Avoiding Temptations

by Paul Meyer

Avoid The Temptation to get rich quick.
Everybody wants everything instantly – instant rice, instant pudding, instant success – served in pablum form. My father was from Germany, and he said, "Always take time to be an apprentice and learn the whole job. " I did this . . . and it worked!

Avoid The Temptation to take shortcuts.
Taking shortcuts cutting corners is a character flaw. You will be building on sand, and it will surely collapse. It always has. It always will.

Avoid The Temptation to believe that "The grass is greener on the other side of the fence." We need to stay focused on where we are now, what we are doing now, our present opportunity, our present job, our present activity. We need to be able to make our present responsibilities work, whatever price we have to pay.

Avoid The Temptation to quit too soon.
History books, storybooks, and movies are filled with illustrations and parables of people who quit "three feet too soon digging for gold." Just one more try to complete an invention; just one more call to make a sale.

Collectives: What Do All These Temptations Cause? They cause you to . . .

1. Lose sight of your goals,
2. Develop a lack of confidence, and
3. Suffer from an eroding self-esteem.

How Do You Avoid This?

1. Commit to a singleness of purpose.
2. Set and put into writing specific and clearly defined goals.
3. Outline exact action steps you must take to achieve your goals.
4. Repeat daily affirmations to support your goals.
5. Form a support group of your spouse, friends, associates, and work partners.
6. Create an accountability factor.

I don't have enough paper to write or tell you the thousand sad stories I know about from my lifetime of all the educated, gifted, and talented people who fell into the temptation to get rich quick, looked for something for nothing, ceased to persist and do, believed false promises, and took a shortcut. It is very sad to watch people chase false dreams – or their tails, the wind, and rainbows.

A solid life of personal success, family success, and business success is built more like climbing stairs than by mounting a rocket ship

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/fromthemasters/2011/08/avoiding-temptations.html#ixzz1UknT8qM3