Philosophies of the Ant – Think of Summer While it is Winter

April 27th, 2009

antIf you are a person who absolutely loves that summer time, what do you find yourself doing most of the winter? Well, I think that really depends on the kind of person you are. You could do two things. You could be negative, complain all the time, never do anything outside, whine about how cold it is or you could think about how nice it will be when summer finally arrives. One way is a complete struggle while the other inspires and motivates you keeping you looking forward to the time when you are the happiest and to a certain degree, makes you forget about the misery of winter.

This post is one of a series of ten analyzing ants, their success in the colony and their work ethic and comparing it to ours. Compared to an ant, we are all lazy slobs, but I think there are a few things we can learn from them and use in our ever day grind.

In the winter time, especially in cold, wet areas, ants are no where to be found. They hide away in their colonies to wait out the cold season. Now I have no idea if ants have the capacity to dream, or visualize, but often wonder what they are up to during this time. Are they making improvements to their underground colony, do they continue to work, do they die, only having a short life span? I have no idea and frankly, I don’t study bugs and don’t ever want to become that interested.

What I do know, if I were cooped up underground knowing that there was a huge world up above just waiting for me, I wouldn’t be very content with being cooped up. I would constantly be thinking of the time that I could again go outside, about the warm weather and about all that I could be doing and will be doing shortly.

You see, someone who constantly dwells on their current misery, will remain miserable, unproductive and uninspired. If the current circumstance is the only thing that person can see, he or she is lost. They are truly stuck underground. All they can see is what is right in front of them. They only see their own misery. But the person who can look forward to a better time, while obviously not in that better time, will always be happier and more inspired. They will have a purpose.

In business, there are winter times and summer times. For most businesses, the summers are considered to be the most prosperous and the winter is the dead season. If you are currently in the winter time of your business, always think of when it will be summer. Make plans for what you will be doing in the summer, who you will be with, what life will be like and how profitable of a time that will be. As you do so, you will increase your energy and excitement for where you are headed and will no longer dwell on where you are. You will have something to look forward to. Make sense?

So, always think of summer while it is winter! Winter will only be as long as you allow it to be.

Philosophies of the Ant – Remain Loyal and Honest

April 8th, 2009

Philosophies of the Ant - Remain Loyal and HonestI little while ago I had promised you, my readers, that I would finish the Philosophies of the Ant series. I apologize, my worst enemy showed up in my life for a bit and I just got rid of him. His name is procrastination!

Philosophies of the Ant – Remain Loyal and Honest

In my industry you have people come and go, I mean, it’s a fact of life. Some people just can’t stay in one place for very long. I don’t know if it is lack of an attention span, boredom or the fact that they want to stay distant and never establish a connection or relationship with others. Maybe they always feel that the grass is greener on the other side of the river. Who knows? But what I do know, if you are having success on one side of the river, the grass is seldom greener on the other side of it. In fact, it’s probably wilted and a little tainted.

So here’s the point I would like to make: You will become more successful, you will grow more and help more people become successful with a firm foundation than you ever will without a foundation. Find a business that creates the success you desire and then stay put! Strengthen your foundation and as you do, you will have the ability to support more.

Take a look at a colony of ants. Can any ant just up and leave and set root with some other neighboring colony? If you’re a red ant can you just shack up with a colony of black ants? No! The ant would be killed, torn apart! Ants are very loyal to their colony. They die building it, supporting it and then protecting it. They have a place there I’m sure take ownership in the colony. It is their colony!

Whatever business you decide to get involved in, once you create your success, stay put. Strengthen your foundation right where you are, take ownership in the company you are with because you are the company. You are stock, and as your value increases, so will the value of the company and as that happens, new heights will be reached. Records will be broken and you, along with all the others next to you, will set the standard for everyone else.

By moving around, you are choosing to be selfish, only thinking about #1, yourself. Sure, you may have success, but with no foundation, and without a foundation, your business will never have the success it should and would. What happens to a tooth that is moved around a lot? The root shortens and by doing so, the tooth becomes weaker. The same happens to Entrepreneurs.

On top of being loyal, the only kind of business to do is honest business. Without honesty and integrity in foundation, your footers will turn to sand and your enterprise will collapse. It’s like forgetting the one component in cement that, over a short period, turns solid.

Practice honesty and integrity in everything you do, not just business. True depth in any business comes from respect and a good name. You get that by remaining loyal and honest, always.

Philosophies of the Ant – Selfless Service

November 21st, 2008

When you assist enough people in getting what they want, you will, in turn, get what you want! I would like to say this is an idea, but I think it is so much more than that. This is a principle, or a rule that happens when applied. For every action there is a reaction. Take action in bringing value and gain to someone else and the reaction of blessings, fortune, kindness, whatever it is you seek will come to fruition in your life.

Take for example the ant. What are the ants main concerns in life? Shelter? Food? Protection? An ant isn’t concerned with how fat they look or how out of shape they are. There is no selfishness in the colony. They all work together to support their queen and in return, they get the colony for protection, food, and shelter. I guess you could say they are working for a greater cause than themselves. There is a much higher purpose in their realm of existence and at times, I wish that we could be more like them in the aspect of team work and selflessness.

What would our world be like if we all worked together towards a greater cause? How would it effect your life personally to be part of something greater than yourself, and here’s the clue: actually know it! How would that change your perspective on what truly is important. I know that when I am going through rough times in my life, all I have to do, is give service to someone else in greater need of assistance than I am. Guess what happens? My issues all of the sudden don’t seem so important or as bad as they had seemed earlier. I gain a greater sense of how to get myself out of the situation I am in. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and can see that it is a lot closer than I thought it was.

So ask yourself: When was the last time you made a difference in someone elses day, life, or even business? What have you done this week or this month to serve those around you?

My challenge to you is to take some time this week and give it freely to a neighbor, a colleague, a friend, a family member, or a complete stranger by offering a simple gesture of service. Sometimes it can be as simple as a friendly smile!

Remember, there is always somebody worse off than you are. So take a little bit of time out or your life to make a difference in someone elses. It will ALWAYS come back to you ten fold. Become part of a greater cause than yourself and I promise you, you will have more prosperity and happiness than you could possibly imagine!

Philosophies of the Ant – Take Shelter in a Storm

November 14th, 2008

What does taking shelter in a storm have to do with being a successful entrepreneur or running a Business? Think about it. What should you take shelter from in order to become as successful as you’d like to become? Let’s take a look at what an ant might have to avoid along his journey of searching for food and protecting the colony. Numero uno would be the bully that is lurking around the corner with a magnifying glass! Another would be a literal rain storm and another might be cold weather. The list could go on and on but how do these things relate?

Here is a list of things that I would avoid, watch out for, or plan to go around if I was looking to create all out success.

  1. Avoid negative media! Here’s an amazing statistic: Walmart gets sued every hour! But why? Walmart is a great store! I’ll tell you why. It is because Walmart is a great store and when you are a great store, that means you are a successful company. When you are a successful company, you make lots of money. Now who doesn’t like money? So they sue! Plain and simple, if you are successful, and they are not, they hate you for it! That is the truth.
  2. Don’t waste time with the Kings and the Jokers. You are looking for Aces to work with. There are a lot of other prospects, clients, customers, or business partners that will be and look enticing, but they’re not an Ace.
  3. Prepare for the Cold Weather, or the down time in your business. This is considered the slow season, if there is any in your industry. This is no secret and you probably already know this, but I will tell you the secret to getting through a slow time in your business. This is it! Are you ready? “There is no slow time!” Did you miss that? It is all belief!
  4. Avoid, like the plague, people that bring you down with beliefs of poverty and failure. This one is number one in my book. Take all the people you hang around with, add their income and divide it equally among you. The average is what your income will generally be. Hang out with like-minded and ambitious people.
  5. Procrastination! Avoid it, avoid it, avoid it! That is all I have to say about that!

There you have it. The next philosophy of the ant. The best way to take shelter from the storms of business is to just make a ton of friggin’ money and have all out massive success so that when a storm does come along, it will take a heck of a lot of force to knock your mountain of prosperity over! That, my friend, is how it is done!

Philosophies of the Ant – Never Quit!

November 9th, 2008

One of the simplest aspects of becoming successful in any endeavor is a two word phrase, “Never Quit!” I can still remember back to the glory days of High School sports and one phrase still rings crystal clear in my mind. It came from my coach during the first few weeks of practice and it went something like this, “What part of never quit don’t you understand? The never or the quit! If you want to quit, you don’t deserve to be on this team!” What an effect that has had on me in everything I have pursued. It is as simple as it sounds! The “Quitter” never wins.

I believe the underlying reason so many people quit at so many things is because it is easy. When the road gets a little rough, the wind picks up a little, the waves toss you to and fro, just throw up your hands and quit. Than you don’t have to think about it anymore. It’s over. Move on! You have all probably heard the common phrase, “Great things come with great sacrifice!” That is a principle. Never expect to get something for nothing, but expect the something. Never expect to get the free ride, but expect the ride. Life is all about the journey, and success is achieved by going through that journey. Success is truly not yours unless you create it yourself. Never expect others to make it happen for you.

If you have ever studied an ant or tortured ants like I did as a boy, then you know this simple principle of “Never Quit!” What does an ant do when you place your foot right in front of its path? Does it stop short of your foot, sigh a little then turn around and go home? No! That ant will go around, under, over or through, if necessary, and if you really tick it off, it will bite you and make you move! That is determination and that is the never quit mentality that successful people possess.

So what separates those who succeed from those who do not? What is the big difference there? Let me illustrate a few examples. One couple, when starting a Home Based Business with a large initial investment, ran into issues with finding the funding. Instead of quitting right then and there, when things looked hopeless, they found a way. They came up with the funds. They simply make a decision to never quit and they are now making more every month than they initially invested. Another couple, with zero computer experience, was having issues with advertising their business properly on the internet. Instead of letting frustration set in from the fear of the unknown, they figured it out. They were solution focused and plowed right through their obstacle and now have more inquiries than they can handle.

When it call comes down to it, the reason people become successful is because they start to finish. They don’t start to quit! The only way to fail is to quit! Quit, and you deserve to fail. Never quit, and you deserve all the wealth, prosperity and abundance that is truly yours.

Philosophies of the Ant – Know Your Objective

October 25th, 2008

What does it truly mean to know your objective and do just that? First off, you must clearly define your objective, or your goals. This means you must know what it is, where it will come from, when you are going to accomplish it, and the steps that will lead you to that end.

Let’s use the ant as an example. An ants objective is to gather food for the entire colony. That is objective number one. Objective number two is to protect the colony. There isn’t much lolly gagging around. To an ant, getting food is primary until threatened. Then protection is primary. It is about survival.

Let’s relate this to running a successful business or becoming an entrepreneur. Your first objective is to gather food, or income, or raise. Nothing else should step in the way of that. Make it a priority. Set apart your “income producing” time. Get that time done before moving on to anything else. In Network Marketing or a Home Based Business, it is very easy to be distracted by other things. While working from home, there are kids to play with, wife or husband to help out, things to clean or build, babies crying and activities that do not add to the “income producing” ones. Do not let these get in the way. Set your priorities and tackle them in order of importance.

Get clear on your objective. Operate as you are already there and as though it is happening. This comes about through visualizing your goals. Once already at the end goal or the final destination, it is easier to see the steps you must take to arrive there. You can begin to work backwards and figure things out that might not be otherwise anticipated.

And always, always, always be a master of one. In other words, don’t be a jack of all trades and a master of none. When you start a business, project, or job, finish that one first or make that one the most successful first before you attempt to look elsewhere. I have known people who have started three Home Based Businesses all at once! Guess which ones failed? All of them failed! There is power behind concentrated and channeled focus. When directed to one objective, success happens!

So let us be more and think more like the ant. Even though it is pure instinct and the nature of the ant, I have no doubt that the ant is thinking “food, food, food, food” the entire time it is looking for it. It definitely isn’t thinking about the sexy queen ant it met the other day. It is extremely focused on the objective, and thus, extremely successful!

This is the second of the 10 Philosophies of the Ant.

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