Yesterday, what I really tried to convey was the importance of taking action. I only used the story of Cinderella to make a point.
I didn't know that Cinderella could strike such a nerve in my readers.
Here's a sampling of replies :
Over the years, I've found that a lot of people want the reward — the Prince Charming — but they refuse to endure the struggle — what Cinderella had to deal with in her step-family.
No struggle, no reward. It's a simple equation.
Today's struggle develops your strength for tomorrow. That's the simple way to put it.
Yet in this culture, there exists a lust for and deluded belief in simplicity. I can package up for you all of the one sentence aphorisms and short motivational quotes, but simplicity is not what I seek.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love for things to be as simple as possible — "The 5 Steps to Financial Freedom" or something to that effect — but simplicity in life and in business is plain silly.
For instance, take McDonald's when they started. You got a choice of either one hamburger or one cheeseburger. Fries came in one size and you had a choice of a chocolate or vanilla milkshake (one size).
Mickey D's opened at 11:00 am and they closed up promptly at 8:00 pm.
Today? The menu is a mess of sizes, sandwiches, treats, and beverages. They're always innovating with new products in mind. Managers also have to pay close attention to the various health departments looking to get them in trouble.
There are tens of thousands of McDonald's franchises in over 100 countries. It's been validly argued that real estate is the business they're in, more so than food. How about the added headaches they deal with now — foreign governments, the bankers on Wall Street, advertising budgets, et cetera?
Who decides where they get potatoes or how to source tomatoes?
What about the apples for the Hot Apple Pies? And why did they ever make the idiotic decision to stop frying those delicious confections and instead "bake" them? We were all dealing with mouth lava either way, yet now there's just not as much flavor and the crispiness is gone.
Simple enough, right?
The point is that life ain't simple. It's often painful. Pain is a part of the deal.
However, we are free to choose how we react to the pain. Suffering because of our pain — real or imagined — is optional.
Suffering is a choice. Don't ever be comfortable with the suffering.
There are a lot of people out there who want to keep you down. They take joy in the suffering of others — small people who are afraid someone is going to achieve a better station in life than they did. Simple people.
Ultimately, you need to hear less from those people. That's your choice.
You need to hear more from people who want to see you achieve more than you thought possible. I'm one of those guys.
And I'm building an online home for more of those folks. Come and join us in the Inner Sphere, where there are more of the people you need and none of the people you don't.
As always,
Brian
P.S. — Life is hard and most people are overwhelmed. No doubt.
But we don't have to suffer because we are overwhelmed. "Overwhelm" has to do with attitude.
Your attitude is a choice. It is controllable.
Furthermore, you have the power to improve your own station. Take action and you will deserve the success that follows.
Need help taking action? Consult one of the pillars of Western Civilization, St. Augustine, who wrote:
"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you."
