Work comes before rewards...

You cut wood before you can get heat from the stove.

Become more and you get more...

In order to have more, you must become more. One person thinks, "If I had a better job, I would really pour it on, but I have a lousy job so I just goof off." If this is your philosophy, you are destined to stay there. Others say, "If I had lots of money, I would be generous, but I don't have much so I'm not generous." You have to change that philosophy or you will never have "more." Unless YOU change, your circumstances won't change.     -Jim Rohn

Trail to success...

A goal is attainable by making a proper plan, a plan in which we must believe in with all our heart and soul, a plan which we must visualize as coming about in our minds eye and then we have to work at it with the same intensity as a mother protecting her young; this is the trail to success.

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The rat race...

An obsession to purchase things you really don't need, with money you really don't have, all too often just to impress folks you really don't even like!

He who has the most toys is not always a winner and toys alone will not bring you happiness. Get out of the rat race and join the human race. Start LIVING!!!

Continue to learn...

Long ago there was a feller who spent some time learning how to shoe horses. When he felt properly trained, and considered his education complete, he bought brand new shoeing equipment and set out across the west, visiting ranchers and farmers, eager to be successful in his new career. 

The first day, he shod twenty head! Made more money than he'd ever seen at one time before. He became inspired to do more - and make more! As he moved about the county, from place to place, he kept working harder and harder. Became more determined each day to be a success; there was a problem however. 

Each day, although he put in more hours, even to the point of working from first light to last, he was gradually completing fewer and fewer shoeing jobs. Within a few weeks time, he could only get about half as many horses done as in the beginning, even though he worked twice as hard.

Distraught over this dilemma, he asked a wise, respected and successful old rancher if there was any advice for him. “Why the heck am I working so hard, but seem like I'm losing ground?” lamented the shoer. After observing the shoer for a while, the rancher commented, “When was the last time you sharpened your tools?” He then pointed out a very dull set of nippers, knife and a worn out rasp, to the over worked horseshoer. The man replied he did not know how to sharpen those things, it was not part of his original training and it would be some time before he would be back near a town to buy new ones or have them sharpened by someone else.

The rancher said to him, “Why don’t you take a little time off and learn how to sharpen them so you can do it yourself between towns?” The shoer replied, “Oh, I work way to much as it is now. I can’t take time off to learn something like that, when would my work get done if I went back to learning!”

Some folk just can’t see the forrest for the trees. The man completely missed the wise rancher’s point. By taking a day off to go learn something new to help him in his trade, he would save himself a lot of time in the long run and make more money to boot. Work ethic alone will not do it in most cases. We all need to work smarter as well as harder. Take time to sharpen your tools (especially the mind).

Check out towel racks made out of horseshoes...

Someone is going to do it - it could be you!

There’s a line in an old Chris Ledoux song that goes, “So you want to be a cowboy and you want to rodeo. Well I don’t see nothin’ to hold you back just pack your things and go.”

Just about anything you want is possible. You may ask, “How?” Here is advice I’ve always taken to heart:

The first thing you have to commit to is to improve yourself. Are you trying to get better at what you do or are you remaining the same? Remember, just because you were the Jr. Rodeo Champion or won first with your project at the County Fair - that was the past. Now winning things in the past is fine - really great! It’s a good learning tool and confidence builder, but those wins do not guarantee a bright future. Each day, someone is out there making the decision to better themselves. Each day the bar is being raised. What won yesterday, or even today, is only mediocre tomorrow. Be that person who makes a commitment to get better each and every day.

Once you have decided to become better, you will need a plan. Train a little each day. Study a little each day. Save a dollar each day. Begin to perfect and hone your skills in every way possible. Start with achievable goals and then increase on them. 

The most important thing you will need to do is act. People with big dreams are a dime a dozen. All of the great ideas, all the best plans in the world don’t mean a thing until you put action behind them. There are a select few who act on their dreams. You will probably recognize those who do. They are the successful people you read and hear about each day. Someone will put action with their plan and dreams today, why not you?

Another line in that song goes, “For every man who’s made it, a hundred more have failed.” Study those who have made it. What set them apart from the others? Most times you’d be surprised that it was just a little bit of extra effort. These folk are not super human - nobody is. These are just the ones who made a firm commitment to do it, put a plan into place, set some goals and then acted upon them. Sometimes folks give up not realizing that the extra mile is only one inch away from completion. Someone is going to do it - it could be you!