A Million Dollar Lesson

A Million Dollar Lesson
by : Petey Parker

A cab driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation. Motivational speakers charge thousands of dollars to impart his kind of training to corporate executives and staff. It cost me a $12 taxi ride.

I had flown into Dallas for the sole purpose of calling on a client. Time was of the essence and my plan included a quick turnaround trip from and back to the airport. A spotless cab pulled up.

The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As he got in the driver's seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.

Well! I looked around for a "Candid Camera!" Wouldn't you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, "Obviously you take great pride in your work. You must have a story to tell."

"You bet," he replied, "I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my niche in life where I could feel proud of being the best I could be.

I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day's work and done it well. I evaluate my personal assets and... wham! I became a cab driver.

One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I could simply just meet the expectations of my passengers. But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXCEED the customer's expectations! I like both the sound and the return of being 'great' better than just getting by on 'average'"

Did I tip him big time? You bet! Corporate America's loss is the traveling folk's friend!
-----
Lessons:

Go an Extra Mile when providing any Service to others.
The is no good or bad job. You can make any job good.
Good service always brings good return.

Money with Meaning: Living Your Life “On Purpose”

Living Your Life “On Purpose”
By T. Harv Eker

Money with Meaning: Living Your Life “On Purpose”

Why are you here? Why are you on the planet right now? Many people believe we each come into this life with a purpose, a reason for living. Considering that every element in nature has a specific purpose for existing, and we are an integral part of nature, it stands to reason that we have a purpose too.

Eastern philosophies submit that each of us has a job to do, a duty in life, and that the only way to find peace and fulfillment is to carry out your duty or "dharma" as it's called. The philosophy states that to truly be happy you must learn to live in service, to live based on what you can give rather than only on what you can get; to live based "on purpose" rather than only "on outcome".

The brilliant futurist, Buckminster Fuller said, "The purpose of our lives is to add value to the people of this generation and those that follow." In short, to leave this world a better place than it was when you arrived. It could be in terms of adding convenience, education, entertainment, enlightenment, health, beauty, joy, humour, technology, or any other way you personally can serve other people or the planet.

Although many people believe they have a purpose, they often have a difficult time discovering their own reason for living. Because purpose holds such a spiritual sense, people tend to believe their purpose will somehow be handed down from the heavens. They wait and wait for some "burning bush" to tell them what to do. It's true, a few "tuned-in" people do receive some type of message; some unmistakable calling. But the answer for most of us is that we actually have to "choose" our purpose. We are the ones who decide how we are best suited to serve.

Our choice, however, is not random. We each have unique abilities, inherent talents and strengths. We each have different interests and activities that bring us joy. We each have different experiences and issues from which we've learned, and we all have a different way in which we can best serve others. It is through these factors you "choose" your purpose.

Can your purpose change? Yes. More likely, however, is that your overall purpose remains the same, while the vehicle you use to provide your service may change on an ongoing basis. If your purpose is to teach, for example, you may teach your own children, teach in a school, become an author or a speaker or even be a consultant. Regardless of your vehicle, your dharma is to "teach".

It takes courage to choose a purpose and even more courage to live your life based on it! Once you have purpose, you will have two essential elements for a truly happy life - money and meaning! In this way, you will become ‘rich’ in every sense of the word.

EXERCISE:

List your unique abilities, talents, strengths, interests and joys. From here choose an overall purpose for your life. Clarify it by writing it down. Then choose an initial vehicle with which you can serve people that is in alignment with your purpose. Begin today to live your life based on purpose.

Declarations:

I am here for a reason.

I have important work to do.

I live my life on purpose.

There Is A Lot To Give, Besides Money.

A Mothers Love

By unknown Author

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his Mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:

For cutting the grass: $5.00
For cleaning up my room this week: $1.00
For going to the store for you: $.50
Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: $.25
Taking out the garbage: $1.00
For getting a good report card: $5.00
For cleaning up and raking the yard: $2.00
Total owed: $14.75

Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he'd written on, and this is what she wrote:

For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me:
No Charge

For all the nights that I've sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you:
No Charge

For all the trying times, and all the tears that you've caused through the years:
No Charge

For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead:
No Charge

For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose:
No Charge

Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is:
No Charge.

When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, "Mom, I sure do love you." And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: "PAID IN FULL".

Lessons:
- You will never how much your parents worth till you become a parent
- Be a giver not an asker, especially with your parents. there is a lot to give, besides money.

Law of the Seed

Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree, and each apple may have almost ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds! We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more apple trees?"

Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling us: "Not all seeds grow. In life, most seeds never grow. So if you really want to make something happen, you had better try more than once."

This might mean:
You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job. You'll interview forty people to find one good employee. You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, one car, one vacuum cleaner, one insurance policy, or a business idea. And you might meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend .

When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed. We stop feeling like victims. We learn how to deal with things that happen to us .

Laws of nature are not things to take personally. We just need to understand them - and work with them.

Journey To Success !!!

There was a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won honour and prizes.

Once a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours'. "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir, "said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours grow good corn."

The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbour's corn also improves. So it is in the other dimensions! Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbours and colleagues to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well. Success does not happen in isolation. It is very often a participative and collective process. Make someone else a part of your journey to success.

Put Off Procrastinating

Do you have the tendency to procrastinate? If you do, you are a person who has mastered the art of keeping up with yesterday.

Take a good, hard, honest, daily look at yourself to determine if you have slipped into the habit of putting things off until tomorrow.

Write it on your heart:

Success is the product of today,

today's responsibilities fulfilled,

today's opportunities seized,

today's jobs attended to,

today's goals accomplished.

Tomorrow never really comes. Every morning when the sun rises, it's today! That's when life is accomplished.

Do you ever promise yourself that tomorrow will be better? It can be, too, simply by making today the best day possible. To make tomorrow a great day, start today!

Some people get ready and then do something. Many just keep getting ready!

Promise yourself your work will be done today, the unpleasant task will be cleared up today. Today you owe it to yourself, your family and your organization to break loose from the bonds of procrastination and leap into the exciting world of today's accomplishments, present achievements, and immediate rewards.

Have an inspired day!

Look Around You

A very special teacher in high school many years ago had a husband who unexpectedly died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there.

With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, "Before class is over, I would like to share with all of you a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves... and none of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is God's way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day."

Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, "So I would like you all to make me a promise... from now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see - it could be a scent - perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground. Please, look for these things, and cherish them.

For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them, for at any time ... it can all be taken away."

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.
_________________
I fall and I pick myself up.
I lose hope yet I dream.
I am lost and I find myself again.
I cry and I laugh through my tears.
I despair yet I believe.