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Seeds For Thought
Believe in YourselfWouldn't it be nice if someone could just command you to be a success? You must be successful. That's an order! And you thought, "OH, OK, I hadn't thought of that myself. I'll do it." What holds people back from success? In the world, perhaps there are a very few people who would be afraid to have a nice car, wonderful job, great house and be able to take fantastic vacations and spoil their loved ones. These poor people have real psychological problems. They need a lot more than motivational encouragement. They need professional help. So, what's holding back most people from reaching for their potential? Well, underachieving can be a very comfortable cocoon. God has given you the free will to be decisive or indecisive. You choose. Dora is comfortable as a meat cutter. She is accepted as a meat cutter. You don't ask her why she doesn't submit her photos to magazine and newspapers. Give the lady a break. She is very good at slicing baloney. She has a job and two kids. Please let her be. She is comfortable and accepted. She doesn't have to change. Who is asking her to change? What right has anyone got to pressure anyone else? If Dora doesn't have particularly high expectations for herself who are we to say otherwise. Didn't we all learn as kids to MYOB, mind your own business? Remember that with change might come risk and the very real possibility of pain and some deprivation.  To lose that twenty pounds, you must endure several months of pain and deprivation. Hope springs eternal that some dietary guru will find a magical painless weight losing formula. It hasn't happened yet. The reality is that losing weight is a physical process of burning more calories than you take in. When you go through this physical process you will get hungry and hunger hurts and hunger makes you angry and anxious. From a psychological standpoint, the good side of dieting is that you may develop just a slight bit more empathy for the hungry of the world. Take your Twinkie money and send it to the missions. 
But, who wants to hear about pain and deprivations? No normal person is going to sign up for a diet that promises results but warns, "As you lose the pounds, you may feel an overwhelming urge to run through your neighborhood screaming with rage."Honesty equals failure in the weight loss business. Frito Lay introduced a diet potato chip with a new miracle chemical called "olestra." You would not gain weight eating these chips but they had one significant side effect. They might cause "spontaneous uncontrollable diarrhea." Gee, I'll take two bags of those to eat at lunch. Frito Lay told the truth and olestra chips were a failure. As Jack Nicholson said in A Few Good Men, "You can't handle the truth!" Losing weight is never going to be easy for anyone on any diet. Losing weight is leaving your comfort zone. It is unpleasant. If it were easy, a lot more people would be thin. To succeed at dieting, you need a lot of will power. You must actually believe that, "No food tastes as good as being thin. I will accept the pain to be thinner." You think to yourself. "This is really unpleasant. I could be doing something very pleasant and eat a Twinkie. I can use a sugar rush right now. BUT INSTEAD I WILL GO TO MY ROOM AND SCREAM INTO A PILLOW. I will persevere. I will be thin." Only ten percent of people who have had first heart attacks will follow their cardiologist's recommendations and significantly change their diets. People are told they will die and they still can't manage to eat properly. Now, losing weight can be a piece of cake compared to making other major life decisions like starting a business. Are you ready to risk that $30,000 you have saved dollar by dollar? Are you ready to borrow another $20,000? Again, immediate gratification battles possible long-term reward. There will always be that little devil on your shoulder telling you that you don't have to do this. You could forget starting the business and take all that $30,000 and buy a nicer home, a vacation home, a piece of income property or pay for a college tuition. You could do lots of good things with $30,000. Anyway, aren't the odds for surviving more than one year in business 50/50? Why take the risk? 
Most people find an acceptable reason for being safe, for example, "I want to be safe." This sounds perfectly normal and reasonable. Others will agree. No one will blame you if you don't live in a big mansion and endow a chair in economics at Georgetown University.Did anyone call you a loser yesterday? Of course not; people aren't rude. And, this may shock some but most people are too busy living their own lives to worry about how you're living your life. So relax; no one is going to push you to excel today or tomorrow either. You are only an average person; correct? What is wrong with average? Just stand back in the crowd with everyone else. Try to blend in. What if you qualify for a promotion but the promotion requires a move? And, you hear that the new district manager that you will be working for has a mean spirited reputation. And, your spouse kids groan, "Daddy, we can't move, I just made the Little League team and I want to be an altar server this year at St. Stephen's." All of a sudden, your present job doesn't seem so bad. Forget the promotion. When you look at people who give up or stop trying or never try at all, they may have very legitimate reasons for not seeking a promotion, not starting a business or not losing twenty pounds. Who is to say? Why do you want to leave your comfort zone and put yourself in the path of pain, deprivation and possible ridicule? Why do you only think about yourself? What about what your spouse and children want? Taking the risks of success almost seems selfish. Now you have a good excuse. Catholics don't want to be selfish. Don't start the diet. Don't start your own business. Don't ask for the promotion. Do nothing and you can't fail. You must play the Devil's Advocate with yourself. You must test and question your own commitment. With a lot of time and money at risk, once you begin, your commitment must be 100%. Who owns the skyscrapers? Whose pictures hang in the museums? Who lives in that beautiful mansion on the ocean? Who will make a zillion dollars figuring out e-commerce? Maybe you've got to stop the bus and get off? Maybe you've got to turn off the slicing machine and walk out the front door? Don't look back. Look forward. Gee, what if God really were on your side? What if God were pleased that you used your free will to study hard, work hard, make some extra money and help the poor? Characteristics of an EntrepreneurHas a lot of energy. An entrepreneur is someone who seems to find the time for work, church and family and to volunteer for worthwhile causes. They are spirited. If a particular job takes twenty hours, they work twenty hours. Remember the old saying, "If you want something done, ask a busy person." Enjoys trying new activities. Entrepreneurs constantly look for ways to improve their businesses. They are always learning. These are people for whom today isn't simply a day old version of yesterday. Rather, they have specific plans for every day. Every day is special. The entrepreneur is someone who couldn't stand a do-nothing job. Likes to work with people. If you want to make money, someone has to give you that money. To give you their money, it certainly helps if people like you. The best way to get people to like you is to like them first. The typical entrepreneur is a "people person" who is always ready with a warm handshake and a smile. They are sincere and honest. Entrepreneurs believe, "God loves me. I love my customers." Is not easily discouraged. The entrepreneur is someone who realizes that success requires hard work. If success were easy, everyone would be financially successful. They aren't. At times, they may do a lot of work for results which amount to little or nothing. They may hear a lot of "Nos." They may hear a few rude rejections. The entrepreneur marches on. They remember the mantra of many salespeople. "Some will. Some won't. So what? Next." Is well organized. They have an action plan for every day. They make lists. They are on a mission. They know where they are going. Entrepreneurs are people who take pride in their appearance and take care of their possessions. Simply, they look successful. They exude confidence and success. They are confident people of faith. Likes to take charge. Entrepreneurs will show initiative and motivate others to get a job done. They know where they are going and how to get there. If they are wrong and make a mistake, they admit the error and try again and again until they get where they are going. Is ethical. There is right and wrong. There is giving an extra effort. There is selflessness. There is compassion and generosity. There is honor and loyalty. You want to win but you want to win fairly with integrity. This is a lasting path to prosperity and happiness. If you can win doing things correctly, why not? Let the Catholic Action Principles™ be your guide. Romano's Homestyle PizzaKevin's life is average. But, for some time, Kevin has had this gnawing feeling that he is going nowhere fast. It isn't difficult for Kevin to predict his own future. There are plenty of role models at the store - clones of himself only 10, 20, or 30 years older. He can see another 35 years on life's treadmill doing just what he's doing now. Just more and more and more of... "Miss, please ask your son to be careful around that table saw!" "I'm sorry but I don't know if someone named Philip invented the Phillips head screwdriver." "Yes, we really do have 16 different shades of off-white paint." "I'm not arguing, Sir, I believe you. If you wanted to drive 31 miles down Route 9, you might find a similar ladder for $6 less at Home Depot." The big earners at Kevin's store make about $850 a week including overtime, commissions, bonuses, and take home around $615. On average, each of Kevin's co-workers has a working spouse who will bring in another $400 a week. From these joint paychecks, these couples have to make and adhere to a family budget. Out of the budget comes the cost of raising the kids, the mortgage, two car payments, food, clothing, entertainment and much, much, much more - bills, bills, bills, bills. Maybe, there is five dollars left for the collection plate on Sunday. Do average people have anything left over for investing? Are you kidding? The financial ends just barely meet. Fortunately for Kevin, he can see all of this.  Kevin knows that he hasn't gone so far down into the middle class corporate rut that he can't see a world beyond the front doors of the department store. After a Knights of Columbus meeting, Kevin speaks with Father Bitsoli about his anxiousness to leave the hardware store for something more lucrative and challenging. Father suggests that Kevin say a rosary to Saint Joseph, patron saint of work. Father actually has a little statue of Saint Joseph that he lends to Kevin. "Kevin take some time with Saint Joseph and I think the right answer will come to you."
Kevin Chooses a BusinessWhere do ideas come from? Out of the blue? The subconscious? Divine intervention? One minute and Kevin didn't know what to do and the next minute, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to open a restaurant, a pizza shop. Was it his Italian heritage or praying to Saint Joseph? What makes him believe, really, heart-racing, believe that he'd be good at running a pizza shop? As you follow Kevin's story through the next several lessons, you will see his situation progress from selling pizza - a way to make a living - to selling pizza shops - a way to get rich, - to franchising pizza shops - a way to make a fortune. Go to Lesson Four1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6Index
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