Personal Finance News Saturday 6/29

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Make like a pencil and get the lead out
By Harvey Mackay

A young boy asked his mother what he should do in order to be a success when he grew up.  The mother thought for a moment, and then told her son to bring her a pencil.  Puzzled, the boy found a pencil and gave it to her.

“If you want to do good,” she said, “you have to be just like this pencil.”

“What does that mean?” her son asked.

“First,” she said, “you’ll be able to do a lot of things, but not on your own.  You have to allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.

“Second, you’ll have to go through a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.

“Third, you’ll be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

“Fourth, no matter what you look like on the outside, the most important part will always be what’s inside.

“And fifth,” the mother finished, “you have to press hard in order to make a mark.”

Great advice.  His mother touched on five important topics – teamwork, being able to accept criticism, correcting mistakes, self-confidence and working hard.  Let’s take them one at a time. Teamwork.  As I like to say, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.  You can’t do it all alone.  My definition of teamwork is a collection of diverse individuals who respect each other and are committed to each other’s successes.  Teamwork sometimes requires people to play roles that aren’t as glamorous as they’d like.

For example, I once asked a symphony conductor which instrument is the most difficult to play? 

Without missing a beat, the conductor replied:  “Second fiddle.  I can get plenty of first violinists. 

But finding someone who can play second fiddle with enthusiasm is a real problem.  When we have no second violin, we have no harmony.”  And you just can’t be successful without harmony or teamwork.

Criticism.  Giving and taking criticism is no easy task, but it is necessary if you want to become better.  If you ignore the problem and hope it goes away, you are not going to improve.  Every office I’ve ever worked in or done business with has been made better because of suggestions or criticisms of the people who spend their working hours there.  No one ever choked to death swallowing his or her own pride!  Admit you aren’t perfect.  Remember that the goal of honest criticism is to make you better than you were before.

To read the entire article By Harvey Mackay:
http://harveymackay.com/column/make-like-a-pencil-and-get-the-lead-out/


Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. -Hugh Downs

Hi my name is Philip J. Miano and I am the founder of PJM Personal Finance and Productivity Coaching specializing in Budgeting, Debt Reduction, Bank Reconciliations, Goal Setting, Time Management, and Organizational skills. Please visit my website: http://pjmcoaching.com.