TipsForSuccess: Are There Any Shorcuts to Prosperity?

Are There Any Shortcuts to Prosperity? You have problems if you focus too much on money or too much on production. If you focus too much on money, all you think is "get money, get money, get money." You borrow as much money as you can. You convince people to buy services or goods that you cannot deliver. You gamble or invest hoping you will get money without having to work for it. For example, the manager of a computer company is more concerned about selling computers than making computers. She buys huge advertisements, hires excellent salespeople and pays them big commissions. However, because her company cannot make good computers, she gets fired by the owner. The company has a horrible reputation and closes down. On the other hand, if you focus too much on production, all you think is "produce, produce, produce." You build a great product or provide an excellent service. But you do not work out how to promote and sell it. You think, "If I just do nothing but produce, I'll eventually get some money." For example, a dentist loves making people's smiles look perfect, but he hates asking for money. So he works hard fixing people's teeth, but never collects his fees. He does not focus enough on money and so he constantly has money problems. "When either money or production get out of balance one has trouble. All production and no money is as bad as all money and no production. "This also answers the world mystery of booms and depressions which, unsolved, drove the whole field of economics into a mad subject." "Well-paid delivery in high quality is the correct answer. Only then can a boom continue." "There are no shortcuts to honest prosperity." -- L. Ron Hubbard All Money, No Production As you may have noticed, too many people tried to just get money without any production. It caused our world-wide recession. Here are two examples. Fred hears how people are making money by buying houses and then selling them for a big profit. Fred also learns he can borrow a great deal of money, even though he doesn't make enough money to pay it off. He is convinced, "I'll just buy this big house with this big loan. I'll sell it in a year and make a big pile of money, just like everyone else." A few months later, Fred is behind in his payments and can't pay back his loan. No one will buy his house, so he goes bankrupt. Jill believes that anything she does is okay as long as she makes money from it. So she cheats on her time card at work and adds an hour or two each week that she did not work. She steals office supplies from time to time. She also borrows money from people and never pays them back. As another example, Joe owns a company that has a $1 million retirement fund. Hundreds of workers have given part of their pay into this fund. Pete convinces Joe to give him the $1 million so he can turn it into $2 million. Joe thinks he's going to make $1 million profit for doing nothing. Pete gets a big commission for getting Joe's $1 million. When Pete's plan completely fails, the retirement fund is gone. Joe loses his company and all of his workers have no retirement money All Production, No Money When farmers produce too much food, it goes to waste. They do not ensure people will pay before planting or they do not know how to sell the food after it is harvested. When computer programmers create web services that no one wants, they might have to live in their parents' basements. Smart programmers find out what people will buy before creating their web services. They live in big houses. Certain employees can produce twice as much work per shift than anyone else in the company. Yet they never make their bosses aware of their performance. They never ask for promotions, look for ways to move up in the company or find better jobs. What is the solution? How to Prosper Despite Everything To succeed, you need to do two things: 1) Produce high-quality goods or services and 2) Get paid well for it. Both things. For example, if you cut hair for a living, figure out how to produce the highest-quality haircut possible AND how to get paid a proper fee for it. If you focus too much on money and charge too much, you'll lose your customers. If you focus too much on great haircuts, you won't collect enough and you'll be broke. What do you produce? Is it really valuable? If not, what do you need to change to make it so? If your services or goods are valuable, are you earning enough money from them? If not, what do you need to change so you get paid properly? If you do both things, you will have a boom. If you do not do both things, you will have a depression. "There are no shortcuts to honest prosperity." -- L. Ron Hubbard Produce a valuable product or service, make sure you get paid adequately for it and enjoy a lifetime of success.     Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.     Copyright © 2012 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Subscribe, buy books or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org at www.tipsforsuccess.org

 

 

TipsForSuccess:

Does the World Owe Anyone a Living? The biggest problem with dentures (false teeth) is that they do not feel comfortable. Some people love their new dentures immediately while others are never happy with the fit and always seem to suffer. Dissatisfied patients return to their dentists for frequent adjustments. They try different adhesives or simply start over. No matter what they do, their dentures never feel comfortable. So a denture manufacturer conducted a study to find out why dentures easily fit the mouths of some patients, but were a constant problem with others. As part of the study, they considered the types of material used in the dentures and the methods for shaping the dentures. They checked the dentists' training and techniques. Yet they could not find a common reason why certain patients hated their dentures. But then they checked one other factor. Most of the patients who complained that their dentures did not fit had not paid for them! If the patient or their insurance company had paid for the dentures, they seemed to fit better. If the dentures were not paid for, they did not fit as well. Why would that matter? Permitting Dishonesty "When you let somebody be dishonest, you are setting him up to become physically ill and unhappy." "When you let a person give nothing for something, you are factually encouraging crime." -- L. Ron Hubbard Lottery winners often lose all their money within a few years. They buy expensive cars and wreck them. They buy big houses and let them go to ruin. One man used his winnings to drink himself to death. These poor people didn't earn the money. They got something for nothing so it meant nothing to them. Down deep, everyone wants to be honest. When they get something for nothing they tend to waste it because they did nothing to deserve it. When you perform some valuable work for someone, you must let them give you something back in exchange. If you do not let them give you something in return, they become unhappy. They may even resent your help. You see this with governments. Some people accept money from the government to help them get back on their feet. They go to school, work hard and return the money they received by paying taxes. These people are healthy and happy. Other people accept money from the government, but never get back to work. They watch television all day and gain weight. They are unhealthy and unhappy. Three Recommendations 1. When people complain about what you do for them, check if they have given you a proper exchange in return. If not, make it a requirement and they will stop complaining about you. 2. Ensure you give an honest exchange for all the goods and services you receive. Like people with dentures, you will be happier with what you receive if you give a fair exchange. 3. Whenever you are unhappy or unhealthy, check if you are failing to give an honest exchange for what you receive. Find ways to be as honest as possible and match the exchange. In fact, give the world a little more than you receive and watch what happens to your health and happiness! ----------------------------------- A Tip for Success with Children "A lot of this exchange imbalance comes from child psychology where the child is not contributing anything and is not permitted to contribute. "It is this which first overwhelms him with feelings of obligation to his parents and then bursts out as total revolt in his teens. "Children who are permitted to contribute (not as a cute thing to do but actually) make noncontributing children of the same age look like raving maniacs!" -- L. Ron Hubbard When you make children give an exchange they become much happier! Children, as young as three, can contribute by picking up their toys, helping in the kitchen or singing a song. If children are not allowed to work until they are adults, they depend too heavily on their parents or the government for their money. They do not learn how to earn. Children want to work. It makes them feel valuable. Work makes them happy. Smart parents let their children have real jobs. They patiently show their children how to work. For example, how to wash the windows so they are really clean, or how to walk the family dog every day, even when it is boring. The most successful people in this world had real jobs when they are young. For example, they took care of the neighbors' yards or pets when they were 8. Or they drove a tractor on their family farms when they were 12. When they became 18, they already had their own money and years of work experience. They could work an eight-hour day and earn their pay. They were striding up the road to their ultimate success. Recommendation Teach children (and adults) that the world does not owe them a living. They must find ways to exchange something valuable for the things they want. Help them enjoy the pride, health and happiness they get from earning an honest living.   Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.     Copyright © 2011 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Subscribe, buy books or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org at www.tipsforsuccess.org

 

TipsForSuccess: Your Health and Happiness

Your Health and Happiness You may have heard that to succeed, you need to adjust yourself to the world around you. Examples: "You'd better get used to it as that's the way it is." "To be happy, you must compromise." "Don't make waves!" Yet, to succeed, you must take a different approach. "Man succeeds because he adjusts his environment to him, not by adjusting himself to the environment." -- L. Ron Hubbard You decide what you want and how you want it. You take an active role. You change the world around you. Think of the most successful people you know. Do they mold themselves to fit in? Or do they change the world around them? As well as determining your success, your ability to adjust your environment also determines your health and happiness. "So long as an individual maintains his own belief in his ability to handle the physical universe and organisms about him and to control them if necessary or to work in harmony with them, and to make himself competent over and among the physical universe of his environment, he remains healthy, stable and balanced and cheerful."-- L. Ron Hubbard Jack and Jill Jack tries to get along and not cause trouble. His neighbor plays loud rock-and-roll music all night long, so Jack buys ear plugs. Jack hates leaving his apartment as the building lobby is full of boxes and junk; he just steps around the mess. His co-worker makes Jack pick him up for work each day with no compensation, ". . . since you drive near my house anyway." Each year, he develops some kind of illness or needs an operation. After 25 years at the same company, Jack is only making $22 per hour, but he does not mind as his company gives him good health insurance. At the age of 51, Jack gets cancer and dies. Jill moves into Jack's vacant apartment and can't sleep because of the loud music. She calls the neighbor and works out an agreement so the neighbor plays music all day while she works, but won't at night. Jill convinces this neighbor and a few of the other tenants to spend a few hours cleaning up the lobby and the entry; they even wash the sidewalk and plant some flowers. Although Jill has earned several management promotions and pay increases at her company, she decides to start her own business and makes it successful. She soon buys the apartment building and takes over the top floor for herself. Jill is never ill and at the age of 78, still spends a few hours each week working at her company. Obviously, Jack adjusts himself to the environment while Jill adjusts the environment to herself. Are you more like Jack or Jill? Recommendations 1. Decide to take over your world and adjust your world to your needs and wants. 2. Make a list of everything around you that you would like to change. Examples Clean the house Change my car oil Tear out all the weeds in my garden Exercise daily and lose 10 pounds Reorganize my desk Make people stop dropping in to chat while I'm working Call the city to fix the broken street light 3. Select the easiest items on your list and go change them. Then change the next easiest items and so on. 4. Constantly change and improve the world around you. Never settle back, give up or "accept reality." Make steady progress while maintaining your control of the parts you have already conquered. If you continue to increase your control of the elements in your environment, you become healthier, happier and more successful.   Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.     Copyright © 2012 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard.