The Richly or Poorly Show - Show Transcript

The Richly or Poorly Show
Show Transcript
shdawson-20260804.mp3
Episode 08/04/2026
08/04/2026

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.

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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.

Last week, I continued to present on the topic of relationships. I presented the second step in establishing a relationship: Determine Type. I shared that the basis for a relationship is a longer duration than that of a team in a project. All team members have the relationship attribute. However, the starting point of formation for any relationship is different from that of forming a team. A team has a purpose to accomplish. A relationship has no purpose other than to relate as the events unfold through a set of individualized guided preferences. I invite you to review the Teaming series episodes of April 7th, 2026, through May 19th, 2026, as you see fit to better understand the episode I present to you today. It will take several episodes to present relationships to you in preparation for presenting The Five Academic Skills Necessary for Success to you.

Today, I will continue to present on the topic of relationships. I will present the third step in establishing a relationship.

We considered the first step in establishing a relationship is Determine Value. We went deeper into this step in the episode last week. We connected Determine Value to Determine Type to better assign the value we hold in the relationship, knowing the value assigned by the other person in the relationship is not something we can control entirely, but we can influence their decision of the value they assign to our relationship with them.

The third step in establishing a relationship is Determine Amount.

Examples of the amount of relationships include big or small, fast or slow, little or much, greater or lesser, and on and on to endless comparisons and contrasts. A relationship that starts in one amount could change to another amount. A relationship that starts small could end large. Arguably, a relationship that has ended is still a relationship in the form of at least memory and most likely some form of profit or loss, considering the amount aspect.

I will share some personal experiences in my career to contextualize Determine Amount for you, where I am inclined to believe you can relate to my experiences without any significant impairment, as you are seeking to live your life more richly. A person who is seeking to live their life more richly is a person who has decided they cannot find a way to gain more richness in their life. The listener attributes of the intended show audience hold feelings within them of being either poor, brokenhearted, imprisoned, blind, or oppressed.

There are three forms of poverty: material, moral, and spiritual. They are all horrible to experience.

Heartbreak, from any form of disappointment, is always painful.

Imprisonment, such as a physical prison, gossiping, ignorance, or fear, causes one to live more poorly.

The inability to see is more than only physical, but also being blind to opportunities, relationships, and anything that is not a contributor to living more richly.

Oppression occurs beyond only the results of war, abuse, or neglect. Oppression occurs by causing any form of harm.

Listeners of The Richly or Poorly Show unite around the view that being a part of living more richly is a noble ambition that is not only possible but necessary to experience life to the fullest.

I encourage you to understand that it is possible to be free of these conditions and live your life more richly than you have ever known!

Now, contextualizing establishing a relationship by Determine Amount.

The year was 1989. I began work with a financial services firm part-time, advancing to full-time in 1990. The requirements were to gain my necessary licenses with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for work such as selling life and health insurance, and buying and selling stocks and bonds for servicing my customers. I was doing well with my licensing efforts and was ready to start my practice as a financial services agent. I sat with a friend and his wife in their living room drinking coffee in June 1990 to discuss how to locate a customer base. My friend, who was a mathematician, told me our country had just entered an economic recession. I told him I was unaware of this information, asking him to tell me more about what was happening. He went on to cite statistical evidence of the matter. Well, it turned out he was correct. All was slowing down in the economy by the fall of that year, and 1991 was the brunt of the economic demise. The recession lasted 47 straight months, one of the longest in history. There was the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990, then the start of the North America Free Trade Agreement in 1992, then the Telecommunications Act in 1995. Iraq going into Kuwait caused energy prices to surge, the trade agreement opened the proverbial door for China to flood the US with cheap goods through Mexico and Canada, and the deregulation of the telephone industry brought the Internet to homes beyond only businesses and universities, setting the stage for wireless telephones in the form of cellular services.

I decided in late 1990 that the circumstances of the events in the economy were clear enough for me to see I could not start a practice as a financial services agent. The only move I could see for me was to further my education. So, I spent the next three years doing college and doing many multiple simultaneous part-time jobs around college to be able to attend classes. The events proved to be wonderful training for me in entrepreneurship.

I wanted to return to financial services, but needed to wait until the economic recession was over. I went deeper into financial services in 2001, as an independent advisor and not with a financial services firm. The relationship amount, in this case, was waiting 11 additional years. I had gained education and much experience in various technologies. However, the pattern was, and still is today, that people needed help to understand how to run their business. They would ask me to help them with the strategy of implementing the technologies they were using for their business. Invariably, it always ended up with them having a flawed business plan. Then, deeper research found the executive leadership of the companies that sought my help with a technology were unable to perform the work of leadership.

So, the Determine Amount part of a relationship was in full view to me. What started as some form of technology work grew into reviewing their business and their leadership. Sometimes I was paid for the extra work; other times I did it without extra pay to further my skills. I went from a small amount of work to a larger amount in these roles. The relationship amount, in this case, was additional work in analyzing their business as a whole beyond only doing technology work. Then, things would always go to no work once the company had completed the changes they needed to accomplish. You see, the leadership of these companies did not want me around to do anything like tell employees it was I who came up with the plan or the changes, and not the executive leadership. I cannot say that I blame them. It is a matter of survival for them when an executive does not have the skills to do the work. There is nowhere to go but retirement when an executive can no longer deliver in their role.

I think of my parents. There were times to ask mom for something, and there were times to ask dad for something. The same was true with my other family members. I cannot deny that it is also a form of manipulation on my part as the child, but it was also the freedom of the parent to say no to whatever it was that I asked of them.

I think of managers in companies. They have no leadership authority. They are executing a plan of their leadership by managing employees to do their assigned work. It is my view that being a manager is a tough job. The relationship amount, in this case, is a manager's willingness to be an extension of the executive leadership. A manager without the authority they need to perform their duties as a manager is nothing more than a person who needs to go and check, find out, get permission, and get back to the employee. This combination is infuriating, to say the least. The understanding is that the manager is not qualified to do the work. Otherwise, they would have the authority they need to perform their duties as a manager. This statement is nowhere near an absolute statement, as the leadership may be unqualified to lead and cannot release some of their authority to a manager. This scenario is what I covered in the June 30th, 2026, episode, about Followership Failures:
-Insufficiency
-Insecurity

Now, the amount of a relationship we want from someone may not be our choice. We may have it mandated of us, or forced on us. Both of these scenarios are a form of abuse. How many times have you had your boss assign you extra work, outside of your job definition, with them telling you they need you to do the work as a team player, or they expect more from you for some unstated reason? The additional work will never end until you, as the employee, stop it from continuing. If you are so important as an employee, then why are they not paying for the additional work? If you must do free work to keep your job, then you do not have a job. You are in slavery.

I do not mind taking on additional work to grow as a person. What I require is that I, and I alone, come to this decision. I do not mind having friends who urge me to do more, to grow, to live life more richly. I do mind being either coerced or denigrated in my pursuit to live my life more richly by someone who calls me their friend.

I was challenged recently by a loved one about my no longer selling technology services. I told this loved one it is better for me to teach people how to live life more richly than to sell a specific service such as a technology service so they can keep the money in their pocket than it is for me to take their money by payment as a service provider. I cited the 1990-1994 economic recession to them that I shared with you in this episode. Rest assured, the folks living life in a luxurious manner in 1989 were hurting by 1991. They no longer had the money to pay for the services they were used to purchasing. I see what I am providing in The Richly or Poorly Show as recession-proof growth. No one can take from you what you are learning from me.

What is central to all relationships is the desire for the relationship to work. Work, in the form of expected outcomes. Work, in the form of getting the specific amount of whatever is desired from the Determine Amount step. Work, as to cause no form of harm. Work, as to cause no form of unpreferred loss.

I invite you to listen to each episode of The Richly or Poorly Show both excitedly and expectantly that you will learn at least one significant fact or a specific aspect of Truth that will help you live your life more richly as a result of listening to The Richly or Poorly Show. Listen with the intent of learning. All learning occurs first by listening, then by doing. Taking notes of the show is clear evidence of intentional learning. It is a habit to capture, structure, and apply the learning you have accomplished. Remember, the show episode transcripts await you on the podcast web page. Remember, the show episode map web page awaits you so you can both find and enjoy a group of show episodes with ease.

I leave you with this final thought today. A relationship can be viewed as a license, such as those that I earned from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. I ask you to consider this license aspect as we prepare to continue our consideration of relationships, as we will expand on this aspect in the episode next week. Suffice it to say today, there is a hard limit to all relationships. Expecting to operate in a relationship without having the necessary license is bound to have nothing but trouble as a result of the effort. Yes, a license can be viewed as a cost to participate. Yes, a license can be viewed as answering about performance to those who issue the license. Yes, a license can be revoked. I invite you to think about these statements over the coming week as you consider relationships.

Please remember that we are moving toward presenting The Five Academic Skills Necessary for Success to you. These five skills are based on, literally, everything I have presented to you since the beginning of The Richly or Poorly Show last December. It is crucial for your success in living your life more richly to have a good grasp of what I am presenting in each episode for you to benefit from The Five Academic Skills Necessary for Success.

Well, that's it for today.

RICHLY IS GOODLY!

Please visit shdawson DOT COM SLASH podcast and click the LINK offer. I invite you to then click the LINK Sponsors to learn about the four types of sponsors so you can help sponsor a part of The Richly or Poorly Show! I thank you for your help in funding the show's cost to assist both you and the other listeners in living life more richly!

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.

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