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Saturday, August 28, 2010

158. Go the Extra Mile

Another suggestion for living better is to give more than you are paid for. Make this a principle by which you live your life. This will make you so valuable in your work that you become indispensible. Always go the extra mile.

Everything in life has a price and in modern society the way you pay for it is with the money you earn. Therefore, at every opportunity, improve your career. Take exttra courses. Improve all of your skills. Acquire new skills. Learn new languages. Do this even when the subjects bore you. You may only ever need to use the skill once in your lifetime but by having it you will be more confident and more useful. This will open the door to higher earnings.

Put out more on your job than you are being paid for. Miracles will begin to happen. If it makes you unpopular with your co-workers, that is their problem. Only you can live your life and there will be people depending on you.

Do this today and tomorrow and for ever.

This principle has an application with homework and examinations. When you are given an extra question which is optional, always do the extra question. You may have got one of the earlier questions wrong. In cases like that the examiner will always give you the benefit of the best questions you have done.

157. Count Your Blessings

Every day, spend time taking stock of your blessings. Appreciate the assets you already possess. When you try, you will find it impossible to put a monetary value on what it is worth for example to live in a wealthy peaceful and stable country.

What would your job be worth if you were unemployed ?
What is it worth to you not to be in jail or heavy debt ?
What are your loved ones worth ?
How much would you take for your sight, your arms, your legs ?

With so much going for you, can you see how absurd it is to be depressed or sad ?

Your better way of life begins now.

Count your blessings. Once you realise how valuable you are, and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return. Move forward towards the life that God (or the Supreme Being, if you prefer) intended for you with grace, strength and confidence.

If the news arrived that you were missing at sea, every lifeboat, ship and aircraft available would be sent to search for you. Millions would be paid out in overtime. Thousands of litres of diesel and aviation fuel would be burned and millions of watts of electricity expended just to bring about your rescue. Think of that the next time you feel low, useless or insignificant.

156. Open-mindedness and Learning

On all paths of learning remember that we must be prepared to accept that everything we have learned up to now could be completely wrong !

155. Building Castles in the Air

The expression, "Building castles in the air" means that you create in your mind some wonderful project but the chances of fulfilling it are remote. We all build castles in the air. It is the proper function of your imagination to do this. Some people dismiss such imagination as impractical and so the expression has come to have a slightly pejorative connotation. Here is the truth of the matter : When you build castles in the air, don't let your work be lost, for that is where they should be. Instead, get busy and work hard to put the foundations under them.