Formula for Success

I come from a long line of entrepreneurs.  I have seen the work, tears, anxiousness and the passion that goes into creating a successful business.  I have watched a business grow from a simple idea that was concocted on a family vacation, to becoming one of the largest businesses of that type in Canada.  I love business.  I have always loved small business.  I think that without the entrepreneurial spirit, our economy would fail. 

I have always tried to teach my children how to think outside of the box when they want to earn something.  I have taught them that instead of asking me for things, they need to figure out how to get it themselves.  I have watched with tremendous pride as they have used their incredible minds to come up with solutions to their problems that not even I would have thought of.  I want my children to push themselves.  I want my children to constantly strive to become better than they already are, in all aspects of their lives.  I have constantly taught them how to work hard and have been trying to teach them principles for success along the way.

I grew up hearing the words of Robert T. Kiyosaki and his books Rich Dad Poor Dad.  My own dad was his biggest fan.  He would drive us places and make us listen to the audio books in the car.  I didn't realize how much of those words had sunk in until I participated in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class this week.  The words of Robert Kiyosaki have reverberated in my ears as I have learned the principles of honesty and business ethics.  I didn't realize how much the lessons I learned from those audio books and the books that I am now reading would parallel each other.

One of the books that we are required to read, as part of this course, is called "The Ministry of Business" by Steven A. Hitz with James W. Ritchie.  First of all, I highly recommend this book.  It is very well written and I love the mentor relationship that has developed between these two men.

The reason I bring up this book, and the reason for my post, is because found within this book is "The Formula for Success."  This formula starts off based on some of the habits found in Stephen R. Covey's book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." 

The formula is as follows:

1 - Get Up Early

2 - Work Hard

3 - Get Your Education

4 - Find Your Oil

5 - Make Your Mark

6 - Get Prepared To Be Of Service

So what?  What does "find your oil" even mean?  Well, I have thought about this for this past week, and here's what it means to me.  Before the discovery of oil, life was pretty simple, and basically about survival.  After the discovery of oil came cars, plastics, Vaseline and a whole slew of incredible inventions which have caused our lives to change, drastically.  Oil was the catalyst for change.  So, finding our oil, to me, means to find what makes you unique, or finding your special talent.  What are you going to bring to the world that will cause it to become a better place?  Is it a special talent?  Are you fulfilling a need that is missing in society?  Do you have something that you want to invent that will make people's lives better?  Finding our oil means that we need to figure out what we can contribute to society in order to make it a better place.

Number 6 in the formula is my favorite component.  If you live your life preparing to be of service, you look at how you do things differently.  I used to be an Executive Assistant at dry cleaning company.  I loved my job there, but more importantly, I loved who I worked for.  One of my favorite things about my boss was the way that he regarded his business.  He consistently told me that one of the reasons that he loved his business is because he knew he was helping out his employees.  He knew he was providing a way for them to support themselves and give our immigrant workers a life in a better country with freedoms and rights.  My boss made business decisions based on what it would do to grow the company so that he could help his employees more.  He loved his employees and worried about them.  If they needed something in their lives, he would step up and help them out.  This is what number 6 in the formula means to me.  If we can look at business as a way to help others, we will be successful because it will mean more to us and we will fight harder for it.

Anyways, I have fallen in love with this formula.  I am currently working on a way to post this in my house so that my children can adopt it in their lives and their way that they set goals and pursue their dreams.  So, if I am not successful at anything else in my life, I hope that at least people will be able to see that I have raised successful, well-rounded, humble children who consistently seek to better themselves and who are active contributors to society.