Kids please visit us at HeroesHelp.org for daily podcasts and hundreds more episodes like these.

Parent and Educators, please go to www.TheCharacterNetwork.org to learn more and get involved. Thank you!

*******Public use in schools requires a site license.  Please visit The Character Network to find out how your school can get these life changing programs as a part of the TCN METHOD for bully prevention in schools.********

Go HERE for a Free Copy of Jim Lord's Life-Changing Inaugural Novel, Mr. Delaney's Mirror, A Reflection of Your Future, to learn how to be a Hero to your FUTURE SELF!

Get Mr. Delaney's Mirror Here

Ask, “How Am I Smart?”

(Life Lesson No. 75)

It was once pretty popular for teachers to divide students into groups based on academic abilities. Well, you don't see that much anymore, but it's true that when it comes to basic academic skills, there are going to be those who have a little more natural ability or interest in some areas. We learn at different rates and in various ways. And that’s okay, unless you make the mistake of thinking that others are smarter than you are so you might as well give up!

The world needs a great variety of skills and interests. That’s what is so exciting about finding your special niche and believe me, there is one for you!

So face your unique talents and interests squarely, and don't ask yourself “How smart am I?" but “How am I smart?”. . . because you see, that’s the real question!

*****************

Dear Parents,

After years of development, trial, and revision, we are so excited to now share with you the most effective version yet of our Proactive Bully Prevention Program that has proven to "change the culture" on many, many campuses across America.  Research has shown the TCN Method™ to be the single most effective school based Violence and Bully Prevention Intervention of its entire genre. We have hundreds of testimonials from educators describing the results they have gotten, and you can view a variety of these at www.TheCharacterNetwork.org/Testimonials

This program, A Reflection of Your Future is the successor and continuation of the TCN METHOD for middle and high school students, following the programs described below in elementary school. It has a companion book, a novel, with the link above to get a free copy, called Mr. Delaney's Mirror, A Reflection of Your Future, showcasing the journey of one student in...]]>Please visit us at www.Patreon.com/TheCharacterNetwork to help support TCN and help us keep providing these unique and extremely effective research based Bully Prevention and Character Education Programs to schools around the world, and help more kids who desperately need special intervention.  

Kids please visit us at HeroesHelp.org for daily podcasts and hundreds more episodes like these.

Parent and Educators, please go to www.TheCharacterNetwork.org to learn more and get involved. Thank you!

*******Public use in schools requires a site license.  Please visit The Character Network to find out how your school can get these life changing programs as a part of the TCN METHOD for bully prevention in schools.********

Go HERE for a Free Copy of Jim Lord's Life-Changing Inaugural Novel, Mr. Delaney's Mirror, A Reflection of Your Future, to learn how to be a Hero to your FUTURE SELF!

Get Mr. Delaney's Mirror Here

Ask, “How Am I Smart?”

(Life Lesson No. 75)

It was once pretty popular for teachers to divide students into groups based on academic abilities. Well, you don't see that much anymore, but it's true that when it comes to basic academic skills, there are going to be those who have a little more natural ability or interest in some areas. We learn at different rates and in various ways. And that’s okay, unless you make the mistake of thinking that others are smarter than you are so you might as well give up!

The world needs a great variety of skills and interests. That’s what is so exciting about finding your special niche and believe me, there is one for you!

So face your unique talents and interests squarely, and don't ask yourself “How smart am I?" but “How am I smart?”. . . because you see, that’s the real question!

*****************

Dear Parents,

After years of development, trial, and revision, we are so excited to now share with you the most effective version yet of our Proactive Bully Prevention Program that has proven to "change the culture" on many, many campuses across America.  Research has shown the TCN Method™ to be the single most effective school based Violence and Bully Prevention Intervention of its entire genre. We have hundreds of testimonials from educators describing the results they have gotten, and you can view a variety of these at www.TheCharacterNetwork.org/Testimonials

This program, A Reflection of Your Future is the successor and continuation of the TCN METHOD for middle and high school students, following the programs described below in elementary school. It has a companion book, a novel, with the link above to get a free copy, called Mr. Delaney's Mirror, A Reflection of Your Future, showcasing the journey of one student in particular who learns how to become a hero to her Future Self and lay the foundation for a successful life. We are offering a copy free to listeners of these programs by The Character Network and encourage you to go claim a copy for you and your child.

That link, again, is GET MR DELANEY'S MIRROR: A REFLECTION OF YOUR FUTURE HERE

As for the TCN Method in elementary schools, which uses some of our other programs you can access through the site HeroesHelp.org as well as many other places and podcasts, such as TCN MORNINGS with Jim Lord

The Beginning of a FAMOUS Hero™ is used in conjunction with its companion program called The Beginning of a Hero™ in schools played over the intercom during morning announcements twice or more each school week and backed up by a common language which reinforces the principles taught, at every turn, and incorporates certain phrases of the academic language during any teachable moment.

These two sets of stories work together to convey a common academic language which says, “A bully is a person who hurts others repeatedly on purpose (even if it’s just hurting their feelings) but a HERO is a person who HELPS others. So, CHOOSE to be a HERO by HELPING instead of a bully by hurting.”

They also promote the concept of POSITIVE PERSONAL VISION, helping each student to realistically visualize his or her own "Future Self," and in doing so help relate consequences of actions and attitudes today (good or bad) to that future self.

It is the spaced repetition of these principles that makes the program effective. It is the 100% turn-key presentation that makes it easy!

This program takes VIRTUALLY NO TIME (only 4 minutes a week!) away from classroom instruction. But it also provides a common language across the entire campus when teachable moments occur!

The TCN Method has been extraordinarily successful in the past, in almost a thousand schools all across America, from California to New York, with a special concentration all over Texas, where The Character Network is based, and has been used to the benefit of well over a million students across the past two decades.

Then Covid struck, with the majority of schools ceasing in classroom instruction altogether for the majority of the previous school year, and after years of successful growth, we found ourselves in the very difficult situation of having to rebuild almost from scratch. So we started a morning podcast to help make the principles and teachings of TCN available to kids to have at home… but we need help from parents like you to get the word out and also to help us gather financial support to once again make the method available again to not only for the schools we lost due to Covid, but to every school and every child who could benefit and needs this going forward.

We invite you to become a coworker with us on our mission. Please start by visiting us at www.Patreon.com/theCharacterNetwork and considering becoming a sponsor for this work.  Then, please drop us a line at info@thecharacternetwork.org so we can learn more about you.  Thank you so much! 

The Beginning of a Famous HERO, Beginning of a Hero, Refection of Your Future, Beginning of Little Heroes, and Bully Alert, as well as the daily podcast, TCN Mornings with Jim Lord are programs of The Character Network. www.TheCharacterNetwork.org ©2021 The Character Network. All rights reserved.

Mr. Delaney's Mirror: A Reflection of Your Future ©2021 The Character Network and Jim Lord

(Life Lesson No. 100)

We’ve all heard of times when a very special coach would take a group of rag-tag football players and turn them into a championship team. Or when a high school music director would transform at best, mediocre singers into an award winning choir—yes, because they worked hard, but first because they expected greatness!

Remember the people throughout history who have ascended far above the average. They expected more from themselves! Think about it like this. It is simply a matter of relativity. We all expect something of ourselves We all have a level of self-expectation. Consciously or not, we’re not willing to perform above or below that self-imposed level. But if we simply raised that level of self-expectation, we would no longer allow ourselves to produce less! The bottom line is this—we become what we expect of ourselves!

(Life Lesson No. 99)

One of my favorite literary pieces was written by Ted Giesel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss. It’s called “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” In a rather abstract way, it portrays opportunities awaiting young people, and in his own inimitable style, he pretty much sums up what may be expected—that is, for those who are focused on a successful future. The picture he paints is full of successes and failures even for the person who is goal oriented.

What he does not mention is the outcome for those who do not try—those who focus only on day-to-day pleasures and pains.

So, if you’re ever to make it through where “your enemies prowl,” and go on and on “though the Hakken-Kraks howl,” and if you want to really, really succeed, “ninety-eight and three quarters percent guaranteed,” you’ve got to be trying in the first place!

(Life Lesson No. 98)

It has become my life’s mission to encourage young people to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to gain a solid education, to seek accurate career information, and to develop their character in such a way as to lead them directly to success.

And I would like to ask something of you, that maybe you could tuck away in a pocket of your mind and pull it out for future reference. Be successful, be the best, but please, don’t ever be “important”—you know, the kind of person who doesn’t have the time of day for the rest of us—a “legend in his own mind. . .”

When you become a successful, contributing member of society, you will be very valuable. I like that word “valuable.” It has a nice productive ring to it. Please be valuable, but don’t ever be important! There’s a big difference!

(Life Lesson No. 97)

Author and philanthropist, W. Clement Stone was once asked how he was able to create such a rich and rewarding life for himself. He replied, “I have dreamed. It’s just that simple. I have turned my mind loose to imagine what I wanted to do, and I have gone to sleep thinking about things I wanted to accomplish. In the night, I would dream about them, and when I would arise in the morning, I would see ways to achieve the end result I wanted. While other people were saying, ‘You can’t do that—it’s impossible,” I was well on my way to achieving what I wanted.”

We can dream lofty and noble dreams, or we can settle for average and mundane lives. Most great accomplishments do not happen without someone first seeing those accomplishments in their mind’s eye. As W. Clement Stone said many times, “What you can conceive and believe, you can achieve!”

(Life Lesson No. 96)

A friend of mine was driving down an interstate highway recently when he realized he had passed his exit about five miles back. And the next place where he could turn around was fifteen miles ahead! He had to travel another thirty-five miles just to get back to where he should have been in the first place!

When I heard his story, I began thinking about how many times young people in school do that very same thing by not applying themselves. You see, in order to be successful in the real world, you need to possess some knowledge along with an academic foundation on which to build future knowledge.

Just like going several miles out of your way on the interstate, you could be setting yourself up to go several years out of your way on life’s highway before you finally reach the place you’ll want to be as an independent adult.

I can tell you that attention and diligence now will save you a lot of time and frustration in the future.

(Life Lesson No. 95)

Leadership can be defined as the ability to influence others toward a desired goal— a characteristic not commonly exercised. Robert E. Lee developed this special power of influence. Once, when the great general unexpectedly visited a battalion of his soldiers there was a deafening quietness, and no one said a thing.

Immediately following, one of the men passionately asked the others if they were willing to do what the general had said. But General Lee had actually not spoken a word. Just his presence brought devotion. It was the power of his character that commanded respect from the men.

People who have proven themselves capable and who have won the hearts of their followers can lead a group where others only dream of going.

Prepare yourself. Make yourself respectable and capable. You’ll be amazed at how effective your leadership can be!

(Life Lesson No. 94)

When you look into a mirror, you see a reflection of your physical self. When you look at the grade on a test paper, you see a reflection of your academic self. When you look at your weekend calendar, you see a reflection of your social self. Do you like what you see? If not, change it!

One of my best friends in high school was about as underweight as they come, and I tended to be a little on the heavy side. Neither of us liked what we saw in the mirror. The next thing I knew, he had begun a body building program, and within a year or so, he could bench-press . . . me!

I learned quickly and got myself on a program to get in shape as well. Then one thing led to another. I didn’t like my grades, so I did what was necessary to change them. It works that way in life. If you don’t like something about yourself, you can usually change it if you really determine yourself to do so.

(Life Lesson No. 93)

I was asked recently what I would most like to teach the world, and my answer was, on the surface, pretty simple. I wish I could teach the world to live by the golden rule—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” For everyone to truly live by this important principal, however, it would require the acceptance of responsibility on the parts of all people.

In the world today, we hear a lot about people’s rights, and certainly the rights of individuals are very important. But without taking responsibility for our actions and taking responsibility to see that we as individuals do nothing to violate the rights of others, nobody’s rights will ever truly be realized.

Taking responsibility to “carry our own weight,” and being willing to help someone less fortunate carry theirs would bring a peace to this world that people only dream about.

(Life Lesson No. 92)

There was once a young mother I knew who bragged openly that her eleven-year-old daughter would someday own a ranch and raise horses for a living, and that her nine-year-old would become a famous race car driver. Never mind that the family lived in the inner-city and had never even been around horses and that the nine-year-old had never driven a car!

That mother convinced her children that those exciting careers were in their futures, but never offered a clue about how to achieve them. Well predictably, the daughter one day had her own daughter and lived in the same poverty in which she was raised. I don’t remember what happened to the son, but I know I’ve never heard his name mentioned on the NASCSR circuit!

Having long-term goals is essential to success in any field, but those goals must be realistic and based on personal talents and abilities, education and training, and commitment to follow through on making them happen!

(Life Lesson No. 91)

They say that about twenty percent of the population consists of bullies, and whether it’s the proverbial sand kicking bully on the beach, or the kid at school whose middle name is “harassment,” bullies can really do a lot of damage—if we let them.

Many young people just aren’t cut out to be viewed as“cool” by their peers and find themselves targets of bullies. Bullies feed on the reactions of their victims, and although it took me several miserable years to learn this lesson, I finally did learn that if you don’t react, the bullies will usually feed somewhere else!

On the other side of the coin, if you are a bully, stop it before it becomes a lifelong habit. As I look back at the lives of the bullies when I was in school (excluding the ones currently in prison), I see them living lonely and pathetic lives because they have no friends. Think about that.

(Life Lesson No. 90)

Have you ever noticed how little children distort their faces when they close their eyes for a surprise?

As children become teens though, many close their eyes and distort their LIVES! Not visualizing consequences of actions or lack of actions can have far reaching effects.

If you don’t look ahead while you’re young and visualize your future, you set yourself up to face great regret. That’s an easy prediction because there are a lot of adults running around still trying to make life work for themselves. They would give anything for the opportunity to go back to their youth and incorporate a little vision for their futures.

If you’re a young person living only for the present, “open your eyes” to the future, and picture yourself ten, twenty, and thirty years from now. Prepare yourself now to become the person you want to be then. You’ll never regret that.

(Life Lesson No. 89)

I recently overheard a man discussing his new job—one that he was really excited about! But as the story unfolded, I was disappointed. In fact, I felt really sorry for him as he continued to explain to his friend that his new “gravy job,” as he called it, required only that he sit and push a button all day!

That true-life scenario brought to mind something I had heard before. It’s a clever way of categorizing each of us. Listen closely and see where you fit in this short list:

First, there are those people who make good things happen! Then, there are those who are willing to just let things happen. And last, but unfortunately not least, are those who simply ask, “What happened?!”

Wherever you find yourself now, I’m sure you’ll agree the first group, the one in which people make good things happen is the best!

(Life Lesson No. 88)

How many times have you heard young people say, “There’s nothing to do around here!?” They mean, of course, “There are not enough interesting facilities to help me waste my time!” And yes, I agree that mindless entertainment is indeed a positive alternative to ruining one’s life on the street, but there is yet a higher plain to pursue!

Many young people have discovered that higher plain. They don’t have time for “cruising the streets,” or wearing out video games! They’re having fun by being involved in school and in extra-curricular organizations like athletics, band, choir, and all sorts of clubs—Scouts, 4-H, church youth groups, and volunteer opportunities.

Those who become seriously involved simply don’t have time to waste. Instead they sharpen skills, broaden education, and build lifelong camaraderie with peers who are pursuing the same goals! Don’t tell me there’s nothing to do! I’ve learned better!

(Life Lesson No. 87)

A friend of mine was recently lamenting that her nineteen year old daughter was “. . camped out on fool’s hill . . . not just climbing fool’s hill, but camped out!”

Most young people look forward with great anticipation to graduation time. However, it comes with a subtle danger.

Throughout our entire school careers we live structured lives. During the twelve or more years of school, many important choices are made for us. But after graduation, all the choices become ours! Watch out—because even though you have planned for a responsible future, the sudden and enormous freedom of choice can become euphoric like a dangerous drug!

So live your life with care, and always seek good advice. It’s hard to realize as a teen how even one bad decision can change your future and limit your otherwise incredible potential.

(Life Lesson No. 86)

I can remember as a teen being obsessed about a number of things like motorcycles. At fifteen, I told people around me everything they wanted to know about motorcycles and a lot they didn’t!

So is talking about things that interest you a bad thing to do? Of course not! But just think about people you know who talk about their interests and about their friends as though everyone around them has the same interests and the same friends! And think about the people who embarrass others (and themselves) by openly discussing private matters!

People who talk incessantly about their own special interests seem to consider themselves the center of the world around them. But they’re not! None of us is. And the sooner we each can realize that we are only a very small part of a very big picture, the sooner we can truly grow in our lives.

(Life Lesson No. 85)

People talk a lot about success but what exactly does success mean? Even dictionary definitions are elusive saying things like, “A degree or measure of succeeding!”

But you know, by any definition in the grand scheme of things, not very many people are truly successful. It would seem that people could claim success if, say by retirement age they could look back on their lives and sincerely have no serious regrets. And it makes sense that more people could honestly enjoy success if they had made choices throughout their lives based on end result projections instead of on what felt good at the time.

It’s been said that a good way to live a successful life is to write an epitaph the way you would want yours to read and then work backwards from there. It’s something to think about!

(Life Lesson No. 84)

It was only a generation or two ago that a young person could enter his or her life’s work practicing a trade learned as a family tradition or through an apprenticeship, and retire thirty years later doing exactly the same thing—with the exception of having advanced through the levels of responsibility.

But the job market is certainly different today! Things are changing so fast that even those who are already successful in their careers must continually update their training. So where does that leave young people just starting our in the working world?

Well, the key word to remember is adaptation. It used to be that success at making a living depended on how much you knew. Now you must add to that the ability to continue learning.

Yes, times are changing, and there is no time like the present to develop a love of learning instead of sitting in a classroom wishing you were somewhere else.

(Life Lesson No. 83)

They say it takes all kinds to make the world go round! Now while that may not be true scientifically speaking, it certainly is true figuratively speaking! Each of us has unique talents and abilities. The problem is that too many people wake up to find themselves trapped in life’s responsibilities before discovering and developing their talents!

Don’t let that happen to you. Take advantage of every opportunity you can now while you’re young. Put forth your best effort in everything you do. Take music lessons, voice lessons, swimming lessons—any kind of lessons! Ask questions about everything you don’t understand. Go on a search to find any hidden talents you may have!

If you really want to be fulfilled in life, discover yourself—instead of just wasting your time that is so precious.

(Life Lesson No. 82)

Before the days of satellite navigation systems in small aircraft, it was not difficult for cross-country pilots to get lost!

If you maintained a course that was only one degree off your intended compass heading, you would (and still will) end up hundreds of miles to the left or right of your destination. It’s a geometric certainty!

And life’s courses are exactly the same. Have you ever heard someone say, “I wonder where he or she went wrong?” Well, it may have been from the very beginning, and nobody noticed because “North” and “One-degree North-northwest” look pretty much the same when you’re starting out. They really don’t take on their own recognizable characteristics for quite a while.

Determine what kind of adult you want to become character-wise. Then diligently maintain your course-heading to achieve that. It’ll take you far in the right direction!

(Life Lesson No. 81)

We’ve all heard the expression that “Some people have all the luck.” It’s also been said you have to make your own luck. Still, other people don’t believe in luck at all! It was baseball legend Casey Stengel who hit the ball over the wall when he said, “Luck is the residue of design!” And what a thought provoking statement that was!

It has been proven time and again among people who consistently put forth effort in their lives that extra perks, extra benefits, and occasional windfalls seem to come their way. People who not only work hard but who work smart will tell you that good things rarely just happen, and that you have to carefully prepare yourself to be eligible for the luck—the residue of design—that will surely then begin to come your way!

If you truly want to be counted among the “lucky” of the world, you’ve got to first cultivate the ground in which your “four leaf clovers” can grow!

(Life Lesson No. 80)

My oldest daughter was only five or six years old when she tried to make her first peanut butter sandwich. And of course, a peanut butter sandwich isn’t always the easiest project to undertake for such small hands. My wife told her as compassionately as possible that she needed to "master the art." She said, “I tried that, and the bread just tore!”

Think about the things you do well now that you once thought you could never do—riding a bicycle, swimming, texting—lots of things! So, don’t let the fear of learning something new discourage you. They say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, but I really don’t think that applies here because we’re people, not dogs! And people can always learn new things!

If you want to become a fulfilled and interesting person, take on something new to learn!

(Life Lesson No. 78)

Have you ever tried to do two things at once like tie your shoes and brush your teeth at the same time? How about doing homework while you’re watching TV? Well—okay—maybe.

But think about this. The human mind as marvelous as it is can really concentrate on only one thing at a time.

So let me give you a one word motto—FOCUS. Give your full attention to the most important task at any given time, and quickly file away any intruding thoughts or ideas. Other thoughts or activities can wait their turns to receive the same undivided attention that you’re giving your current project.

Focusing on what you’re doing while you’re doing it, along with prioritizing everything else, can work miracles in making you a truly effective person.

(Life Lesson No. 77)

I know you’ve heard the expression, “Honesty is the best policy.” You can probably think of a dozen reasons right now why that is a true statement. Of course, everyone would agree that if everyone else were honest, the world would be a much better place in which to live!

But truth about ourselves is sometimes hard to recognize if we’re not accustomed to dealing with it. Many of us have clouded views of ourselves and let our emotions paint false portraits of what we are and what we can become.

It is also easy to be distracted by friends, trends, and fads. Never let what is popular or not popular deceive your thinking and change your course in life. Step back and take time to get to know yourself. Learn what your are truly all about and not what your friends think you should be all about. The sooner you do, the better off you’ll be!

(Life Lesson No. 76)

The story goes that an ancient king was having problems with an aggressive enemy and feeling somewhat helpless, he sought the advice of a prophet.

Well, the old prophet instructed the king to perform two simple tasks. First, to shoot an arrow out of a window in the direction of the enemy. Next, the king was to take the rest of his arrows and beat on the ground with them.

Indeed this was an odd solution, but the king shot the one arrow and then reluctantly hit the ground three times with the rest. The prophet became angry and told the king that he should have beaten the ground—and certainly more than just three times! Because of his lack of passion, the prophet said the king would experience only a short-lived victory.

It’s a strange story, I know, but learn this lesson: Be passionate, be courageous, and be willing to do what it takes to make your future successful! It’ll really help in accomplishing your goals.

(Life Lesson No. 74)

You know, friendship at any age is important, but sometimes it becomes too important—dangerously important. Young people are often tempted to compromise their personal convictions, endanger their health or physical safety, and jeopardize their well-being because of undue pressure from friends.

It may be difficult to imagine a life that does not always include your friends, but I can tell you that after graduation, lives go in very different directions.

So be very careful about compromising your future because the people you make those compromises for will probably not even be part of your life after high school. But the effects of the compromising will be!

(Life Lesson No. 73)

What are you going to do after you graduate? You know, many young people don’t have a clue about what they want to do with their lives—so they do nothing!

Others, however, are career minded. Their intense focus on their career goals provides the motivation they need to prepare themselves—one day at a time, carefully making choices along the way. Many former students who prepared themselves are now enjoying success in the job market.

And even though the job market has changed dramatically because of technological advances, and even though many are not doing what they once thought they would, they still are very successful. You see, their focus kept them motivated enough through their teens to build a solid foundation that would serve them in any career. Yes, focusing on the idea of having a career is a really good thing!

(Life Lesson No. 72)

Years ago, when I was in school, my history class was planning a field trip to a nearby Civil War battle field, we were told to bring a sack lunch and a signed permission slip.

Well, I showed up at school the next morning with my sack lunch but not with a signed permission slip. I had forgotten it. When the teacher said I couldn’t go, I became indignant. “Look,” I said, “my mom made the lunch. She knows about the trip!” Again, I was told I couldn’t go. I threw my lunch in the general direction of the teacher, uttered something to indicate my extreme displeasure and stormed out of the room like the whole thing was her fault!

I have since learned that it comes naturally to blame our mistakes on others. True maturity, however, deals in truth—not only the truth about our strengths, but also the painful facts about our weaknesses. Oh, and Mrs. Bateman, wherever you are, please accept my most humble apology. I was wrong.

(Life Lesson No. 71)

Once my daughter at eight years of age sincerely posed the question, “Why do we have blood?” My five year old son quickly and arrogantly replied, “So we won’t be flat!” Of course, we all had a big laugh.

But when supposedly mature adults speak with grand authority on subjects they know nothing about, they not only look foolish, they also damage their credibility in areas where they really are knowledgeable.

Many young people in school find themselves caught up in this Know-it-all Syndrome. But in nearly every case, it is simply a matter that they want to be thought of as knowledgeable and are covering for the fact that they haven’t made the effort to learn. People who truly are knowledgeable rarely sacrifice their time or their integrity trying to impress others.

And from that perspective, it’s pretty easy to see that Know-it-alls usually ... don’t!

(Life Lesson No. 79)

I’ve been wondering. Where have all the hippies gone (“long-time-passing,”and all that?) Where are all those “anti-establishment” people who were going to right all the wrongs in the world forty some-odd years ago? Well, they are the establishment now, and the things they protested are still here, too!

It’s natural for young people to have idealistic views about how the world should be run, and granted, a lot of them are very good ideas! But without education, experience, and maturity, all the ranting and raving will only annoy the people you’re trying to persuade.

So keep those ideals. Grow them. Test them. The time will come when you really can make a difference! But, you must first prepare yourself to become one whose views are respected. And respectability takes time to develop.

(Life Lesson No. 70)

Not so many decades ago, any form of entertainment was an extreme luxury. If a singer or public speaker came to town, it was a major event! There were no radios, no televisions, no recorded music or video.

Today things are very different. Satellites, cable, and the internet feed song, comedy, dance, drama, and much more to and from the remote corners of the world. As the entertained generation, though, we tend to lose interest easily and complain, “I’m bored!”

But when someone is working to teach you something you should know, take the responsibility as the receiver to look for the value and appreciate the effort because the complaint, “I’m bored,” could really mean, “I’m mentally lazy,” or “I’m selfish and expect to be entertained.” It’s not a good thing to let modern technology get in the way of accomplishment or good manners!

(Life Lesson No. 69)

Not long ago, I was in a supermarket listening to a very unhappy store employee who was being paid at the moment for checking my groceries. She spent the few minutes we were together angrily telling me, the customer, all about her paycheck which apparently didn’t even come close to covering the money she needed.

It would seem that one can seldom make it through an entire day without hearing remarks from workers about things that don’t go just to their suiting.

Certainly every situation will not be without some negative. But nothing good is ever accomplished by discussing your problems with people who can’t help you. And often, when we do our “third party venting,” we lose a notch or two on the respectability scale.

It works out much better to take positive action and logically talk out problems or misunderstandings with the people who can help.

(Life Lesson No. 67)

Business executives and managers have many responsibilities. One of the greatest is that of budgeting and managing time.

Successful business people who know the importance of proper time budgeting follow an itinerary. This schedule of events and appointments helps promote efficiency.

It is not unreasonable, therefore, for the average person to keep a personal schedule. Let’s face it. Most of us cannot remember every detail of what we want to accomplish, whether in a year, a month, or even a day! Write down your overall long-term goals, and your short term goals, too! Refer to them often. Write down even the small things that you need to do on a daily basis! The procedure is simple. The results are incredible! Checking items off your list will give you a sense of accomplishment that will keep you going!

(Life Lesson No. 66)

Credibility is probably the most valuable attribute a human being can have. There are people in this world in highly respectable and responsible positions who can get or do just about anything they want. We sometimes tend to think people like that are just lucky. Well, that’s absurd! They have that kind of credibility because they have earned it.

Trust is something that has to be built over a long period of time. But trust is very fragile. It must be handled with great care. We are only human, and mistakes will happen, so we must be quick to make them right because credibility, once lost, is very difficult to regain.

If you are not very dependable right now, begin to change—today! If you are trustworthy and dependable, you need to consider that virtue a treasure, and guard it very, very carefully.

(Life Lesson No. 65)

Have you ever felt like maybe you’re the only person in the world who has the feelings you feel, the thoughts you think, and the pain that you may be enduring?

Well you know, it’s a big world out there, and there’s really nothing new. It’s all been done before. You see, thoughts and feelings often lead to action, and somebody somewhere has felt what you feel and has done whatever you’re doing or thinking about doing. They’ve either felt good about the results of their actions, or they have had regrets.

Talk to people, especially older people who have had a little experience in life. Seek advice about any decision that you don’t already have first-hand experience with. Look ahead and visualize the long term results of your actions. And remember that someone has already done it before and has already lived with the results.

(Life Lesson No. 64)

To say the human body is an incredible machine is certainly an understatement. While on the one hand, it is only one breath or one heartbeat away from death, it can also take a considerable amount of abuse and be very forgiving. However, year after year of habitual mistreatment will eventually take its toll. Volumes of books have been written concerning ever increasing knowledge on this subject.

Listen, sickness can rob you of your dreams. Sickness is expensive, and although most health problems won’t totally stop you, they can become chronic, thereby permanently limiting your ability to be productive.

And something else—many health problems that people experience can be completely avoided with a few common sense rules. So make the opportunity to learn about and practice good health rules. It can avoid a lot of regret.

(Life Lesson No. 63)

It’s interesting to observe that many young people of wealth often just want more, unless of course, they are taught otherwise by their parents. On the other hand, young people whose families struggle financially often have little expectation of material gain and seek instead to find things to provide happiness for the moment, unless they are otherwise taught by their parents.

The bottom line is this. It is easy for young people in any stage of the economic spectrum to waste their lives on shallow thinking. And for a variety of reasons, parents may not always be available to constantly encourage accomplishment. That is when it becomes evident what a young person is really made of.

Sometimes, regardless of your background, you just have to take a stand and do what you must to get from where you are now to where you’ll want to be in the future.

(Life Lesson No. 62)

Are there certain phrases people say that make you think, “Oh no, here we go!?” Well, that’s what I think when someone says, “I’m from the old school...,” and then proceeds to tell me how things used to be. I believe that as times change, there is always something new to learn.

But I also believe that changing times do not change right and wrong, regardless of the emotions attached and that occasionally the “old-school” concept still stands.

We find ourselves in all kinds of situations, sometimes being influenced by friends or circumstances, and we have to make choices. If your conscience tells you that what you’re considering doing is wrong, listen to it! And if your conscience doesn’t bother you, but you know that you’re about to engage in something illegal, immoral, or just plain stupid, take a long pause...and consciously consider the consequences— the price there may be to pay. When your personal integrity becomes shattered, there just isn't a whole lot left to build on.

(Life Lesson No. 61)

One thing that has changed a great deal over the years is school dress code. There was a time when students weren't even required to dress nicely for school...but they DID ANYWAY because the students required it of themselves! Today because of a reversal in that trend, many school districts are requiring uniforms. Now I'm not suggesting that you should dress up everyday for school, but I am suggesting that being well groomed is not a bad thing.

Of course, whether you're at school or not, the way you choose to present yourself says a lot about you. It’s your choice, but keep in mind the impression you’re making on the people who can help influence your future opportunities. What is your message to them—that you’re solid and worth investing in or that you’re like water and flow freely to seek the lowest level possible?

Displaying respectability really will add a great deal to getting ahead.

(Life Lesson No 60)

There’s a lot of talk today about volunteering your time. Maybe as a young person you’ve never given it a lot of thought, but consider this: Among the many other rewards in volunteer work, it is extremely valuable on a job resume to show a significant trend for volunteering your time in community service!

We all have been given so much, and each of us needs to give something back. It’s true that every volunteer situation is not suited to the talents, personality, or schedule of everyone, so look around. What’s your thing? The environment, the elderly, children? How about a service club or organization? Don’t fret over what you can’t do...look for what you can!

And, on the subject of giving and getting, here’s something else to think about: “Give more than you’re expected to give, and you get back more than you expect to get!” It always works, so go prove it for yourself!

(Life Lesson No. 59)

Have you ever had a really good idea that you shared with someone only to have the other person declare, “It’ll never work!?” It kind of resembled a slap in the face, didn’t it?

Are you one of those people whose motto in life seems to be, “That’ll never work?” You know, the negative approach of doubt, disbelief, and discouragement becomes a bad habit—a real waste of time and energy. Try instead to help make it work, or at least help figure out how the same goal could be accomplished in another more effective way.

Now, a positive thought on the subject of being negative! Everyone has a purpose, and it’s often the negative people who help keep the positive people on their toes! So, if someone says to your brightest idea, “That’ll never work,” take it as a challenge!

And when it’s your turn to evaluate someone else’s endeavor, learn to be an encourager. It’s a lot better!

(Life Lesson No. 58)

Mark Twain once said, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow just as well.” Now obviously that was meant as a joke, but just think about how many people actually live their lives that way! Our number one threat to success is procrastination.

Well, a good question to ask at this point would be, “Just why in the world do we procrastinate, if it’s costing us something we really want to have?”

Procrastination has several causes—laziness and apathy are two. They can be replaced with vision and determination. But, one of the main causes of procrastination is fear—fear of what we don’t know or of what may be required of us if we try to step out and accomplish something.

If the paralyzing effect of fear is indeed behind your procrastination, become educated about that which you fear. You can then walk right through your anxieties and march on toward your goals.

(Life Lesson No. 57)

Everybody knows somebody who absolutely cannot admit when he or she is wrong about something. For all of us, admitting wrong and saying, “I’m sorry” is hard to do, so a lot of people simply don’t. Of course, three things then occur: relationships deteriorate, friends are lost, and conflict grows. So how can you avoid these problems?

The answer is really pretty easy. Stop thinking everybody expects you to be perfect, and stop letting pride get in your way when it comes to righting a wrong. Just sincerely say, “I’m sorry.”

Sincerity—there’s the key word because if you’re truly sincere when you apologize, whatever the offense, it is less likely to occur again, and relationships can get back to normal a lot sooner!

(Life Lesson No 56)

Have you ever taken some big step to show people around you what you could do, and then somebody made a really discouraging comment about your talent like the time a young Elvis Presley was told he had no talent?!

We all doubt ourselves to some degree and feel a little frightened to step out and face the world with our talents and abilities. But what happens when we give in to our fears is that we end up cheating ourselves out of accomplishment and opportunity.

Some people confuse “self-confidence” with arrogance when in fact, they are not at all the same. Arrogant people often display their offensive attitudes because they lack confidence, and they don’t want anybody to know! It’s a cover-up.

Self-confidence on the other hand, is a good thing and a quality that will take you solidly through life if you will use it to build and grow.

(Life Lesson No. 55)

Many people have lived their entire adult lives believing that any day their lives will suddenly become easier—that they would have a financial windfall to give them the big break they thought they needed. But sadly, most people who think like that eventually lose their reputations and their self respect. And when it comes retirement time, they simply don’t have enough money to live on. So, how can you avoid that scenario?

Well, if you are earning money (and it doesn’t even matter if it’s not very much,) get some advice from a reputable financial planner about personal investments and money management. Let your money start working for you!

You know, the you of the future will still be you. Time will pass and things will change, but I assure you that the you of the future will be mighty angry with the you of the past if there is nothing to show for years and years of your hard work!

(Life Lesson No. 54)

It would seem that people in our society generally accept the proverbial Golden Rule—“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Unfortunately the meaning of this often quoted phrase tends to get lost in a fog of familiarity.

Sometime when you’re not in a hurry, take time to imagine what it would be like if everyone in every aspect of society truly embraced such a simple philosophy.

We readily agree as individuals that we’d love to experience all the good that would come our way if everyone else faithfully lived by this ancient proverb. But maybe we feel just insignificant enough to doubt that our personal efforts along these lines could really make a difference. I challenge you to try! Good rarely goes unnoticed and it’s often contagious. Yes, you can be a part of the effort that really does make a difference!

(Life Lesson No. 53)

If you’re like most people, you hope to achieve success in your life. It would seem strange, to say the least, to hear someone wish for his plans and dreams to end in failure! So, what does it take to be truly successful? Ask a dozen different people that question, and you’ll probably get at least thirteen different answers!

But through it all, you’ll find there is a simple basic character trait that must be present! If it is missing, then all else fails. That very special, absolutely necessary key to success is...self-discipline.

Our lives are full of disciplines from without—parents, schools, jobs, government, even nature provides it. Unfortunately, a lot of people resent those kinds of disciplines. So then, it’s important to understand this: If you discipline yourself, others won’t have to!

Take control, and remember that developing a sense of self-discipline will provide the basis on which to truly build success.

(Life Lesson No. 52)

Some people have money. Some people have great knowledge, others wisdom. Some people have peace and tranquility. But there is one thing we all have in common—the most valuable commodity any living person could ask for. TIME.

All of us have twenty-four hours each day, seven days a week, and fifty two weeks a year. While that may sound trite, it nevertheless is either painfully or gloriously true, depending on how we look at it, and how we manage this time we’ve been given.

One of the most important steps in managing time is to take time to think. In our hectic society, very few young people stop to really deeply think. Think about what you want to accomplish with your time. It’s your time, so decide what your priorities are going to be. You really can begin to be in control of your life—and your future—by taking time to think.

(Life Lesson No. 51)

If you were to suddenly find yourself in a hospital emergency room, you would expect your doctor to be an expert in the field of medicine, wouldn’t you? Of course you would—your expectation would be so high that you probably wouldn’t question his or her medical procedures at all.

But think how refreshing it would be to have the same confidence in the checker at the supermarket, the crew member at the fast food restaurant, or the babysitter.

Of course, on the other side of the coin, we all want to become experts in our future careers, don’t we? But what about those part-time jobs and other responsibilities along the way?

One thing I’ve learned is this—if you want to be happy, have fulfillment, and be respected, you need to take it on yourself to learn all there is to know about your job—become an expert! Don’t ever be a know-it-all, but do be a true expert. It’ll take you far!

(Life Lesson No. 50)

When you think about the people you know, who comes to mind first in a positive way? What makes some people stand out from others in the vast sea of human diversity? Is it what they do, or who they are?

No—it’s enthusiasm! It’s how excited they are about their lot in life—about their existence!

I have an older friend who contracted polio when he was a child. For literally decades now he has been paralyzed, living flat on his back. But, when I think of my friend, my first though is not about his affliction—it’s about his enthusiasm! Enthusiasm for his friends, his accomplishments, his business, and his opportunities!

Enthusiasm for what you’re doing and who you are will always bring favorable recognition from those around you!

(Life Lesson No. 49)

I once had a teacher who said, “If you don’t have a plan for success, then you plan to fail.” He also told us to plan our work, and then work our plan. Again and again he would talk about planning.

Have you ever wondered how an airline pilot always finds the right airport? Well, a pilot has a flight plan. There is a pre-determined course to follow. And during flight, if he deviated from that course, the pilot can quickly correct the direction of flight because he always knows exactly where the plane should be. It’s planned that way.

But how many people plan their lives? How many people know where they want to be and what they want to be doing next year, five, or even ten years from now? Listen, don’t let your life just happen. There’s a lot to be said for spontaneity, but as a way of life it can be disastrous.

(Life Lesson No. 48)

I recently took a trip to Washington D.C., and while I was touring that majestic city, I saw something that I will surely never forget. Sitting all alone on the massive steps leading up to the Library of Congress was a homeless man. What an incredible irony! There at the doorstep of this overwhelming source of information was a man with all of his possessions on his back!

What a lesson to learn! How well do you use your educational resources? Do you take advantage of all that is available? Are you seeking all you can find?

At this point in his life, I’m not sure the Library of Congress could have done the homeless man much good even if he had chosen to go in. But we can learn the lesson. The resources are there—and they are there in great abundance!

(Life Lesson No. 47)

We’ve all known people whose lives were dramatically altered at some point by tragic circumstances totally beyond their control. Things like divorce, death, abuse, or neglect can really reduce our sense of self-worth.

While many people gain a great deal of compassion from their experiences, we also hear of people who greatly miss the mark of their potential because they had childhood family problems.

Listen, if you are one whose life has been affected by difficulty, it may be that the world will excuse you for inappropriate behavior saying, “Well, what could you expect?” But think how much better would it be to have them praise you, saying, “Look what he or she accomplished in spite of the situation!”

Taking charge of our own lives is not always the easiest thing to do, but it really can be done!

(Life Lesson No. 46)

Have you ever wondered about the people who wind up on a “dead end street” in life? How did many of them get there? Where did it start?

Well you see, many of the people who find themselves idling their way through life will claim “broad-mindedness,” meaning that they really have no opinions about anything important. Others claim they are “open-minded.”

But, being truly broad-minded means that you’re educated (at least to a reasonable degree) in a wide variety of subjects. And, contrary to the “anything-is-okay-with-me” attitude common among shallow thinking people, “open-mindedness” means in its true sense that additional information is welcomed to then be used in making logical decisions or forming well-advised opinions. Building regular study habits and asking thoughtful questions will help provide these abilities.

(Life Lesson No. 45)

Have you ever known anyone who was always upset about something? Always angry with someone? Always mistreated? Dealt with unfairly? Always getting the bad end of the deal?

People with this “chip on the shoulder” syndrome may react quietly with a “hurt feelings” attitude or maybe in a violent burst of emotion.

You know, none of us will walk through this imperfect world without some bumps and bruises from misunderstandings in human relations. But whether it is purposely dealt to you or is totally unintentional, be broad-minded and mature enough to overlook the offense or calmly communicate with the alleged offender.

There’s an old saying that goes, “A chip on the shoulder means there’s a wooden head up above.” Wasting time and effort looking for excuses to feel hurt and angry will never bring the happiness you’re looking for!

(Life Lesson No. 44)

I can easily look back to my days in school and remember, along with my peers, spending more time complaining than working. And it really wasn’t that I had a problem with school or anything else. You see, griping is—well it’s just what we did. Somehow by constantly complaining, I guess we were able to appease our over-inflated egos or something.

And even now, I still see that same attitude among various young people. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Look closely at your situation. If you truly have a problem at school, at work if you have a job, or even at home, face it head-on and solve it. Don’t just sit around and gripe about it! Griping and complaining are always counter-productive.

(Life Lesson No. 43)

How many adults do you know who seem to have just stagnated where they are? They have only wishes of the future while they try desperately to keep the bills paid. They often complain about their jobs, and they are easily discouraged.

You see, adults who are burdened with life’s responsibilities, and who are struggling along in life were once young people who didn’t visualize their futures and follow through.

On the other hand, people who do incorporate vision are easy to spot! They are full of energy! They grow! They accomplish!

So, take some time—right now—to visualize who and where you want to be in your future, and keep that mental picture with you always. Every time you look in the mirror, take a moment to remember that “future you!” It really will make a difference if you do.

(Life Lesson No. 41)

The story goes that an ancient prophet was about to sail from his own country to travel abroad. As citizens were gathered to say goodbye, some asked for parting words of wisdom on varying subjects. One man called up from the crowd asking the prophet to speak on the subject of work.

What would you expect a wise man to say about work? That it’s a requirement of life if you want to eat? Well, that may be true, but the answer given in this story was different for he said, “Work is love made visible.”

Maybe you’re not directly responsible for a family yet, and maybe you haven’t even met the person you will someday marry. What about the children you’ll have? You know, the quality of their lives will greatly depend on you. So, love them enough even now to work hard at preparing for your career by taking education seriously and by developing a positive work ethic. Yes, the old prophet was right, you know... work really is love made visible

(Life Lesson No. 40)

Somebody once said that if you eat a live frog the first thing each morning, it will be the worst thing you’ll have to face all day long! Okay, I know it’s a strange example, but the principle really does work. If you tackle your most unpleasant job first, you will no longer have it hanging over you. You see, an expense of energy from within is required to set us in motion, but once we are in motion, less energy is required to maintain that motion—kind of a mental and emotional law of inertia.

But, sometimes the enthusiasm that triggers the energy we need just isn’t there. That’s where drive comes into play. Drive is what we use to make ourselves do what we need to do when we really don’t want to do it.

So, the next time some dreaded task comes your way, use drive to get yourself going, and start accomplishing some really worthwhile things in your life! It does work!

(Life Lesson No. 38)

I remember having a lot of group projects to do in school. Often the group’s final product would determine a grade for each of us equally. The problem was that most of the time only the one or two caring people in each group did all the work. They earned a good grade for the entire group, giving the other members a free ride.

So what’s different about group projects a couple of decades ago and projects today? Nothing—except with the passing of time you can track the lives of individuals involved and demonstrate results.

Almost without exception, the young people who cared then are enjoying high paying careers and productive personal lives today, and the ones who got a free ride—well, they’re still struggling their way through life wondering why things don’t work out for them.

So, ask yourself—which category are you in?

(Life Lesson No. 37)

Any pilot can tell you the most crucial time of flight for an airplane is during takeoff. A lot is happening on the flight deck. One very important aspect of the takeoff procedure occurs about two-thirds of the way into the ground roll. As speed increases and available runway decreases, there comes a point when the pilot must consciously commit to the takeoff.

Well, just as pilots make these crucial commitments, there comes a time in our lives when we must commit to education and to a career—that is if we want to be successful.

I’ve talked with many adults who made these commitments early in life. They are every one glad they did. I’ve also talked with those who waited until later to settle down and become responsible. They’ve all had regrets. So, what about you? You know, right now is the best time to begin avoiding tomorrow’s regrets.

(Life Lesson No. 36)

I know of two young ladies who were already friends when they were both hired to work at a particular store. They were given the same basic responsibilities, had the same boss, same co-workers, and the same customers. But then one of them began to find fault with this person and that circumstance and gradually started complaining to everyone about her job. It wasn’t long before she just . . . quit!

That’s half the story. The other girl continued to enjoy and appreciate her job. When there were problems, she faced them and solved them quickly. She made close friends with co-workers and had customers who asked for her when they came into the store. She took advantage of opportunities to gain new skills, developing both her personality and her talents.

Looking for the good in any circumstance and using a little creativity when there is a problem can make a world of difference!

(Life Lesson No. 35)

Which means more to you, your rights or your responsibilities? Which do you spend your time pursuing? Which are you motivated by?

Many people work hard at their jobs but are miserable in their work. They live for Friday when they can have a couple of days off to enjoy the rest and entertainment they feel they deserve. However, Monday morning always comes, and they dread it along with the responsibilities it brings. They live for their right to spend time away from responsibility.

On the other hand, there are people who thrive on accomplishment, small or great. They have happiness that comes from fulfilling responsibilities to family and community. And these people consider the things they can buy and the entertainment they can afford to be merely pleasant by-products of their labors. The real satisfaction comes from the job successfully completed, and that, my friend, is what really counts!

(Life Lesson No. 34)

If you are young and just starting out in the working world, you are probably working in a situation that you consider temporary. By temporary, I mean that your job probably doesn’t fit your personal career ideas, but is instead a way to earn some extra money, save for college, and get a feel for the real world.

There are many valuable lessons to be learned at this time of your life, but unfortunately, too many young people never learn them. Don’t waste this great opportunity to build a positive work ethic.

Use this time of “stepping-stone” employment to help build a solid foundation for your future career. What you learn now about responding to those above you, and the habits you build interacting with customers and with fellow employees, will have a great influence on your success in the years to come. It’s important that your job mean more to you than just a paycheck

(Life Lesson No. 33)

A friend of mine recently made a rather profound statement. He said, “Bad decisions limit your options.”

For example, he said if you decide to spend more money than you can afford, you limit your option of having credit, don’t you? Or, if you decide to disregard traffic laws, you could limit your option to continue driving.

Unwanted pregnancy will limit a number of options, and the contracting of a sexually transmitted disease could limit your option to continue living! You might say that those are accidents not decisions, but they in fact are decisions when we decide to take the risk.

Deciding to just sit around and take it easy on the job will limit your option of having a job, and the decision to accept mediocrity in school, at work, or with relationships will limit your option to be happy and successful.

Yes, bad decisions certainly do limit your options!

(Life Lesson No. 32)

One of the most effective merchandising techniques in the world today involves miscellaneous items in very visible areas of stores. Retailers depend highly on impulse buying.

We’ve all bought things at one time or another basing our purchases strictly on how we felt at the moment, haven’t we? And later, we’ve laughed at ourselves for ever having done such a thing! Often though, people make major decisions based entirely on emotion. That can be disastrous!

There are SO many adults out there who regret with every fiber of their being that they chose not to stay in school when they had the opportunity to go to school. They struggle every day to just pay the bills and have little or no hope for a better future. They realize now that there is no good reason for dropping out of school and that their choice was based only on how they felt at the moment.

Of course, dropping out of school is just ONE example of bad choices based on emotion. Life is full of other examples. Emotional decisions just don’t work.

(Life Lesson No. 31)

In order to successfully merge onto a highway, you need a vehicle that can handle the job. Without it, you’d never have a chance at keeping up and holding your own in the stream of traffic. The same holds true for the information highway. Without a solid education and solid reading skills, you may as well be going down the road on a skateboard! It just doesn’t work.

Reading well puts you in touch with the world around you, and it helps make you marketable when it comes your turn to enter the work force. Being a good reader will also help give you a sense of personal well-being. The Declaration of Independence says that all men are created equal—but it’s difficult to feel equal when you’re less knowledgeable than those around you.

Reading is a gift meant for everyone. There’s no shame in asking for your share of that gift. But it will be a shame if you don’t.

(Life Lesson No. 30)

It was Benjamin Franklin who coined the phrase, “A stitch in time saves nine!” Of course, he was speaking of preventive maintenance.

Whether it’s your car, your school work, responsibilities on the job, your health, or your relationships with other people, a maintenance “program” is essential.

Consider for a moment if physical, social, and mechanical failures were virtually eliminated. Granted, mechanical and material things around us do wear out and deteriorate. Even our own bodies do. But think about the progress we all could make if we didn’t have to spend time fixing and replacing things—if we could always use our time in positive accomplishment!

Maintaining your possessions, your finances, and your relationships will let you keep and profitably use your time that otherwise would be robbed from you. Dealing with problems when they are small, before they grow out of hand, will leave you in control!

(Life Lesson No. 29)

Have you ever felt that your life was just full of problems? One problem after another? Do you find yourself dealing with them assertively, or are you escaping—into a personality or attitude that is not really honestly you? Are you finding that your attitude has become. . . non-caring?

Try asking yourself—honestly now, “Is my attitude really me, or does it hide the real me?” A lot of people build pseudo-apathetic personalities around their problems so they don’t have to deal with them. I can tell you that it would be much easier to deal with problems now while you and they are young.

Don’t ever let problems go unchecked, and certainly never escape from them. If you actively pursue help NOW, your life will be much happier!

(Life Lesson No. 28)

The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that more than three-fourths of future job openings will require more than just the completion of high school.

Career opportunities for young people who have education and training are increasing, not decreasing. What is decreasing is opportunity for those who have not prepared themselves, leaving only hourly, low-paying, entry-level jobs—the kind of jobs in which you spend most of your time working just to get by.

So how do you make the better choice? Well, you can start right now today taking education seriously. Learn about career fields that interest you. Find out what kind of training will be required. You have the same opportunity as anyone else. All it takes is preparation through education and training. Then, instead of your standing in line for a job, companies will be standing in line trying to hire you! It really can work that way!

(Life Lesson No. 27)

You’ve probably heard it said that most people learn on a “need to know” basis. Most of us simply pass up educational opportunities unless we have a specific immediate application.

And that’s really tragic because there is so much knowledge available to us; so many resources. Knowledge about how to do or make just about anything anyone could possibly imagine. There are schools. Nearly every community has several schools. There are libraries. There is hands-on training available everywhere that most people are totally unaware of and even money available where tuition is involved! But these resources don’t come to you. You have to seek them out.

You know, if we would use the time and energy of youth searching out and taking advantage of those resources available to us instead of wasting our time in pursuit of constant entertainment, the results would be absolutely awesome!

(Life Lesson No. 26)

Once when my youngest son was six years old, he was astonished to learn that his friend thought that 100 was the biggest number! Of course, that prompted a discussion on mathematics, and he was even more astonished to learn that there is no biggest number! His six-year-old mind suddenly had a glimpse of infinity! After that, it was one question after another.

But how many of US settle for limited thinking—trapping ourselves into lives of inadequacy?

I once had a college professor who showed us an exercise in which we were to draw a line through each of nine dots in a square. We could make only four moves, and we were not to retrace or lift our pencils. None of us could do it. . . because we didn’t think big enough to venture out of the square.

Learn to think bigger—because in this case—bigger is better!

(Life Lesson No. 25)

Have you ever wondered why things turn out the way they do? For example, have you noticed that when you diligently study in school, you make decent grades—and when you don’t, you make rotten grades? When your football or basketball team members practice intelligent plays, they win games. When they blow off practice, they get stomped on.

It’s important to understand that things don’t just happen. There are reasons for everything. It’s called “cause and effect.” Lack of success in a person is an effect. It has a cause. And being successful is an effect of a cause as well. It doesn’t just happen.

You can start today causing your future to happen the way you want it to. And the way you can start is to first establish goals for yourself. Get sound advice from people who have already been where you want to go in life, make a plan, and diligently follow through.

(Life Lesson No. 23)

Just as there are people around us who are achievers, there are also those who are not.

You probably know people who once thought they would be doctors or lawyers or pilots or own their own businesses. But they never turned their dreams of such things into reality. Most people in that situation want to be productive—they want to be successful, but they still work long hours at unsatisfying jobs when they’re thirty or forty years of age, trying to keep up with the bills and raise a family as best they can.

You can do like so many others do and settle for mediocrity – in school or on the job—the same routine day in and day out. Or you can determine yourself to a higher plain and begin reaping the benefits of becoming an achiever! It’s worth thinking about.

(Life Lesson No. 22)

The attitude among many young people over the years has been that of “live for today.” The past was for old people to worry about, and the future they pictured was some kind of nebulous idea that robots would do all our work for us!

It would have been much better instead, to have learned life’s lessons from those who went before us.

You see, the past is not just for old people who tell boring stories. The past contains lessons of human mistakes and successes. It holds principles that we can learn from and then build on. But it seems that each generation chooses to blunder through already charted territory without a map!

And what about the future? Well, the future will be what we choose to make it. The seeds we sow today make the crops we reap tomorrow. So, it only makes sense to learn from the past, enjoy the present, and prepare for the future.

(Life Lesson No. 21)

As we grow older, we begin to realize the reality of a matter is often very different from the way we viewed it in our youth. It happens in every area of life, whether it be in relationships, health, money, or whatever. Maturity brings into clearer focus... everything.

One thing that you will begin to understand with time is the effects our actions have on other people. Have you ever noticed the relationship between a bully and a target of bullying? Well, they are both very insecure people.

The bully’s personality, or environment, or gene-pool make up makes him or her react to that personal insecurity by lashing out in anger or having the need to put someone else down to make himself or herself feel better, when all along that personal insecurity has little or nothing to do with others rather, it has everything to do with a lack of personal vision and a lack of meaningful accomplishment!

The target of bullying usually suffers from exactly the same cause but just reacts with fear. The problem is that often, way too often, the teasing, the name calling, the ostracizing can absolutely destroy a person’s emotional makeup...for the rest of their lives.

If you are the bullying type, look ahead into your personal future and ask yourself if you really want to be a part of causing lifelong problems for someone else. Wouldn’t it make more sense to overcome your own personal insecurity by accomplishing something really worthwhile and lasting for your life?

(Life Lesson No. 20)

I know you’ve heard it said that “money can’t buy happiness.” Well, no truer statement has ever been made. The late J. Paul Getty, one of the wealthiest men of his time is often quoted as having said that he would gladly give up all of his riches for one happy marriage.

But then one has to ask, “Is there happiness in poverty?” Can you genuinely be happy in barely eking out a living and then being too weary to enjoy the fruit of your labor?

So, what’s the answer?

Well, I think you’ll agree that the ability to make a good living will let you meet your obligations and responsibilities while allowing you the worry-free time to pursue those things which do provide happiness.

A solid education can do that for you, and that’s a far better thing than struggling for all your waking hours just to maintain the basic physical necessities.

(Life Lesson No. 19)

Remember when you were a little kid and people would ask you what you wanted to be when you grew up? Chances are you said “Fireman,” or “Astronaut.” Maybe you wanted to be a “Movie-Star!” Whatever your standard answer was, it’s a pretty safe bet that you didn’t put a lot of logical thought into it. That’s one of the luxuries of childhood. Unfortunately, it’s one of the disasters of adulthood.

Everybody has dreams. But too many people go through life not having any idea at all how to fulfill their dreams. On the other hand, those around us who are really successful, responsible, and respectable practice the art of goal setting.

Goal setting is absolutely essential if you intend to accomplish anything worthwhile in your life. So get a head start by actively pursuing your dreams by setting positive, practical goals for yourself, and start... right now!

(Life Lesson No. 18)

Let me tell you about a recent study that surveyed two rather large groups of students; one group substantially outranking the other academically. A single question was asked: “Which plays the bigger role in achievement— ability or effort?”

The achieving students overwhelmingly agreed that effort was the great ingredient.

The other group—the underachieving group—believed that success depended on ability. They said that other students achieved more because they had more ability, and that underachieving was a result of a lack of ability, not even recognizing the importance of effort!

You see, the truth is that effort is everything! Ability is nice, but ability without effort is pretty much worthless.

(Life Lesson No. 17)

The one thing I believe every young person wants to achieve is independence. But to make yourself truly independent, you must make yourself marketable—make your time worth something.

Of course, when you work for a living, that’s what you do—you sell your time! And it doesn’t make any sense to sell your time for less than you can possibly get. So how do you make your time worth more? Gain knowledge, and learn how to use that knowledge.

Do you know people who spend all their waking hours working just to provide the bare necessities? Why is that? Well, it’s because they didn’t prepare themselves to be marketable when they were young before they were burdened with life’s responsibilities. They didn’t make their time worth more. Remember, knowledge is freedom—freedom from long hours and low pay! Do you want to be independent? Education—that’s independence!

(Life Lesson No. 15)

Okay...here’s a little quiz for you!

What four words are most often used to lead kids down the road to that gray overpopulated land of Nothingdom? Where’s Nothingdom, you ask? Well, it’s somewhere between below average, and downright failure!

These four words will leave you standing still while successful people pass you by on their way to productive futures!

Give up? The four words that will buy a one-way ticket to Nothingdom are, “Do I have to?” You know what I mean—And whether you’re saying it or just thinking it, I can tell you that attitude never made anyone special. Develop instead a “get-it-done” attitude. You’ll gain respect from others and gain a sense of responsibility that will help to guarantee your success in life!

(Life Lesson No. 14)

Did you ever stop to notice that almost all parents want their kids to have greater lives than they themselves had? It’s true. The second President of the United States, John Adams said that he studied politics and war so that his sons could study mathematics, geography, commerce, and agriculture, so that their sons could study art! Yes, each generation studying to provide a way for the next generation to have a greater life.

So what are YOU doing to help your parents give you a greater life than they had. And what are you doing to pass that same opportunity on to your own children...to give them a greater life than you have and will have?

John Adams understood that education is the foundation. Are you using education to provide yourself with a greater life than that of your parents? Are you using education to help provide your children a greater life than yours? It’s certainly worth thinking about.

(Life Lesson No. 13)

Why do you think education should be important to you? Many young people ask questions like, “Why do I have to take this algebra or biology class—I already know I’ll never use it!” And that really is a good question! But you know, that question comes with some pretty good answers, too!

You see, just like an athlete must physically train and tone muscles, even the most intelligent minds need to be exercised and sharpened. The most important activity you will ever engage yourself in throughout your life will be that of making decisions. A dull, uninformed mind cannot consistently make solid rational decisions. And bad decisions can alter the course of your entire life!

Studying regularly and diligently will exercise, inform, and sharpen your mind. And a well-rounded education will add a great measure of breadth and depth to your way of thinking.

(Life Lesson No. 12)

Why does one person look at something one way when another person sees it completely differently—even though both possess the same information about the matter? Both are convinced each other is wrong. Why? Well, often it is simply attitude. Attitudes can be formed by many different things like environment, tradition, peer pressure, and personality traits. But attitudes can also change— sometimes with the passing of time, and sometimes because we gain the wisdom to visualize the consequences that our attitudes would produce.

As years go by, it becomes much easier to see the results of past attitudes and understand why changes early on would have been better choices.

So, take some time to think about what your attitude is toward—well, any number of things. Be honest with yourself, and have the courage to admit that certain changes in attitude may be needed. Small adjustments in attitude now can make a world of difference later on.

(Life Lesson No. 11)

Ten year high school reunions are interesting to say the least! Many of the popular kids who had been trend setters in school become the “hard luck stories” ten years after graduation. At twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age, some still can’t hold a steady job!

Other former classmates who had quietly and diligently gone about their business in school become doctors, district managers, office executives, and technical experts ten years later. They are the ones who make good money and still have time to spend with their families and friends instead of spending all their time working at lower paying jobs just to pay the bills!

You know, hard work is absolutely necessary in order to thrive or even survive in the real world. And members of any former high school class who went on to enjoy success did it by building a solid foundation, by taking the opportunities for education seriously, and by working hard. It just takes a little vision and a little planning.

(Life Lesson No. 10)

The expression, “as the crow flies” refers, of course to a straight line from point “A” to point “B.” Think of an airliner, but imagine the pilot flying to the left then to the right, back and forth, a few stunts here, an unscheduled landing there. . . Is that the best way to run an airline? Of course not!

Listen, let me help save you some years of heartache and hard times. Remember the airline pilot and the straight line. Consider a carefully thought out and well-executed flight plan for your life. Take some time to THINK. Seek out and value the advice of responsible adults you know then carefully decide where it is you want to go in life, and take off for your destination!

Yes, of course there are times and places for aerobatic flying, but straight and level and on course is the only way to get from where you are now to where otherwise you’ll someday wish you were!

(Life Lesson No. 9)

Many, many times we are all faced with decisions that need to be made such as opportunities to choose between or courses of action to pursue. When you find yourself in one of those situations, go get advice from someone qualified to give it. Relying entirely on your own understanding is not very smart! And NEVER make a decision based on the way you feel about it at the time.

Don’t just guess which way to go either. Be open minded enough to accept the fact that your way of thinking on a particular matter may not be the best. Learn from adults who have already been there and who have already experienced the consequences of the choices they made. Every choice has a consequence, and many choices have life altering consequences!

Good advice and good counsel from those who are qualified to give them can be among the most valuable advantages you’ll ever have.

(Life Lesson No. 8)

Let’s talk money. You know, a lot of young people get themselves into a financial trap without even realizing it. It is so easy to look at look at money as just a means to provide fun things. The problem is that bad habits start to form, and the trap begins to close behind you. Your future will have many financial responsibilities, and without proper financial planning and budgeting, you will one day find yourself chasing down debts or being chased by them! It will become a way of life for years to come!

One way to begin securing your financial future is to start now saving at least ten percent of the money you earn—without exception. In years to come, maturity and wisdom will begin to cross paths with opportunity, and you will thank yourself immensely!

(Life Lesson No. 7)

Benjamin Franklin said, “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” He also said, “The early bird gets the worm,” a metaphor that may not be very appetizing at breakfast time, but the analogy still works.

If you are one of the people in school or on the job who frantically runs in at the last minute, constantly making excuses for why you’re late, stop for a moment and imagine that you’re the boss.

Imagine that here are these two people in your charge. One is the frantic last minute excuse maker, and the other is calm and collected but energetic and ready to dive into the day’s responsibilities. Which of these two people would you give the promotions and the raises to? Think about that.

You know, if you have a reputation for being late for everything, you can begin turning that reputation around by simply thinking through and planning you day.

(Life Lesson No. 6)

When I was growing up, our town had a popular street that seemed to be made just for air-headed young people like us. Thrill Hill we called it, and one night, I let my friends Mike and Dennis talk me into giving it a try. I had a fast car with 7.2 liters of muscle under the hood, and I was always ready to show it off. I was very, very lucky. A while later, Dennis made a similar run.

Dennis and I used to talk a lot. We talked about the kinds of careers we wanted to have—about finding someone to marry—about taking our sons fishing.

But Dennis is dead. He never realized any of those dreams. You see, he became a victim of his own lack of common sense. When we were teens, just like today, common sense was not really all that common.

Listen, don’t take chances with your life or your health for a cheap thrill. It’s not worth it. It’s just not worth it.

(Life Lesson No. 5)

If somebody were to ask you, “What is your greatest power?”—what would you say?

Is your physical strength? The way you walk? The way you speak? Is it the way you look? No, it’s none of those things.

Your greatest power is your power of choice! Your power to choose a positive or negative attitude. To choose good or bad, right or wrong. To choose to not only stay in school but to apply yourself diligently—to make the absolute best use of your time while you’re there. The power to choose to just say “no” when “no” is the best answer. What we are today is a result of the choices we have made to this point in our lives, and what we will be in the future is a result of the choices we make today.

(Life Lesson No. 4)

It’s been said that first impressions are the most lasting impressions. If we come across in a negative way to others, all of our good qualities will be overshadowed by those perceived to be bad.

Think about the marketing process in the business world. Products and services must be attractively packaged because unattractive packaging does not make a good impression and consequently, does not make the sale.

Well, what you are doing—on a job interview, for example—is simply marketing yourself! You’re asking that employer to buy your time and your abilities instead of someone else’s.

Good marketing certainly includes visual appearance, but in this case it also includes good communication skills, education, and preparation. So, make a good impression! Always package yourself attractively, and sell yourself well.

(Life Lesson No. 3)

Have you ever wished you could travel through time? Where would you go? Back to early America with the founding fathers of our country? Maybe you would want to go back the beginning of human civilization! Or maybe...you would want to go forward! And see the YOU of the FUTURE!! To see what kind of person you turned out to be!

You know, a lot of adults out there wish they could go back just a few years. Back to a time when they were fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen years old. They wish they could go back and give themselves some good advice about the choices they were about to make at that age. Choices that took them on a path to a future that wasn’t good.

Listen, get serious about preparing yourself through solid education and good choices about health, work ethic, and relationships. When you get to your future, you can’t go back. We all have to live with the lives we make for ourselves.

Life Lesson No. 2

How many times have you heard people say if they had it all to do over again, they would. . . do whatever it is they would do differently? What they really mean is that somewhere along the way, they made some bad choices!

So, I’m thinking choices must be pretty important if bad ones produce regrets. Many people are in bad health because they made choices to live unhealthy life styles. Some people are in jail because they made choices to break laws. Others live disappointing lives because they made careless choices about work ethic, education, finances, and relationships.

Listen. Life is a series of choices. Even the little ones are important and worthy of your careful consideration.

(Life Lesson No. 1)

Have you ever thought about the people around us who seem to have everything they could want, whose lives are in order, and whom everyone considers to be successful? And then on the other hand, there are those who are struggling just to keep their lives together. What’s the difference? Well, one big difference is the foundation that they either did or did not build for themselves.

Think about it like this. If you built a house right on the ground with no foundation, you wouldn’t have much of a house. In fact, you would constantly be working just to keep it from falling down!

Education is a cornerstone in our foundations. And the time to take education seriously is right now while you’re young, before the responsibilities of life overwhelm you. Just remember, it’s nearly impossible to go back and place a proper foundation under a building already started!

(Life Lesson No. 68)

Have you ever noticed that little problems have a tendency to turn into big problems when they’re ignored? And that ignoring little problems is a very easy thing to do?

Little squeaks turn into costly mechanical failures. Misunderstandings between friends and relatives, left to fester, turn into giant social problems, and bills left unpaid will compound causing creditors to become enemies instead of friends.

Little problems that are quite manageable, left to be eroded by time, turn into big problems. They often cost large amounts of time, money, emotional distress, and even relationships! Soon a lifestyle is created, and your way of thinking turns into what psychologists call a “crisis mentality,” meaning that you can only function from one crisis to another.

This is a trap you definitely want to avoid!

(Life Lesson No 42)

Several years ago, I took on the project of rebuilding an old van, and occasionally a good friend would stop by and help. One day he said something to me—in fact, it was something he yelled at me that I have never forgotten.

You see, there was a large hole near the top of the van that I worried about...a lot. I dreaded having to deal with it. My friend was so tired of hearing me complain about it that he finally exploded and said, “Stop making such a big deal out of it, and just do it!” Well, after I picked by feelings up off the ground, I realized how right he was.

Worrying over problems and obstacles, when a little creative thinking would easily solve them, can rob us of time and growth. So the next time something looks like a big deal to you, just put yourself in gear and go get it done! It really works!

(Life Lesson No. 39)

Many young people today have difficulty fully understanding the transition from formal education to life in the real world. Principles about earning a living have to be learned. They don’t always come naturally. And when it comes to learning, there seems to be basically three categories of people. First, there are those who don’t know much of anything and just plain don’t care. There is not a lot you can do to help them.

Then you have the people who are convinced they know everything. Perhaps they will profit from the knowledge and experience already gained, but they will never really grow because they don’t see the need to learn more.

The final category is made up of people who are smart enough to realize there is a great big world out there, and that there is always more for us to learn in order to properly and successfully function in it. It’s by far the most productive category.

(Life Lesson No. 16)

Fads among young people come and go. . .and well. . .they come and go! It’s true. In the 1970s, it was long straight hair and bell bottom pants. The 1980s saw everyone with BIG hair and “boom boxes” on their shoulders. Every generation of young people has something they later look back on only to be embarrassed about it.

You see, sometimes fads are fun, but sometimes they only seem like fun when in fact, they can mess up your life.

Even though a current fad may seem chiseled in stone or carved in your heart, it will pass. Having fun and enjoying life is one thing, but shallow-minded insanity can rob you of your dreams. Yes, you really can avoid setting yourself up for future regrets!