Stuart Goldsmith - Something for Nothing
Something for Nothing by Stuart Goldsmith
The people who do not set goals still want all of the rewards and goodies which would have come their way had they set goals and applied
the discipline, work and focus.
They want all of these things, but they want them for free. They seek to short circuit reality, and this attitude leaves them vulnerable to
the happy-clappy, "you can have it all" seminar snake-oil artist.
The packaging varies, but the message is essentially the same: "The universe has an infinite store of wealth, bounty and benevolence -
there is more than enough for all. Just tune your mind into the pulsating rhythm of the universe using the following method (tape set
$69.95, book $39.95, course $299.95) and claim your share of this infinite bounty."
People love this message. They sign up for it in their millions in one form or another. They think: "Why bother to sign that stuffy old
contract with all those tedious 'work, discipline and focus' clauses? I could have it all for free merely by tuning in to the bounty of the
universe!"
And so a few more irreplaceable years slip by. They buy the books; their collection of boxed tape-sets grows. Yet strangely, they remain as
broke and powerless as ever. How odd! Seems like the 'mystic bounty of the universe show' is on 104.3MHz FM, and their brain is tuned to
WCFM - long wave! "Hmm - perhaps another seminar will help me re-tune my cosmic receiver..."
I cannot resist telling you a little true story which illustrates this perfectly. A couple of years ago I wrote a booklet entitled "How to
Double Your Way to a Million Dollars Starting From Nothing." You've probably seen this, but basically it's a bit of fun with a serious
message. The first step is to find a penny in the street. Then, you go through a process of just 28 steps, doubling your money each time, 2
cents, 4 cents, 8 cents, 16 cents and so on.
Surprisingly, if you were able to do this just 28 times, you would end up with well over one million dollars!
I take out adverts in the press which describe this system and offers my booklet for free. It really is free, and you don't even pay the
postage to send me your request.
Recently we had a customer on the telephone shouting and raving. He was going to take us to the FTC. He was going to get a crowd of mates
together and personally pay us a visit. He called us a bunch of conning b***s and he was going to get us, whatever it took. The reason? He
had received my free booklet (which cost him not one single penny) and he had had it for one week but still not received a million dollars
from out of thin air.
This man, who seemed sane by the way, was virtually incoherent with rage; he was screaming and swearing, shouting and threatening. I
thought this was an extremely good example of the hopeless irrationality exhibited by many people.
So if you do nothing else, please deprogram yourself from the erroneous belief that goodies will 'flow' to you if you only concentrate hard
enough. That's not how our universe works and authors who produce books and tapes implying that this is so, are doing people a great
disservice.
Writing a few goals is not a difficult exercise - each one only takes a few moments - but the point is you actually have to do the exercise
in order to receive the benefits. Simply reading the exercises is not enough.
The rewards of life come to those who do, not to those who merely read, talk or day dream. Action is the key.
Now, with your permission, I would like to ask you a simple question: "Thinking back over the last twelve months, did you achieve all you
set out to achieve?"
This is a 'yes or no' answer, so don't spend too long considering it.
The answer, of course, is 'no' - unless you are a pathological liar!
Next question: "Did you set out to achieve anything in that period?"
Aha! Now that's a more interesting question I think.
Deciding at the start of a year that you want to achieve a certain result by the end of that year, is another example of goal-setting.
High-performance people set goals. Winners set goals. Losers never set goals. Why? Because it takes about twenty minutes of concentrated
effort to write down your goals, and people have far more important things to do than this.
It interferes with valuable drinking and socialising time, for example. Such a task would take up nearly a whole episode of a soap opera.
You could read a tabloid newspaper from cover to cover in this time.
But there is a more important reason why many people don't write goals as I have intimated already. Writing goals commits you to action,
otherwise there is little point in writing them.
Turning your dreams (goals) into reality will not happen automatically. It will require work and effort.
"Ohmygod! WORK, and EFFORT? Forget it! I'm not writing down anything on a piece of paper which will commit me to that!"
This is why people do not set goals (write down their dreams). They cannot bear to have that piece of paper leering at them in silent
accusation as the months and years tick by.
But what is at stake here? Nothing less than a solvent, even wealthy, lifestyle, improved happiness, and a fulfilled life.
(c) 2003 Stuart Goldsmith
Stuart Goldsmith
Originally Posted on 18/05/2005 21:43:43
Content source: Manual Entry
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