PMC Thought #5: Heart of Success' Law No. 4: Believe in the Power of Dreams

It's been almost 10 days since our last post on our Heart of Success series.  We are now at number four.  Only three more to go and we will be through with our first series of lessons.

For the first time visitors, you may ask why are we talking about Heart of Success if this is Pinoy Millionaires Circle.  Why don't we just talk of being millionaires?  I know you would ask that.  Well, that's because first of all, we would like to set the correct mindset.  If we are trying to climb the ladder of success, we would like to ensure that that ladder is leaning at the correct wall.

So, for those who have just joined us in this series, you may also like to revisit our first article for this series.


To continue,  for today we are going to talk about Heart of Success by Rob Parsons Law No. 4:  Believe in the power of dreams.

There are people who dream dreams.  There are those who achieved and there are those who don't.  To many of us, dreamers are those people who never get things done.  Partly right, partly not.  Because sometimes, all these people need are dream-catchers.  Parsons identified these dream-catchers as men and women of vision, sometimes called 'can do' people.  Dream-catchers are the opposite of dream-killers.

Parsons added that, "...there are lots of disappointments and failures along the way.  But learning how to live with failure is part of the stock-in-trade of the dreamer."


But more than just having a dream is a need to plant a seed.  Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's, according to Parsons, realized his dream of selling hamburgers all over USA by making a phone call and "asked how much it would cost to purchase some rolls and beef.  It started when he... began."  According to Parsons,

"Almost everybody you meet has a dream.  [I often talked to people who tell me that] one day they will write a book, learn a language, get fit or spend more time with their family.  Every one of those dreams is real and sincere.  And yet few of those dreams will ever be caught-will never be translated into reality.  If dreams are the hope, and beginning is the key, then what stops us from getting started, giving birth to our visions?"

 And the reason we often give for not starting on with our dreams is "Time."  It's as if we are deprived of time more than anyone else.  But the truth is, each one of us is given exactly the same amount of time everyday.  We live in the world where the gadgets we buy and possess are supposed to free up some of our time but in the end, we feel like having less than we used to have.

Dreams, according to Parsons, are contagious.

There was once a man named Roger Bannister who dreamed of breaking the record of running a mile under four minutes.  A lot of people told him that it was not possible and no one has ever done that in history.  Even medical professionals told him that the human body was not designed to endure that kind of torture.  But Bannister had a dream.  In 1954, Roger Bannister finished a one-mile run in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.  At the end of 1957, sixteen other people broke the four minute mile barrier.

If you have a dreamer in your company, in your home, in your circle of friends, encourage them to reach for their dreams.  Along the way, he might just influence many others like him - including you.

You have the right to dream to.

Parsons also related his own personal story.  When he was young, at the bottom of his class, he met a man named Arthur who became his dream-catcher.  One day, Arthur told him that he has a gift for public speaking.  Parsons never thought about that before.  But later on, Arthur proved to be correct all along for Parsons became, according to his own words, "a joint senior partner in a large provincial legal practice, had co-founded one of the most successful legal consultancies in the United Kingdom, was lecturing to lawyers across the world, and had been a keynote speaker at international law conferences."  Rob Parsons found his dream-catcher in the person of Arthur.

You and I have our dreams.  But how long are we going to keep those dreams in our pockets instead of planting it on a little pot, putting in a little sunshine and watering it regularly?  If you have a dream, pursue it.  What do you have to lose when you do?  Compare that to what you will lose when you don't.  At the end of our lives, we will not regret the things that we did, but rather the things we didn't do.  Don't let it happen to you.  Be a dream-catcher for yourself and for others.  

At the end of the chapter, Rob Parsons again listed down his "Executive Briefings." Although I am tempted to list them all down here, let me just give you the first one which he called the thieves of time. Here are they:

• I put off making decisions
• I don't establish my priorities
• I can't say "No"
• I am often interrupted
• I find it hard to delegate
• I rarely have time to plan
• I love meetings

Which of those are the ones who steal your time?  Don't you think it is about time to win over them and pursue your dreams?

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P.S.

This article and those that precede it based on the book The Heart of Success (Making it in Business Without Losing in Life) by Rob Parsons.  I don't have the rights to reproduce the said books and I acknowledge the rights of Mr. Parsons to it.  I am simply trying to help in spreading the learning I got from reading it. This articles are no substitute for Mr. Parsons' own wisdom.  If you want to learn more, I suggest that you buy the original copy of the book.

P.P.S.

Still on dreams, I once dreamt of writing my own book and I still do.  As of this writing, my own little book "The Five Successful Ways to Fail (Things You Weren't Told About Success)" is already published and available at amazon.com.

PMC Thought #4: Heart of Success' Law No. 3: Play to Your Strengths, Find Your Factor X

Pardon me for the short hiatus in our Heart of Success series.

For Law No. 3, Rob Parsons gave the illustration based on the story "Animal Farm" by George Orwell.  It is a story where pigs rule over a farmhouse and the humans are out.

In one instance, the pigs are talking about the tasks that were never completed by other animals.  As the Owl was kicked out from the board room, he walked around the farm house and noticed that cows are hatching the eggs, chickens are guarding the corn-store, the squirrel is taking a swimming lesson and a turkey just fell from an oak tree. 

Simply put, the animals are doing jobs they are not meant to do. 

Relate this to our lives, it means that we have to align our skills and capabilities to whatever we do.  This holds true for the people under us.  Not because one great salesman could perform better above the others would mean that he is also meant to be a great manager.  Parsons said, “don’t give him bigger office, give him bigger challenges.”  Well, it doesn’t mean that he should not be promoted at all.  It means that give him challenges where he can excel and be more using his own unique gift.

Parsons further added that the “key to the heart of success for both individuals and companies is to discover what [I] call Factor X and then be set free to use it.  Factor X is the ability in a man or woman that is a natural strength – it sets them apart from the pack. 

Imagine if Michael Jordan, with some twist of fate, decided to pursue boxing or golf.   We would have missed perhaps the greatest basketball player.

In the end, Parsons quoted from Quentin Crisp the following words:

“It’s no good running a pig farm badly for thirty years while saying, ‘Really, I was meant to be a ballet dancer.’  By that time pigs will be your style.”

Let me say this from my own point of view.  Discover your strengths.  Find your Factor X and maximize it.  And I dare say, DO IT NOW!

In our journey towards success, remember that we can’t just sit and watch things unfold.  It would be like lions watching rats dining on the zebras.

For the executive briefing, Parsons suggested the following:

  Find somebody whose opinion you value and ask the following:

·        What do you consider to be my main gift or skill?

·        Can you think of any steps I could take to use that skills more effectively?

·        Am I in the right organization?

·        Where do you feel I could be of most value in my organization?

·        Is there a skill that my organization needs that I could acquire?

Ask yourself:

·        If I could choose, what job or role would I love to try?

·        What tasks come easily to me?

·        Is most of my time spent doing things that play to my strength?

·        How important is it to me to have the opportunity to do what I am best at?  What if it meant forgoing career progressions and financial rewards for the chance to do it?

There you have it PMCers, law no.3 of our Heart of Success by Rob Parsons series.  Until next post!

To your success,

J. Roy

P.S.  If you liked this article, please feel free to share this and leave a comment.  To save yourself from the hassle of visiting regularly, you may subscribe for updates through emails. 

(All articles from this series were the author’s personal interpretation from the book Heart of Success by Rob Parsons.  The author is neither licensed nor representing the original author of said book)

PMC Thought #3: The Heart of Success Law No. 2: Believe that the Job you Do Makes a Difference

Do you wake up each morning feeling exhausted, dragging your feet to work?  Do you sometimes wish that it is the end of day even before it started?  Are you bored at work?  Do you feel that you need to go to work because you “have to” rather than you “want to?”

Welcome to Law Number 2 of The Heart of Success by Rob Parsons – Believe that the Job You Do Make a Difference. 

Do you love what you do or do you do what you love?  Are you one of those people who keep on complaining that they are tied up with the jobs they don’t love?  Being a PMCer, we believe hat in order for us to do the things that we love, we must pay a price – to love first what we do.  Whether we opt for “play now pay later” or “pay now play later” we have to pay anyway.   So why not pay now and enjoy the rest of our lives later.  PMCers believe that we can’t have something from nothing.  And sweating for a job is one of them.  Hey! Don’t get me wrong!  Did I mention about being an employee?  I say doing your job.  I mean any job - whether you are an employee or not. 

Law No. 2 talks about believing that your job makes a difference.  In this chapter, Parsons recounted his memories of his father.  His father was a post man.  Every day, he would clean his shoes.  One day, the younger Parsons noted that his father was cleaning the inside of his shoes.  When he said that there’s no use in doing that because no one will know, his father answered, “I’ll know.”

One day, the young Parsons asked his father if he ever got bored with his job of delivering letter.  Here is what his father answered him:

“Son, your father delivers the Royal Mail.  People rely on me – businesses, armies and police forces, friends and relatives from overseas – I deliver all their letters.  You should come with me some day and see somebody waiting at their door to see if I’ve got a letter for them.   It may be about a job they’ve been hoping for or from a daughter they haven’t heard from for a while, or perhaps just a birthday card.  No, son, I don’t get bored.”

Rob Parsons’ father delivered letters for forty-six years and when he retired the Queen of England gave him a medal; it was for delivering the Royal Mail. 

In his own words, Parsons said about his father, “My father was proud to be a postman; he believed that the job he did make a difference in peoples’ lives.  And because he had that dignity he owed it to himself to do whatever job he did as well as he could, and will all his heart.  That’s why my father cleaned his shoes.”

Parsons also cited the result of a survey conducted on CEOs of top 100 companies in New York area.  The CEOs were asked what character traits they most valued and which should be nurtured in the new generation.  Here’s the result of these survey:

·         Never compromise on matters of principle nor standards of excellence, even on minor issues.

·         Be persistent and never give up.

·         Have a vision of where you are going and communicate it often.

·         Know what you stand for, set high standards, and don’t be afraid to take on tough problems despite risks.

·         Spend less time managing and more time leading.  Lead by example.

·         Bring out the best in others.  Hire the best people you can find, then delegate authority and responsibility, but stay in touch.

·         Have confidence in yourself and in those around you; trust others.

·         Accept blame for failures and credit others with success.  Process integrity and personal courage. 

How about you?  How do you spend your days at work or on your business?  Do you believe that your job could make a difference?  What difference could it make to yourself, your department or the Company as well?  Do you believe that your work’s reward is not on the payslip you received every month or twice a week?  PMCers believe that the reward of every hard work is the person they are being molded into in the process. 

Success is important but that's not absolutely.  Same is true with being a millionaire.  That is why we have this lesson today, to make sure and to remind us that as we move to achieve our dreams, let us learn to put dignity in our jobs and believe that IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES. 

If you have something else to add or say, please hit the comment box.  If you enjoyed this article, share it to the world.  Join us and together let us expand the PMCircle.  Be a PMCer, Be one of Us.

PMC Thought #2: The Heart of Success

In our previous article, we’ve talked about talent and skills.  This time and for the succeeding articles, we'll talk about the lessons we get from the book “The Heart of Success” by Rob Parsons. 

We will be talking about the seven laws of making it in business without losing in life that Parsons taught in his book.

This book, as the title suggests is about making it in business and being successful without losing it in life. 

“Again, Roy, isn’t this PMC?  Why are we talking about heart of success and all this stuff?”

Because we all want to be successful, we all want to be millionaires or at least make other millionaires and before we move on to becoming millionaires, let us first define why we want to be one and how.  Let us further examine our motives and “whys.”  Before we make it to our first million, we would like to first set the path right.  Why are we taking this road?  Why do we want success?  Do we have what it takes to be successful?  What is the heart of success?  Probably, and as our philosophy has been, it will never be about the money but of what we are becoming. 

Having said that, let us begin with Law Number 1:  Don’t Settle for Being Money Rich – Time Poor.

In this first law, Parsons describes the new poor of today.  He said,

“These people have a very high standard of living, but an appalling quality of life.  They have every time-saving gadget and yet bitterly complain that ‘there aren’t enough hours in the day.’  They have the very latest in communication technology – you can reach them anywhere, anytime – but they find communicating with those they love almost impossible.  They have a second home but they have precious few hours in their first home.  They have everything and they have nothing.”

Parsons called these new poor the “time paupers.”  He further mentioned a letter from a woman which reads thus,

“Andy and I were so in love when we got married.  It’s hard to known when we really grew apart.  His job became more and more demanding.  He came home so tired he could hardly say hello, let alone tell me about his day or be prepared to be interested in mine.  I hated it.  And then as the years went by a strange thing happened.  I learnt to live without him.  It was as if something inside said, ‘You’re on your own; for your sake and the kid’s sake, face it and learn to live with it.’  And one day I realised I didn’t love him any more.  The voice I had longed to hear I now hated.  He must have sensed this because, incredibly, he then wanted to talk.  But it was late.  It was over."

Furthermore, Parsons added,

“I have spent much of my life helping businesses to expand but I have come to believe there is little point in doing so if a higher standard of living brings with it a poorer quality of life (emphasis mine).”

Law Number 1 is about avoiding the trap of being money rich but time poor. 

In closing, Parsons related a story of a boy who asked his mother “Why does father come home later than all the other kid’s dads?”  His mother replied, “Well, because he can’t finish all his work in normal time.”  “Why don’t they put him in a slower class?” said the boy.

At the end of the Chapter, Parson listed some “danger signs.”  Let’s take a look at them and see where our current situation fits in.

DANGER SIGNS AT WORK

·         You’re still up to your neck in your last project.  Nobody could possibly do it as well.

·         You work longer hours than anybody else.

·         You resent colleagues who seem to have found some balance.

·         You take work home every night and on weekends.

·         Your schedule has no time for creative and strategic thinking.

·         You are impatient or edgy with colleagues and family when pressured.

·         You find it hard to delegate.

·         You find it hard to accept even gentle and constructive criticism.

·         Your responses to cries are emotional and disproportionate.

DANGER SIGNS IN YOUR BODY

·         Increasing headaches;

·         Itching skin;

·         Prolonged exhaustion;

·         Stomach complaints;

·         Often being ill on holiday;

·         Increasing irritability;

·         Difficulty in concentrating;

·         Getting annoyed at the smallest thing – for example, if the petrol pump doesn’t dispense quickly enough!

DANGER SIGNS IN YOUR FAMILY

·         Your kids have stopped telling you about their problems and achievements.

·         Your partner feels excluded – you don’t row so much as simply not talk anymore – what one husband called a ‘creeping separateness.’

·         You are often late for important family events

·         Your finances are out of control.

·         You believe yourself when you say, ‘Soon we’ll have more time.’

DANGER SIGNS AMOUNG YOUR FRIENDS

·         You usually have meals in your business clothes.

·         You have lost touch with the world around you – current affairs, sports, arts, movies.

·         Your eyes glaze over during normal conversations and only sparkle when you talk about work.

·         Your friends stop calling.

·         In short, you’re a bore.

Parsons also provided certain guides on how to follow Law Number 1.  In essence, he suggested the following:

·         Consider whether your quality of life has deteriorated in direct relation to an increase in your standard of living.

·         Consider the possibility that your long hours have more to do with your need to be recognized as ‘hard-working’ than the job in hand.

·         Practice saying ‘No’ in front of a mirror. 

·         Do your part in creating a work culture that honours achievement rather than long hours.

·         Don’t settle long-term in a company that demands your soul or tries to buy your years with money or power (emphasis supplied for some of my friends – you know who you are guys!)

·         Establish a life-board – three people you respect who will give counsel and direction. 

As we aim for success and in being millionaires, it is inevitable that we would have to put on a lot of hard work and tremendous working hours to reach our goals.  Nothing’s wrong with that as long as we stick with the proper reasons.  As we try to climb that ladder of success, let us ask ourselves what Kevin Kaiser, Adjunct Professor of Finance, INSEAD, has said, “Is that ladder ‘leaning against the right wall?’”

We hope that you learned something from our today's article.  In the succeeding days, we will be sharing with you more from the book The Heart of Success.  

If you have something to say, hit the comment box.  If you liked this article, please feel free to share it. 

PMC Thought #1: Talents vs. Skills

Our "first post" is to redirect visitors to our "welcome" page.  Hmmmm.. not quite appealing for a first impression.  Sorry about that.

So to differentiate our first post with our "official" first post, let us call this as "PMC Thought #1."  From here onwards, we will be calling our posts as "PMC Thoughts."  Let us see how many we can have.  I hope to see PMC Thought # 1,000 or even more.

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Going back to our main topic, let us talk about talent and skills.

You may be asking, "Why are we going to talk about talents and skills if this site is about creating Pinoy Millionaires?"

Because we can go in any area of our lives only as far as our talents and our skills can take us. I repeat, we can go in any area of our lives only as far as our talents and skills can take us.  

"Roy, aren't talent and skill just one and the same?"

Good question.

Talent is natural ability.  Skill is ability that has been acquired.

"Okay, but what's the connection between talent and skill and being a millionaire?  Isn't this Pinoy Millionaire Circle?"

Simple.  These [talents and skills] are your tickets to success, whether we are referring to finances or to any other areas of our lives.  Much more to becoming millionaires.

Let me share with you what motivational speaker Francis J. Kong said about talent and skill as featured in the September-October 2010 issue of the Money Sense magazine.

"...not everybody shares the same equal amount of talent.  By the way, talent is God-given, skills are self acquired.  So, if you are given a certain talent, if you don't develop it, hanggang dun ka nalang.  It's up to you to elevate it.  To excel, you have to hone it, develop it, research on it, study."

Why am I saying this?  Because we believe that we can succeed by following our talents and doing things we love.  And it normally follows that what we love are the areas where we are talented.  We become "skilled" after we honed our talents on the things we love.

Here at PMC we want to make things as simple as possible.  So to make that previous statement more simple, it goes like this:

Talent => Passion/Love => Skill

To succeed, we just add Faith, Dedication, Hard work, and Attitude.  

You have been directed in this site most probably because you are looking for ways to becoming a Pinoy Millionaire. And if indeed you are, then you might have heard that in order for a person to succeed, one must pursue what he loves and where his core gift lies.  But how will you know your core gift?  Although there are lots of sources where you can find help to identify your core gift, let PMC share with you these simple steps: 

1. Ask yourself what areas in life you're good at.  In what area do people praise you?  Do people come to you for a certain area in their lives because they know you can provide them the best solution?  
2. What are the things you could do with enthusiasm, passion and energy?
3. In what area are you willing to work without being paid?  
4. If you think you're calling is into something, try it.  Try and try until you find out where you are great at.  You can't just try one thing that interests you and when you fail you will say that your core gift does not lie in there.  Remind yourself that finding your core gift is a process and it doesn't end in one failure or one successful attempt.   

As we have mentioned a while ago, each one of us is given a talent different from one another.  For the mean time, let us move away from our hopes that everyone could be millionaires.  For the meantime also, let us focus on the differences of our talents.  Some may be talented in connecting with people  Some may be talented in motivating others.  We may not all be millionaires in the end, but by sharing our knowledge, our talents and skills, one day, we may be able to raise real-life millionaires from here through our collective efforts.

Not everyone can be an architect, someone has to dig the ground and cut the stones.  Right now, we are doing  just that - laying the foundation for soon to be millionaires.  

Before we end this article, let us remind each of us the reason why we are committed to become millionaires.  “Set a goal to become a millionaire not for the goal of being a millionaire but for what it requires of you to achieve it.” - Jim Rohn

We don't expect that you will find everything in this post as gem, but we do hope that you've learned something.  Being a PMCer is all about that - Sharing and Dreaming and Achieving Together.  Join Us.  Invite more friends and let's share for the common good of everyone.  

This is OUR site so please feel free to share and to contribute.  Please, hit the comment box if you have something to say.  If you want your thoughts be posted here, email it at livdgoodlyf@gmail.com.  

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We hope that one day we could all get together and have fun as one true Pinoy Millionaires Circle.  Be a PMCer.  Be One of Us!  

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