Dear Rising Star,
Today I wish to share with you a profound article that has helped many people throughout the world—with their finances, relationships, health and even their happiness. I suggest you take 5-10 minutes (even print this out) to read and contemplate this life changing message…
Every one of us wants to have more success, more cash-flow, and more wealth so we can have a better lifestyle and more security. And just about every one of us would follow a plan to get that wealth, if we simply knew how.
We want proven and virtually guaranteed guide lines to follow—right? We want a strict “here’s what you need to do” check-list. We need a mentor to guide us when we have questions.
And we absolutely need to know that if we put in the effort we will get the rewards.
Well if you can relate to the above, I’d like to share with you the 4 Golden Rules that the richest man who ever lived used to gather his vast wealth.
I am speaking about King Solomon of the Old Testament. Now this is not a religious tutorial by any means. But King Solomon was the richest and wisest person who ever lived.
So it’s just common sense. If you want to learn to fly airplanes—go see a pilot. If you want to learn some other new skill—go to someone who is an expert in that field. And if you want to learn a proven way to attract success and wealth into your life there is no better teacher than King Solomon.
So what can Solomon’s insights and teachings do for your wealth (not to mention your career, your relationships, and your personal life?)
No matter what you think they can do, they can do infinitely more. Here are just a few of the rewards Solomon says you can look forward to when you follow his advice:
- You will gain sure advantage
- You will experience true fulfillment
- You will attain respect and admiration of those in authority
- Your needs will be satisfied
- You will experience ever increasing success
- Your efforts will be profitable
- You will have a longer and healthier life
- You will have great relationships
Also I point out that King Solomon says that the consequence of NOT following his 4 rules is pretty much the exact opposite of the above list. And you really wouldn’t want the opposite of the list happening to you—would you?
Become The One In A Thousand Who Achieves Incredible Outcomes…
In any field or endeavor there are people who excel and achieve remarkable results, the people who do well, the average people, and then there’s the losers and quitters.
And King Solomon says that ONE core skill is what separates the people that excel from all the rest.
King Solomon also assures us that ANYONE who learns and applies that skill will excel in any endeavor of their choosing—and that includes YOU [fname].
I’m talking about the skill of diligence.
Most people think they understand what diligence means, but nothing could be further from the truth. Most would think that being “hard working” and “persistent” would make one diligent.
If I needed to cut down a tree and I used a pocket knife, and I was really persistent and hard working, I would eventually get the job done. But it would take far too long and wear me out. A smarter option would be to use a chain-saw.
You see when Solomon talks about diligence, he’s talking about a trait that is VERY rare.
He speaks of the “pure” side of diligence. It’s about investing one’s days, hours and minutes in activities that will bring “pure” returns on the time and effort invested.
The reason it’s so rare is that true diligence runs contrary to human nature. We all have a natural inclination to follow the path of least resistance—that is our nature.
Fortunately, despite our natural inclination, we can choose to become truly diligent. And if you develop the kind of diligence that Solomon refers to, you can achieve incredible outcomes in any important area of your life.
“Do you see a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings.” – Proverbs 22:29
Also very fortunately King Solomon lays down 4 Golden Rules that will give you true Diligence.
Solomon’s 4 Steps to Bring Diligence into your life:
Step 1—Wake Up to Reality
“How long will you lie there,” he asks. “When will you get up from your sleep? . . . poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”
- Proverbs 6:9–11
We think that we have more time than we really do to achieve our personal and professional goals. So we procrastinate doing what we know we should do.
We can exercise and eat right later. And the weeks, months and years go by and most people are overweight. Getting into better shape remains only a dream for many people because they are asleep to their own reality.
Similarly, husbands and wives and mums and dads plan to make their marriages and families better . . . later!
We plan to build our financial security . . . some day.
Solomon says, WAKE UP and STOP PROCRASTINATING!
Don’t be asleep to the realities around you. Solomon asks us to wake up to the real world, with its constraints, its demands, and its opportunities. The clock is constantly ticking, and every day that slips away is a day that can never be retrieved.
Wake up and bring diligence into your life now. Your opportunities will be multiplied! Take responsibility for your life, your values, and how you spend your time.
Step 2—Define Your Vision
“Without a vision, the people perish.”
- Solomon wrote in Proverbs 28:19
Said another way, where we have no vision, we lose our direction, our motivation, our joy, our passion, our energy, our creativity, and our commitment.
Fortunately, the opposite of this proverb is also true. Whenever you introduce a true vision into any area of your life you gain new energy. You will discover direction, motivation, joy, passion, energy, creativity, and commitment.
Defining a vision is an essential component of diligence. In fact, it’s impossible to be truly diligent if you don’t have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. Bringing vision into your life is the single most important step you can take.
Step 3—Effectively Partner
“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” – Proverbs 15:22
In any worthwhile endeavor, it’s impossible to be diligent without seeking outside counsel and effectively partnering.
We all know a little; no one knows a lot. Most of us are deeply knowledgeable in only a few things, and we’re totally ignorant and incapable in millions of other things. Yet true diligence demands excellence in every step we take.
The only possible way to achieve excellence in the areas in which we lack the necessary talent or know-how is to seek out counsel and/or effectively partner.
When I talk about partnering, I’m referring to asking the help of expert advisers and mentors who can guide us to achieving excellence, and keep us on track to fulfilling our vision.
Step 4—Always Pursue Wisdom. Build Your Life Upon It
“How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.” – Proverbs 16:16
The final component critical to becoming a diligent person is to pursue wisdom and build your life upon its foundation.
Become a student of wisdom—Steven Covey and Jim Rohn are a good place to start.
Develop a personal philosophy based on the principles of wisdom.
King Solomon tells us to seek wisdom as if it were a hidden treasure. The rewards of gaining true wisdom are literally beyond your imagination.
What did you think ?
All you need to do is follow Solomon’s 4 rules for developing the skill of diligence. He understood that anyone could develop this skill. Remember, he said, “Even a child . . .”
And once we’ve mastered the art of diligence, we can use it in any important area of our lives to achieve incredible outcomes. We can use it to turn poor marriages into great marriages; good careers into incredible careers; and a failing business into a cash cow!
Nick Roditis
PS. Sharing is cool, so you may share this article with someone you care about.