Be Great Today!

It is very important to be competent, capable, and hard working in order to experience success in your life.  Have you ever noticed how our society associates success (whatever success is for you) as the key to life.  We seem to put a premium on results, the end product, and who gets ahead the most, is viewed as the best.

I believe that there is a more important ingredient to success than just climbing the corporate ladder, amassing a certain income, net worth, toy, or title.  To me, the happiest and most successful people are the ones with character and integrity.

Having a strong character and well, internalized firm value system is the real key to happiness and success in this world!  My high school basketball coach is one of the “wealthiest” people I know.  I’m not talking about monetary wealth.  This kind of wealth is priceless, yet costs no actual dollars. 

Coach always had and continues to have bedrock strong values.  Coach stands for something: which is working hard, never backing down from a challenge, and doing the right thing every time, not just when it is convenient.  The final value is called integrity.  The payout for this kind of wealth is unconditional love and respect from those whom Coach knows and interacts with.

I learned many lessons from Coach during my years playing basketball for him, but most of all I learned the importance of character and integrity.  Think back to people in your life that helped shape who you are today.  Remember the lessons you learned, and bring them forward into today, and continue to live the way your “coach” taught you.  (If you didn’t have a person like that in your life, feel free to borrow from my experiences in these paragraphs.)

Leading a life of integrity, doing the right thing every time, not just when it is convenient, will be a life changing philosophy for you.  I guarantee it!

Have a great day!

You may be thinking either option isn’t really attractive. 

Let me explain…  I have a friend who was meeting with an investment advisor.  The investment advisor was trying to sell my friend a very expensive insurance product that was way over priced and unnecessary.

My friend was ready to purchase just because he didn’t want to look dumb in front of this fancy investment dude.  When we talked about it later in the week, my friend was explaining to me what he was about to do.  I asked him why?  His only response was that it was what the investment advisor had recommended.  My friend didn’t have any other qualifying information or reason as to why he was going to buy this insurance product.

Having recently purchased an insurance policy myself, I knew what my friend was talking about.  I was the person who asked the “what felt like dumb” questions to my investment person.  After probing for 20 minutes or so, I had a better understanding of what the options were, what were the most economical, and what the fees were for each option.

You see, I looked dumb in asking the questions, (and if I didn’t look dumb, I definitely felt dumb) but I ended up getting a superior product at a much lower cost.  My friend almost wrote the check for the much more expensive option that provided much less coverage.  After we talked, he went in another, more appropriate direction for his needs.

So I’ll finish where I began, “Would you rather look dumb or be dumb?”  I know which one I pick every time!

 Don’t be afraid to ask and… Question, Question, Question!