I find it absolutely amazing how some people just cannot seem to learn anything no matter who teaches them.  

Have you ever told somebody what to do and they hauled right off and did not do what you told them?

Have you ever observed an individual receiving good quality instruction from a highly qualified instructor, nodding their heads up and down indicating they fully understood what they were being instructed to do, and yet year after year in the same business arena those same people show no growth or advancement?

It is amazing isn’t it?  They don’t grow, advance, or progress yet they will always tell you that they are working and are doing exactly what you instructed them to do.  How can that be???  It, the root cause of no growth, can only be one of two things:  (1) They are not doing what you instructed them to do, or (2) They are doing something wrong and won’t correct their errors.  In either case it is their responsibility to figure out which of the causes is blocking their personal growth.  Once the cause has been identified, then and only then, will they be able to Change….to make appropriate adjustments. 

Listen to what God has to say about teaching your children.  He lays it all out in The Book of Isaiah, Chapter 54, verse 13, NKJV:

(13)   “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.” 

Peace and Happiness.  Isn’t that something that all of us as parents and business leaders would most assuredly want for all of our children and others who follow us?

You as the parent or you as the business leader are responsible to teach your own children or your own business followers.  The best way to teach has always been by example.  The best information and knowledge to teach has always been about God and His Laws of the Universe.  They apply equally to everybody…No Exceptions!  

I guess I am different from most.  My upbringing was such that if you tried to do something and it did not work,…then you made adjustments and retried it yet again.  You didn’t give up or quit just because you did not achieve the results you desired, but you adjusted, changed, regrouped and started all over again.  Hey!  If you did not know how to tie your shoe-laces and you were in the backyard of your home, without any additional knowledge will you have any different or better results of tying your shoes if you just move around to the front yard?

The wrong job done perfectly,…is still the wrong job, no matter where you are performing it!

Now hear this and listen carefully,… you don’t have to be Plato to understand or deduce what I am about to tell you.  The right job will always produce the right results.  Likewise the wrong job will always produce the wrong results.  Therefore you should evaluate the results of your consistent efforts toward reaching your dreams and goals and then draw your own conclusions and make any necessary adjustments.

Remember, to be successful you have to be consistent and persistent with your applied work habits.  Otherwise nothing is going to produce your desired results.  Sporadic, on-again, off-again, in-again, out-again, inconsistent work habits can only at best produce nothing.  Don’t waste resources.  Make your efforts produce some measurable results.  If they don’t,…make some critically needed adjustments to your work habits!

Here is some “cowboy counsel” that is applicable to living your life, raising your children, building your business, or advancing your career.

You cannot teach a child to take care of himself unless you will let him try….He will make mistakes; and out of those mistakes will come his understanding and wisdom….that he may then use to grow to a higher level in his own life..

Mistakes, disruptions, failures, and “dry-spells” in your business building efforts are only minor set-backs.  They can be corrected, adjustments made, and forward progress can be reestablished.  But failure to adjust, correct, and resume your personal adjusted work ethics guarantees continued failure…..for as long as you want and can afford to keep failing.  How many times will you sit on a loaded electric fence, just to see if it is still loaded?  Isn’t once enough?

A short story says it well.  Permit me to share it with you.

There were two big game hunters who once chartered an airplane to fly them into the remote wild back-country of the central Idaho primitive area so that they might hunt for elk.  The plane returned to pick them up one week later.  Indeed their hunt had been very successful.  They each had a special extra big game tag.   The two hunters had killed four elk in one week’s time.

When the pilot explained to them that his plane could only carry out the three men and two elk carcasses, the hunters immediately protested,  “But the plane that we chartered last year was exactly like this one.  It was the same make and model.  It had the same horsepower.  And the weather conditions were almost identical to what they are here today,…and we took out all four elk!” 

Hearing this, the pilot reluctantly agreed to load all four elk.  The plane labored and struggled during take-off, but was unable to gain sufficient altitude to climb out of the valley.  It crashed near the top of a nearby mountain.  To their great fortune, all three men survived.

As the hunters stumbled out of the wreckage, one of them asked the pilot, “Do you know where we are?”  He mumbled, “No.”  The other hunter however, looked around, carefully surveyed the surroundings, and said confidently, “I think we are about a mile from where we crashed last year!” 

Mistakes are meant to lead to wisdom and better understanding,….not to future error.  Teach your child or your followers to draw lessons from their skinned knees and bruised elbows and broken noses. If they follow your advice, they will have less pain, fewer scrapes and scabs and much more wealth and happiness in their matured adult life.

There is no such thing as surrogate success.  You can only succeed for yourself,…nobody can do it for you.  That is the way that God designed the process to work.  You see, friends, it is not what you get in a material sense from becoming successful that makes a difference.  Oh no, rather, it is what you become that is the real blessing and benefit.  The wisdom and understanding that you learn and are then able to apply to the living of the rest of your life and the legacy that you are then able to pass on to other people and future generations,…is what really is the blessing of success…

Do it all for the Glory of God, and give Him all the praise and thanks, and your personal blessing will be doubled. 

Seek And You Will Find…….