I've never liked that as a sales strategy. I would rather present all the options - all the facts - and let the buyer make their own decision. It is true that I sell less with this practice - but I have a lot less redemptions and very happy clients.
Keep your stick on the ice!
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"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
-John 8:32 (NASB)
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