Every person is, in reality, in business for himself or herself
in that each is building his or her own life regardless of
who happens to write his or her paycheck. So for the purpose
of this message, think of yourself as a corporation. You
hold the office of president of this corporation, and you're
responsible for its success or failure. You and the members
of your family are stockholders in your corporation, and it's
your responsibility to see that the value of the stock increases
in the years ahead.
If your company is growing, it will have a tendency to
continue to grow. In other words, you're doing things right.
Conversely, a company that is going backwards or shrinking
has a tendency to continue to go backwards or shrink until
acted upon by an outside force. All responsible company
officers know that unless the company is growing, it's
developing the first signs of death. As the head of your personal
corporation, you must realize that this same law
applies to you as well.
However, a person has a tremendous advantage over even
the largest corporation. Think of any large multinational
corporation. Can it double its production in a single day? Of
course not. Can it double its sales in a single day? Of course
not. It would like to, but its growth must be gradual and
steady because of the interconnecting complexities of operating
such a large organization. Yet a person can double,
triple, quadruple his or her effectiveness in
a month or less. It's like comparing the movement of a
single scout to the movement of a great army.
Can you grow and improve as a person at least 10% a
year? Of course you can. In fact, experts estimate a person
can increase his or her effectiveness anywhere from 50% to
100% and more within 30 days.
History is filled with people who exceeded their previous
performance to an almost unbelievable extent. People in
management and in production who multiplied their effectiveness
many times. Students who moved from failing
grades to straight A's and the Dean's List. People in sales
who found they could, through the proper management of
their abilities, minds, and time, sell as much of their company's
products in a single month as they had previously
sold in an entire year. Think about what that means.
If you waste even an hour of productive time every work
day, it adds up to 250 hours a year. That time wasted could
shut your corporation down! You can earn nothing with the
doors closed. What is your time worth an hour? Multiply
this by 250 and you can see what you're throwing away.
Now whether your employer pays for this wasted hour or
not is unimportant. Life will not pay for it.
How much are you worth right now, today, as a corporation?
What's your value today, to yourself, your family,
your company? If you were an outside investor, a stranger,
would you invest in this corporation? A company growing
at the rate of 10% a year will double in size in about eight
years. What attention are you giving to the growth of your
personal corporation?
Learn more about Earl Nightingale and his all-time bestselling programs The Strangest Secret and Lead the Field.