Each of us has locked within us all that is necessary to achieve wealth and greatness. It’s merely a matter of learning to use these hidden assets, of investing them so to speak, so we can cash in on them.
The tragic thing is that so many go through life without ever putting them to use. Sometimes, trouble and adversity is necessary to make people use their resourcefulness and brain power to achieve success.
A bookkeeper lost his job as Christmas was approaching. He had no money to buy his ten-year-old son a gift. Instead of merely despairing, he went to work making the boy a gift.
Using two wheels from a discarded baby carriage, a few pieces of lumber from the basement, and some bright red paint, he constructed a toy that captured the attention of the entire neighborhood.
Other children wanted similar toys. The demand grew so fast that the unemployed bookkeeper turned his basement into a factory, then moved his production to a real industrial plant.
The toy the bookkeeper designed was called the “scooter.”
Or consider the case of a soldier returned from World War I. He had been a salesman before the war but was now unemployed. He used his hidden assets too. He took a chunk of ice cream, stuck a stick in it for a handle, dipped it in chocolate covering—and the Eskimo Pie was born!
Then there was a young man working as a filling station helper in Dallas. The work was hard, hours long, pay short— all adding up to a state of mind I call “constructive discontentment.”
The young man began selling for a publisher of children’s books. But instead of approaching parents, he made friends with school teachers and got their permission to tell the children in class about his books.
Then he would ask the children to arrange an appointment with their parents so he could sell them the books. The plan worked wonderfully and the last time I saw the young man he was preparing to go into the publishing business for himself.
Have you searched carefully for any “hidden” resources you’ve overlooked simply because they weren’t in some form you could bank immediately?
Have you some plan or idea which might prove of great value if you brought it into the open and put it to use?
A very successful man once gave this splendid formula for gaining wealth.
“Get some useful item that will bring repeat sales,” said he. “Then put everything you have into taking it to the millions of people who need it.”
His name was F. W. Woolworth. He didn’t create anything new. He merely took something old and gave it a new method of sales distribution.
The opportunities our country offers today are greater than ever—and growing constantly. Think, for example, of the millions to be made by someone who devises some simple method of reducing traffic accidents.
Somewhere you have unused assets. Put them to work for you and make yourself financially independent.
Source: Success Unlimited. December 1966
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Long Days and Short Years
When he was well past 90 years of age, my grandfather shared with me a lesson regarding having a sense of urgency about life. He observed that, when we are young, a day can go by in the blink of an eye, but a year seems like forever. We all can remember playing outside on a wonderful summer’s day and then observing, as if by magic, somehow the entire day slipped away. But, at the same time, when we are young, the calendar can seem like eternity. The next birthday, Christmas, or the last day of school is impossibly distant.
On the other hand, my grandfather told me that, as we age, a day can drag by while the years roll around before we know it. In our youth, time is judged to be an endless commodity. But, as we reach different milestone birthdays that end with zero, we begin to observe our location along the highway of life.
I, for several years, have participated in an accountability group with several friends I deeply respect. Every other weekend, we have a conference call to discuss commitments we have made and issues that are important in our lives.
One member of our group received a wake-up call from his 12-yearold daughter. As part of a family exercise around the breakfast table one morning, they compiled a list of vacation destinations that they would like to enjoy as a family. When it was all said and done, there were six proposed vacation trips to look forward to. Then, it dawned on my friend that in order to include his oldest daughter, they would need to take one of the trips each summer beginning immediately. Instantly, he realized there was no time to waste, and those precious years that had previously seemed inexhaustible were discovered to be amazingly few.
Think of all of the things you want to do in your life. Examine how far you have come and how much you have left to do. I think you will realize that none of us can afford to waste a year, a month, or even a day.
And, as always, today’s the day!
Source: Wisdom for Winners Vol. 1, by Jim Stovall
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Do you have a list of books that go well with each Principle of Success? Send your suggested list to Uriel at um17pma@gmail.com
Do you have a poem that goes well with one of the Principles of Success? Please share with me too.
Uriel Martinez
Director of Distance Learning
The Napoleon Hill Foundation
um17pma@gmail.com |
