The Richly or Poorly Show
Show Transcript
shdawson-20260317.mp3
Episode 03/17/2026
03/17/2026

Hello! Welcome to The Richly or Poorly Show!

My name is Dr. Stephen Dawson, and I am your show host.

Thank you for joining me.

Please visit shdawson DOT COM SLASH podcast and click on the LINK offer to learn about The Richly or Poorly Show! Here you can familiarize yourself with the show.

Please listen to, follow, and like the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen. And please remember to leave the show a nice review.

Please share the show with your friends. Send them the link to my podcast web page, and offer to help them set up their device to subscribe to the show.

Thank you to the six streaming services that syndicate The Richly or Poorly Show!

Thank you to the anonymous and individual sponsors of The Richly or Poorly Show! I am still looking for my first commercial sponsor.

Finally, please continue to email your questions and comments about the show to service AT shdawson DOT COM.

The show's motto is unmistakable: RICHLY IS GOODLY!

Please consider how you define the term good as we journey through life together in your pursuit of defining the term richly in your life.

The plan for my presentations to you was to first establish a foundation of shared understanding between you, the listener, and me. Then, proceed to build on that foundation with subsequent episodes. I recommend that you review the nine episodes between December 2nd, 2025, through January 27th, 2026, as you see fit to help you remember the foundation of our shared understanding as we proceed through each episode you hear in the coming weeks, months, and years.

I presented on December 9th, 2025, the first principle I have found as paramount, undeniable, and non-negotiable to living life more richly:
Understand Your Data Lifecycle

I presented on January 20th, 2026, the first aspect of The Truth:
Arrogance Precedes Anger
AND
Anger Precedes Violence

This condition is the first principle I have found as paramount, undeniable, and non-negotiable to living life more richly:
Understand Your Data Lifecycle

This action is the first aspect of The Truth:
Arrogance Precedes Anger
AND
Anger Precedes Violence

Last week, I presented two parts of how you, as my listener, can succeed with wisdom.

Today is Questions & Answers day. I have received numerous questions from listeners about The Richly or Poorly Show. I have already answered each listener's question individually. I gained permission from each person who asked me their question to share the question and my answer in a show episode without revealing the identity of each person. I decided now is the appropriate time to share the questions and answers with my intended audience. I chose seven questions to share my answers with you as my intended audience today. So, here we go.

*Question*
DO I THINK I KNOW IT ALL?
I am quite certain I do not know all there is to know. I am certain because I forget things, I come to a realization that is new to me about something I believed I knew pretty well, and I am certain I chose to forget some of what I know because I do not see the need for me to carry the information anymore.

Mike Campbell, Don Henley, and JD Souther wrote a tune in 1988 called The Heart of the Matter. Henley recorded the song. The song was not released until 1990. There was uncertainty among the writers about going public with the tune. There is a line in the tune that grabs my heart. "The more I know, the less I understand. All the things I thought I'd figured out, I have to learn again."

Campbell was the guitar player for Tom Petty. Souther and Henley wrote many of the tunes for a band called The Eagles. Campbell struggled for years with Petty about how to do music. The Eagles split up in 1979 and came together again in 1993. Campbell, Henley and Souther attested to the fact that the only way to get past life becoming broken is going through the forgiveness process completely.

I addressed forgiveness in the December 9th, 2025 episode, the December 23rd, 2025 episode, and the January 20th, 2026 episode. I can say, without a shadow of doubt, there is no way to learn when resentment is in the heart. Completing the forgiveness process is required to continue to learn.

So, The Eagles band broke up again just before 2010. They were trying to sound like they did in the 1970s, which is impossible due to how the body ages. Frustration gripped the band members, and they split up the band. All of the success The Eagles realized was not enough to keep them together as either a business, a music band named The Eagles, or as artists pursuing music.

I am 60 years old. I talk to people from my past whom I have not had any form of communication with in decades. We talk like we just saw each other five minutes ago. All of them, and I mean all of them, look at me with a new perspective. They look at me with wonderment about how I am who I am today. I am not saying this pridefully by any means. I say this because of how little I knew about life when I was with them decades ago. I answer each of them with the same answer I provide to you today. There is no way, none, to know anything worth any form of value apart from wisdom. It is what I have learned about wisdom that forms the reason why I do The Richly or Poorly Show for the listeners who comprise my intended audience.

My passion today is for the generation that follows me. I am bold, but it is not arrogance. It is the absolute assurance that what I share in the show is The Truth.

*Question*
WHERE ARE THE RATINGS AND REVIEWS?
The show is listed in the category of Business Commentary. The category of Business Commentary has been known for years to have the lowest amount of reviews. People like to take advice from others and claim it is their work. It is what it is.

The show has the intended audience of those who have each reached a point of being sick and tired of being sick and tired of not being able to live their life in a way that they define as more richly. I doubt seriously anyone who holds the view that they are stuck in a life where they are not able to live their life in a way that they define as more richly is going to say so publicly. It is what it is.

The show is not designed as either a comedy or a true crime show. It is more reflective and educational, coming from my background. Visit the web page shdawson DOT COM SLASH podcast and click on the LINK The Richly or Poorly Show. Scroll down to the Artificial Intelligence section. Here, you will see I added links for the top three artificial intelligence outfits to outline why you might want to listen to The Richly or Poorly Show.

Those who want to provide me a rating or review privately are welcome to email me at service AT shdawson DOT COM to help them maintain their confidentiality.

*Question*
WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE SHOW SPONSORS?
People who like the show and want to contribute back to the show give me something out of the kindness of their hearts. I had a single mother with three children give me some money as a way to thank me for helping her raise her children by helping to educate them through their listening to the show. I had a vague idea what the money meant to her, as it was clear she was not swimming in cash. My heart felt her appreciation, but wow...it was tough accepting her money. She insisted I accept her money, as a way for her to know she was doing what she could to help her children grow into mature adults.

Yeah, the show is going well from what I see.

*Question*
HOW DID I LEARN WHAT I KNOW?
I learned from refusing to lie down and die. Humanity will have, twenty years from today, the mainstream ability to print human organs three-dimensionally. Japan succeeded in 2025 in growing a knee tendon in a laboratory. The challenge in life is not learning. The challenge in life is desiring to live this thing called life.

I am not interested in existing. I have existed without living. Existing without living is a type of death. All that is missing is for the heart to stop beating. I have no interest in existing without living. So, I have worked and continue to work to learn wisdom as I pursue The Truth. Some of the benefits of this choice are wealth experienced in many forms. How about you?

*Question*
I LIKE WHAT I HEAR FROM THE SHOW, BUT IT IS TOUGH TO DO WHAT YOU SUGGEST. DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU SUGGEST?
No, I do not. There are no shortcuts to dieting, gaining muscle mass, or changing the oil in the car. I was not raised in a strong academic environment. Oh, there was plenty of intelligence where I was raised. What was not present was a viable means to transfer the intelligence from the teacher to the student.

I serve today as an adjunct professor at a university. I am available to serve when the faculty has a staffing need. It is my considered position that the priority need today is not learning either reading, writing, or arithmetic. The priority need today is to learn wisdom. This condition is the case because wisdom is not being taught as a college course, in primary or secondary grades, or anywhere else by way of a learning institution. Wisdom is not taught only from a book. It is taught by a series of discussions occurring over many years, applied in each moment of each day, and passed on to those whom we love. Hatred does not teach wisdom.

So, the best option I have to offer to live life more richly is The Richly or Poorly Show. I suggest you keep listening, keep considering what I share, and email me when you have a question you want me to answer.

*Question*
ARE THERE ANY SHORTCUTS YOU CAN TELL ME TO GET RICH?
Yes. You can rob a bank, sell drugs, or kidnap people for ransom. I do not suggest any of these options, but they are always available options. I have not seen anyone maintain what they define as richness from either of these options, though they have put some money into their pocket for a while.

I had a customer recently tell me they spent tens of millions of dollars on research. I saw what they called research. I told them they have nothing but a hole in their pocket where tens of millions of dollars once resided. They asked me why this was the case. What they showed me was a report of some work someone said they did and called it research. There was no data in the report, no analysis in the report, only the findings of their supposed research. Findings without also having the data that has been analyzed are nothing, zilch, zero, nada.

I presented on December 9th, 2025, the first principle I have found as paramount, undeniable, and non-negotiable to living life more richly:
Understand Your Data Lifecycle

Clearly, this customer did not have the data to justify anything stated in the report. So, they have nothing but a piece of paper that says it is a research output called a research report.

This person became upset with me. We talked. They realized they were upset with the person who wrote the supposed research report.

I presented on January 20th, 2026, the first aspect of The Truth:
Arrogance Precedes Anger
AND
Anger Precedes Violence

I then told the customer there is no reason to be upset with the person who wrote the supposed report. They should be angry with themselves for accepting the report without also having both the data and the analysis of the data. I heard the defining silence of this person's heart stop from the realization that they did not act in wisdom, where they had indeed thrown away tens of millions of dollars by way of their poor choice.

I do not put this person down. I consider tens of millions of dollars a good-sized pile of money. Would you rather have money and lose it by not acting in wisdom, or never have the lost money in the first place?

Well, all of life means we have to spend something to get something. So, there is always a risk of loss. The wise thing to do is to Understand Your Data Lifecycle. This understanding requires knowing how to handle your data lifecycle. So, the best option I have to offer about learning how to handle your data lifecycle is The Richly or Poorly Show. This choice will help you live life more richly. I suggest you keep listening, keep considering what I share, and email me when you have a question you want me to answer.

*LAST Question*
HAVE YOU LOST ANY FRIENDSHIPS FROM WHAT YOU PRESENTED ON THE SHOW?
Yes. I have a few friends who do not have today what it takes to do what I present in the show. They now avoid me. It is hard for me to experience the loss of their friendship. Perhaps the day will come when they try, again, to do what I present in the show.

Wisdom, as I have shared, does not operate in arrogance. It is wrong for me to brag about myself. It is better that others compliment me publicly. This is the way of wisdom. "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than either silver or gold."

It is easy to tell what is important to people by what they brag about when talking with them. I would rather someone brag on wisdom than brag about me. It is nice when they say I helped them walk in wisdom to understand The Truth. It is nice when they are able to live their life richly as an outcome of my suggestions to them. This exact outcome is why I am doing The Richly or Poorly Show for my intended show audience.

Well, that's it for today.

RICHLY IS GOODLY!

Please consider all you have heard from me today.

I hope you are excited about how you can apply the material I present to you on the show to your life, so you can live your life more richly than you have ever known!

Thank you for joining me for this episode of The Richly or Poorly Show!

I have enjoyed presenting to you today.

Until the next episode, I hope you will be safe and join me next week.

Until then.