Earlier I prepared this article for posting today, December 26th. It is my last entry of 2009. During the year, I post a blog every other week. My goal is to have 25new entries each year, reserving the 26th posting for what I believe to be the best article of the year and summaries of the next best four articles.
This approach follows the 80/20 Principle or the Pareto Principle, named for the I7th Century Italian economist who discovered the pattern underlying the 80/20 Principle. This principle states that 80 percent of any action contributes 20 percent of the results and 20 percent of any action contributes 80 percent of the results. The 20 percent has an influence way beyond their numbers. Therefore, I have chosen five articles (20 percent of the 25 annual articles) for this yearend posting that I believe can greatly improve the reader’s life.
In 2009 the Hawg Blawg was viewed by people from 38 countries representing 66 international cities as well as 138 cities in 34 American states. We live in an increasingly globalized market. The universal law of success is that people everywhere realize that they must continually invest in themselves or be left behind.
Below are the top five 2009 Hawg Blawgs. The top article is reprinted in its entirety. The other four articles are summarized in the Hog Thought, Hog Quote and Hog Action. To read the entire article, go to the date as listed with the title.
I wish success for you in 2010 and exit this year with these personal words:
The achievement is not in winning. It is in the struggle that we achieve. And like all successful people before us, we must hold on until we succeed.
2009 TOP HAWG BLAWG POSTING
Three Pictures, Ten Dollars 032809
A tall young U.S. Marine serving in Afghanistan visited a bazaar in Kabul with one of his friends, an Army Major. They came upon an enterprising camel owner who was offering people an opportunity to photograph his camel. This Afghan entrepreneur had a sign that read: “Picture of camel, $5.00; Picture of you with the camel, $5.00 and picture of you riding camel, $8.00.” This was the posted prices, but everyone knows, the way business gets done in Afghanistan is through bargaining. Posted prices are the starting point or they are the final price for the uninitiated.
The Marine said to the camel owner, “I want three pictures, one of the camel, one of me on the camel and one of the camel, my friend and me — ten dollars.” The camel owner, replied, “Eighteen dollars.” The Marine, replied, “Three pictures, one of the camel, one of me on the camel and one of the camel, my friend and me — ten dollars! To which the camel owner replied, “Fifteen dollars.” Once again the Marine held up his ten dollar bill and repeated his offer, “Three photos--ten dollars.” The camel owner countered with, “Thirteen dollars.”
The camel owner had the camel and wanted the Marine’s money; the Marine had a camera, wanted three pictures and had ten dollars. They were haggling over a gap between selling and buying price. The bridge became the Marines steadfastness. He wanted three pictures and the Arab wanted the ten dollars. For the Marine the ten dollars was small; for the camel owner, the ten dollars was big.
After several more exchanges, the camel owner, realizing that ten dollars was better than nothing, gave in; the Marine got what he wanted and the camel owner wanted what he got.
Sometimes in life, you are the Marine and sometimes you are the camel owner. Sometimes to reach your goal, you need to be steadfast, unchanging, and unmovable. Other times, you need to survey the situation, be flexible and heed the maxim, “A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.” Bridging the gap between what must be and what can be, you make your decision based on what is negotiable and what is not. Where do you stand fast and where are you flexible? If you must have three pictures and you only have ten dollars, the choice is easy. If you have a camel and there isn’t a line of people waiting to have their picture taken with your animal, you become more flexible.
If you must have three pictures and only want to spend ten dollars, there are three things you need to clearly understand about steadfastness: Attitude, Belief, and Focus.
Attitude
You must have or develop a “never quit attitude.” You simply refuse to give up. You have a goal and you are determined to achieve it. Success doesn’t come easily and we must keep on keeping on. We encounter obstacles, discouragements and disappointments, but we prepare for them. Or, if they arise unexpectedly, we have a “fall back” plan. A positive attitude will keep you moving forward. You may not achieve all your goals, but in the end you would agree with William James, “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second.”
Believe In Yourself
You must believe in yourself and your strengths. To believe in yourself typically means that you have confidence in your talents and strengths. This confidence comes from high self-esteem. The truth is that only a small percentage of people ever achieve their full potential. We would do well to heed Buckminster Fuller’s revealing insight, “I am convinced all of humanity is born with more gifts than we know. Most are born geniuses and just get de-geniused rapidly.”
Focus
You must stay focused on the task at hand and not get distracted. Distractions—people, projects and emergencies-- clamor for your attention. But your “get-it-done” attitude will help keep you focused on what is important and vital to your success as opposed to what is urgent and peripheral. Disappointments and setbacks occur and should be viewed as instruments of learning and not permanent failure. Stay focused and don’t get sidetracked by tasks with fringe benefits.
Three synonyms for “steadfastness” are: perseverance, resoluteness, and determination. Get the picture? I bet ten dollars you do.
HOG THOUGHT: Steadfastness is the stance you take after you have carefully weighed your resources against the target and decide to commit to the attainment of the goal. The people who achieve in this world are the people who land on the beach, burn their boats and march inland to victory.
HOG QUOTE:
“It's not that I'm so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. “ --Albert Einstein
HOG ACTION: Don’t be afraid to stand fast. Often people just need to know that you are truly sincere in your requests or actions. Every time you achieve a goal, you are that much stronger and confident. So, focus all your efforts today toward achieving your key goals. In your steadiness remember the words of Jacob A. Riis, “Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”
Number Two Article, 2009
See the End of the Day in the Start of the Day #49 082309
HOG THOUGHT: To ensure your daily preordained success you must believe you can reach your goal, have the confidence in your ability to achieve it develop a plan to achieve it, and execute. In the end, it is always belief, planning, and execution that determine success. Believe you can do it, plan to do it, and do it!
HOG QUOTE: “Determine that the thing shall be done and then we shall find the way.” — Abraham Lincoln
HOG ACTION: Start today with a vision of how you want your day to end; list the things you must do to achieve that ending; do what you must do so the day ends like you designed it.
Number Three Article, 2009
Four Lessons Learned from Buying the Second Best Bicycle #46 071609
HOG THOUGHT: Don’t mistake procrastination for patience or stubbornness for perseverance. While patience and perseverance move you toward your goal, procrastination and stubbornness prevent goal achievement.
HOG QUOTE: “Patience is the companion of wisdom.” — St. Augustine
HOG ACTION: Practice patience. It forces you to focus on the task at hand. Good things come to those that wait with purpose: end of story.
Number Four Article, 2009
Fingerprints, Snowflakes and You #47 080109
HOG THOUGHT: Accept yourself for who you are. Be comfortable with yourself but never complacent. Everyone has room for growth. Relationships are not static things, they are growing and must be cultivated or, they are stagnant connections subject to decay.
HOG QUOTE: “Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.” — St. Francis De Sales
HOG ACTION: For the next 30 days let your first thought each morning be one of thankfulness for who you are. Like fingerprints and snowflakes, you are one of a kind. Celebrate your uniqueness.
Number Five Article, 2009
A Progress Report Card #43 061409
HOG THOUGHT: Progress is made by organizing activities around accomplishing the goal. In the normal course of making progress, Successful people make significant impact getting the right things done by doing the right things.
HOG QUOTE: “Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress.” — Thomas A. Edison
HOG ACTION: We are to: Make progress toward our goals; Make progress toward getting organized; Make progress toward integrating actions. The goal is to make progress and progress requires change.
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