Stuff From My InBox: An Old Farmer's Advice

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.  

Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.

Don't corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You can't unsay a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

Don't judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life... Then, when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around..

Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

And You Are?

There are two kinds of people.

The Book of Proverbs in the Bible talks about two kinds of people, the Wise Man and the Fool. Throughout the book the comparisons between the two are made

It's a useful and enlightening study.

The wise person is long-sighted, prepares for the future and looks down the road to see if trouble is coming. The fool is short-sighted, only thinking about the pleasure of the present with no concern for the future.

The wise one is industrious and secure. The fool is lazy and vulnerable.

The wise watches his words and is careful what he says and how he says it. The fool blurts out any and everything that comes into his mind—creating all kinds of trouble.

The comparisons continue in a powerful way throughout the book. If the way of the wise is appealing to you, there is nothing you could read that would help you more. 

In every situation you face in life there will be a variety of responses but they usually break down to wise and foolish ones. Obviously its the wise response that wins. 

Take a look through Proverbs, it will direct you clearly in the way of Winning.

Blessed Ignorance of Youth

"If I’d only known..."

Most entrepreneurs say it's a good thing they didn’t know what they were getting into when they started their business—because if they had known what they were getting into they would have never started.

"Why can’t we…?"
Young people are like that. They don’t know what they are getting into. They don’t know mabe they should wait. They don’t think they aren’t ready. They just know they are excited about it and that combined with their energy propels many of them to do amazing things, overcoming all odds!

They Are Doing Amazing Things
It's time for us to recognize the incredible contribution the young make to our lives from business, to science, art, entertainment, as well as even charitable causes.

Let’s Cheer Them On
We would be better served giving them more encouragement when they come up with impossible ideas, because they just may well do it anyway and we might as well be on their sides.

“The young don’t know enough to be prudent, and therefore attempt the impossible—and achieve it, generation after generation." —Pearl S. Buck

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When an inexperienced young person comes to you with a new idea about how to do things, what's your first reaction?

The Secret Gift

Want to reduce stress in your life?

There is a special gift that you can give yourself in every area of your life that will save you from trouble and stress over and over again. This gift is something that only you can give yourself. Its what the wise do and the foolish don’t. What is it?

Its a “Margin of Error”

When you are traveling to an appointment, give yourself a cushion, plan to get there early. Then if you have any last minute surprises, delays or problems come up you have some extra time to handle them and still get there on time. That might not be a big deal if you are late for lunch but it will be if you are catching a plane.

When you are budgeting your expenses…don’t live within your means, live below your means—give yourself a margin of error.

 Leave yourself a financial cushion. There’s always surprises that come up that cost money—new brakes for the car, a new roof for the house, a new computer for the college student…it never ends. If you have a cushion you can handle the surprises with no stress.

Rarely in life do things go as planned. Protect yourself. Always be on the lookout for ways you can give yourself a buffer from trouble. 

As often as possible, look out for yourself by allowing for a “Margin of Error!"

Winners Book Club Selection of the Week: Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

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WHAT ARE HIS “WINNER” CREDENTIALS?

With this book Napoleon Hill wrote the all time best selling success book of all time. He was the confidant of some of the most powerful and wealthy men of the 20th century, and enjoyed a long and prosperous career as an author, teacher and motivational speaker. He pioneered the genre of self help and prosperity and wealth books.

Amazon Editorial Reviews

This is Napoleon Hill's definitive landmark book (revised and updated for the 21st century) on how to unleash your full potential and achieve guaranteed success in life and work, by following the principles outlined in this book. This book will also teach you how-to conquer many common fears, such as Poverty, Ill Health, Criticism, Loss of Love and Death. Think and Grow Rich , indispensable reading for personal achievement.

Customer Review

Truly inspirational. The single best book I have ever read., February 8, 2008
By Avinash Sharma "MBA, M.S., Knowledge Worker" (Toronto)

If you asked me to recommend to you the single best book I have ever read, my answer would be a very definite "Think and Grow Rich."

First published in 1937, this is the end product of two decades of research conducted by Napoleon Hill. His research started when Andrew Carnegie (the steel tycoon who was then the richest man on earth) gave him the assignment of organizing a Philosophy of Personal Achievement. Hill, who was a poor journalist, armed with just an introductory letter from Carnegie, set out to interview over five hundred successful people including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, John D. Rockefeller, George Eastman, William Wrigley Jr. and Charles M. Schwab. Hill then revealed the priceless wisdom of his research in the form of the thirteen steps to success (in Think and Grow Rich) and the seventeen principles of success (in courses and lectures he conducted).

The concepts taught by Napoleon Hill transformed my life. >>read more

Playing Solomon

Who’s right, who’s wrong?

As a leader of tens of thousands of people I would occasionally be called on to solve problems - disputes. By the time they got to me the issues would be pretty confusing. Plus, this is a marketing organization and salesmen can give academy award winning presentations when they are presenting their case about how they have been wronged. 

I would wind up agreeing with whoever talked to me last, furious with the other party.  Then they would come in and I would become furious with the other. Back and forth, from one to the other. Tons of time would be wasted and I’d just get more and more confused. The wisdom of Solomon would have been a big help.

Then the solution came to me.

I would tell them that I needed their help. I wanted to make sure I got the facts right and wanted to get the problem solved exactly the right way so I asked them to write down a list of the top 5 things that they thought were wrong and the top 5 things they wanted done to fix the situation. I wanted it simple and in their own words.

It turns out most weren’t that upset. Most of the time they wouldn’t even have enough emotion and anger to sit down and write the letter. But occasionally, they did, 

When the letter came, I would just forward it to the other party along with a cover letter saying I needed them to write a response. When they did I’d send their response back to the other, saying, "Here’s what they said. Let me know where they are wrong." Eventually they would get tired of writing letters and resolve the problem themselves. 

Problem solved!

And the best thing was it saved me endless hours of listening, refereeing and debating. Anytime you are in a leadership position you will eventually be called on to resolve conflicts. What's great about this method is that it allowed me to help them resolve it themselves by removing the emotion from the situation. It also prevented me from getting between them and getting caught in the crossfire of a problem that didn’t involve me at all.

Unless you’re Solomon, next time you are put in a situation like this you may want to give this technique a try.