You must act self-employed from now on, moving from employee to entrepreneur.
Just as companies must dissolve their boundaries and erase their hierarchies, so must you, the individual, reinvent yourself to meet the knowledge era’s changing demands. What this means is that you’re the CEO of your daily life, from now on.
Each of us is given the opportunity to lead a good or a bad life. It takes just as much effort to lead an unrewarding life, as it does a highly rewarding life. It all depends on our choices.
Start thinking of yourself as a service company with a single employee. You’re a small company – very small, but that doesn’t matter – that puts your services to work for a larger company.
Tomorrow you may sell those services to a different organization, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less loyal to your current employer. Taking responsibility for yourself in this way does mean that you never equate your personal long-term interests with your employer’s.
The first step is resolving not to suffer the fate of those who lost their jobs and found their skills were obsolete. The second is to begin immediately the process of protecting yourself against that possibility – by becoming proactive instead of reactive.
Ask yourself how vulnerable you are and what you can do about it.
What trends must I watch?
What information must I gain?
What knowledge do I lack?
Again, think of yourself as a company – for this purpose, a research and development company – and establish your own strategic planning department. Set up a training department in your mind and make sure your top employee (YOU!) is updating his or her skills.
Start your own pension plan knowing that you are responsible for your own social security. Entrusting the Federal Government with your retirement income and security is like hiring a compulsive gambler as your accountant!
A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make.
You will either be a victor over change or a victim of change. As Lee Iacocca reminded us in his final TV commercial, upon retiring some years ago from his role as CEO of Chrysler Corporation during its remarkable turnaround, "You lead, follow, or get out of the way."
His cliché has a deep, fundamental meaning for each of us. The happiest, most successful individuals throughout history have been those who have assumed the responsibility for the outcome of their lives.
They are proactive, instead of reactive. They make things happen, rather than let things happen to them.
They live by choice, not by chance. They hold themselves fully accountable for their own actions and waste no time in blame-fixing or excuse-making.
I hope, somehow, my children and grandchildren get the message:
If you take the good things for granted, you must earn them again.
For every right that you cherish, you have a duty which you must fulfill.
For every hope that you entertain, you have a task you must perform.
For every good that you wish to preserve, you will have to sacrifice your comfort and your ease.
There is nothing for nothing in this world.
Freedom has always carried a price of individual responsibility and the just rewards of your own choices.
Who’s in Charge?
Although many things in life are beyond anyone’s control, you do have more control than most of us are willing to acknowledge. Here are the twelve most important:
- You Control your use of the Clock.
Time is the ultimate equal opportunity employer.
Take control of the time of your life.
Time is more precious than money.
Get rid of time wasting activities such as opening junk mail both paper and e-mail.
Make calls when you know the people you want to reach are most likely to be available.
Let people know that you have a certain time of day or evening when you take incoming calls.
And, above all, make good use of your evenings.
Evenings are called Prime Time, because the majority of people are watching television.
Turn off the TV and invest your free time in education, skill development, computer literacy, and goal-achieving rather then tension-relieving activities.
- You Control your Concepts.
Take control of your thoughts, ideas, images and perceptions, now dominated by a cynical, jaded, commercial and political media.
Bad news sells.
Be a hope-merchant, and a problem-solver.
Control your concepts and ideas.
Read self-help books, attend life mastery seminars, and listen to success-building audio programs.
- You Control your Contacts.
Network with successful people who are optimistic, successful and goal directed.
- You Control your Consorts.
You do control your memberships.
Join winners’ organizations, not special interest groups or vigilantes.
Form a mastermind network of successful entrepreneurs from different disciplines.
Meet once a week in person or via e-mail or virtual conference.
Consider installing an Internet telephony software in your computer, so you can mastermind globally, at no cost for the long distance calls.
- You Control your Communications.
When you speak, ask questions.
Don’t lecture.
Make other people glad you talked with them.
Think in terms of desired results and solutions.
When problems arise begin to muster your resources and communicate with individuals who have successfully solved similar problems in the past.
- You Control your Causes.
Make your causes positive instead of protests.
We have too many critics in the world, and very few leaders and role models.
Get a lofty purpose and a marvelous vision.
Carry your personal mission statement in your wallet and review it often, until it becomes second nature to you, like the lyrics to a favorite song.
- You Control your Commitments.
Always keep your commitments.
Be someone who is reliable, trustworthy and solid as gold in delivering on your promises.
Being trustworthy is one of the most sought-after qualities in today’s global arena.
- You Control your Confidence.
No one can rob you of your self-esteem.
Talk yourself up.
And when people put you down, treat it as an opinion you may or may not consider.
Consider only constructive criticism of your performance, not of your person hood.
Make a list of your Blessings, Accomplishments and Goals.
I call these the riches I carry in my BAG:
B is for Blessings: Things I take for granted, such as family, friends, health and freedom.
A is for Accomplishments: Each of us has achieved objectives he or she is proud of. In challenging times, review your winning seasons.
G is for Goals: Keep your long-range goals in mind and they will pull you through the tedium of everyday routines.
- You Control your Concerns.
Be concerned with what you’re going to do, not with what has been done.
Although you’ve been reminded of this many times, remember: “The past is a canceled check. The future is a promissory note. The present is liquid cash.”
Concern yourself with current decisions.
- You Control your Consideration.
Go out of your way to look up to those beneath you.
The mark of authentic, ultimate success is in your ability to be gracious.
Wealth is like manure.
It does no good until you spread it around.
The same is true with knowledge and experience.
Knowledge and experience signify nothing unless they are shared with people eager to learn or who need to change.
- You Control your Conscience.
God keeps books on all of us. When you look in the mirror, you must see someone you respect, or you should cloak the mirrors or remove them.
Society is thirsting for moral courage and spiritual strength.
To be a worthy role model is one of the greatest virtues.
- You Control your Choices:
What goes around comes around.
Life is an unfailing boomerang.
One of the best kept secrets of total success is that our rewards in life will depend on the quality and amount of contribution we make.
We want to cut taxes, take the great risk, and build our own destinies, and at the same time we want more security and safety provided by our government.
We plead for more protections from crime but demand less interference in our social habits. But we can't have it both ways.
If we want results, we must pay the price.
Responsibility needs to be redefined and retaught to this and all upcoming generations.
To attain emotional security, each of us must learn to develop two critical capacities: the ability to live with uncertainty and the ability to delay immediate gratification in favor of long-range goals.
Inscribed on a bronze monument in Rockefeller Center are these immortal words which were part of the family creed of industrialist turned philanthropist, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Those words he wrote nearly a century ago, are as alive and relevant today as they were when he coined them. They are ideally suited for the individual seeking independence and emotional and financial security:
“I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his or her right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity an obligation; every possession a duty.
I believe that the law was made for people and not people for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.
I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no one a living but that it owes everyone an opportunity to make a living.
I believe that thrift is essential to well-ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.
I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.
I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a person's word should be as good as his or her bond, that character, not wealth or power or position, is of supreme worth.
I believe that rendering useful service is the common duty of humankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.
I believe that the individual’s highest fulfillment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with nature and other human beings.
I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; and that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.”
We aren’t necessarily going to be the next Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. But each of us is the CEO of our daily lives, given the choice of how to contribute our God-given talents and efforts to make society better for having us put our footprints on the sands of time.