The formula for success

One of the biggest take aways from this weeks lesson was the formula for success, as presented by Jim Ritchie, author of "The Ministry of Business."  The formula is this:

1. get up early
2. work hard
3. Get your education
4. find oil
5. Make your mark
6. Prepare to serve

Get up early. No matter how early you wake up, your future competitor is already at his or her post. Rise early and get the day started right. There's no time for wasting the day by sleeping in, your competitor certainly isn't so why would you.

Work hard. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden into the world in which we live in now they were counseled that they should acquire the things they needed by the sweat of their brow. They were to provide for themselves by hard work. There are no shortcuts to a happy successful and fulfilling life, and anyone who says there is is either deceiving or being deceived.

Get your education. Education is the key of success. This should be a lifelong pursuit, and not just a four year endeavor with a degree attached to it that says you're ready for a job. We must always be learning and seeking opportunities to improve. We must never become satisfied with where we are at life because we can always become better. By aspiring to become better through learning we set ourselves up for success.

Find oil. Find your passion, your niche, your oil. What is it that makes you amazing. Everyone has something. Find it, and let it flow.

Make your mark. Make your mark on the world by being you. Don't be afraid to think outside of the box, to be different, or to do it you're own way. Those who fit in are invisible and don't make any marks. Don't be afraid to stand out. You will take criticism for being different, but so did all of the great men and women in the world who left great marks on the world.

Finally, prepare to serve. Prepare to give back to the world. Give back in charitable service. Don't die with your music still in you. Give back and serve your community, your family, your world, and your God. A thousand or even a hundred years from now your careers and titles will fade into insignificant nothingness. What will remain will be how you served those around you.