575. Act Wisely

Act wisely, do all your due dilligence, take your time and deliberate. Once you have made up your mind and settled on a plan act swiftly and firmly. Stay on plan and see it through. Remember if you are investing that you are playing against the professionals. The big guys out there are doing this for a living. They know that their job is to snatch money out of your hands once you get close enough.

They have the techniques, the system and the power. Therefore, make sure that you know exactly what you are doing and why.

574. The Bridge Called Action

Action is the bridge between the inner world and the outer world. To get out of your head and into the real world, you have to take action. Your fine thoughts will remain thoughts until you do. In order to cause your thoughts to manifest you have to take the first step which is to write them down.

573. When You Don't Know

Whenever you don't know something, simply say "I don't know." This is much better than trying to cloak the fact (that you don't know) with ambiguous words, generalities and vague undefinable terms. Do not set up smoke screens. If you know, say so; if you don't, admit it immediately. The reply "I don't know." is much more tolerable and acceptable than the attempts to maintain your false position as an authority on the subject. Candid honesty is more beautiful than deceitful duplicity.

It is very flattering to the ego to have your opinion sought and to be consulted on all manner of subjects and it is very gratifying to be able to give wise and correct answers and become known as a wise man but you must never allow this to seduce you into pretending to know those things that you do not. This is one of the great dangers of the study of Philosophy and a trap for the mind which you should avoid. Like every situation, if you look you will find an upside. In the case where you are asked something you can't answer, you should see this as an opportunity to learn. Go and find out the answers to these questions.

572. Maturity and Success

If you are to suceed at anything you need to "Get out of B.E.D. and pick up your O.A.R." These are acronyms that help you to remember what to do.

First, get out of BED.

B is for Blame
E is for Excuses
D is for Denial.

Then take up your OAR.

O is for Ownership
A is for Accountability
R is for Responsibilty

All that this means is you should stop blaming others, making excuses and denying there is a problem, otherwise known as bellyaching and start realising that no-one else is going to do it if you dont, take responsibility and hold yourself liable for the consequences. i.e. become mature about it.

571. Employment

"Don't wait for a job to come knocking at your door - go out and find it for yourself" - Lawrence Godfrey

570. Intellectual Property

"If you don't own the master or the copyright, you're not in the music business." - Quincy Jones.

It is the intellectual property that provides your residual income. If you hold copyright, patents or a percentage clause in a contract, then you will earn royalties on work you have done. Never sign a contract to perform unless there are points in it. i.e. an agreement to pay you a percentage of the gross income the book, play, film or song produces.

The beauty of this type of arrangrment is that you do the work once but continue to get paid over and over again. This is called automatic income because you receive it automatically whether or not you work.

In some juristictions (Ireland, for example), royalties are exempt from income tax.

You may want to know why residual income is important. The answer is that it forms the basis of your pension fund, i.e. what you have to live on once you stop working.