If 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.

I 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.

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!