Contribute to the Success of Others

"Our own success, to be real, must contribute to the success of others." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Have you ever noticed when you are trying to do things for yourself, you feel either the stress of failure or the desire to procrastinate, but when you are doing something for someone else, something without expecting anything in return, you have a greater desire to finish what You have started.

I like the idea of helping others. Many of the most successful people made their riches by helping other people get what they want. You can read about people like Henry Ford who wanted to help people get around faster without relying on a living creature. Horses get tired, but the automobile does not.

You can read about Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Edison who both were inventors who made things for people who needed glasses or light bulbs or pot belly stoves or a way to listen to the recorded voice. When you make a product or provide a service for a large group of people who need or want it, there will be a fortune waiting for you.

Zig Ziglar Always says "If you help enough people get what they want, You will get what you want." You could treat this statement almost like a law of life. It happens every time I see it put into use. The goal is not to think about the money. Spend your time thinking about how you can implement the idea. If the idea is valuable to people, the money will find it's way to you.

Your Opportunity Dressed in Overalls?

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” -Thomas Edison.

Hindsight is 20/20. That is what they say. Have you ever looked back at a circumstance and realized that you should have done something that would have made you successful or at least gotten something that you have wanted for a long time? I know I have. Just look back at my Lotto Story. A lot of times we don't realize that we missed a good opportunity until it has long since past. I think that is what Edison is talking about in this quote.


We should be looking for those opportunities that are not quite so obvious. Most successful people out there are successful because they took advantage of an opportunity that was more about how to help someone else than it was about making money. If you want to hear about a number of these kinds of stories, you should find a copy of "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. This book was written in the early part of the 20th century. Hill talks about a number of successful people of his time; people like Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers and Henry Ford. It is probably one of the best books about success that I have ever read. 

I have a simple way for you to figure out what opportunities to look for, even the ones that are dressed in overalls. It will take about ten to fifteen minutes everyday to sit down and write a few sentences in a notebook. personally I like those little composition books the teenagers get for school. They are bound nicely and will put up with a little abuse. You can get them for a dollar at the dollar store or you can wait till right before school starts and buy about a dozen of them at once when they are on sale. I found them this year at walmart for 40 cents each.


Set you a timer for 15-20 minutes. I like taking 20 minutes because it usually takes me a few minutes to start writing ideas. If I can get them started, then more ideas will start gushing out after them. All you have to do is start writing. think about your day. What happened in the last 24 hours that might shed light on an opportunity that you could use to your benefit. I don't care how small the idea is. The whole point of this exercise is to get some ideas down on paper. 


If you can do this everyday, just sit down and write, you will find all kinds of interesting ideas will come to you. I don't care if you are writing the same ideas everyday. If you do, that means you mind is working on the ideas. That means your mind is working out a way to make your ideas successful. That is all you need to do. You need to make yourself aware of the opportunities. Then you will naturally start to work out a way to profit from those ideas. 


Go try it.