The High Road
by Ed Hirsch
At Tioga Pass the road crosses the Sierra Nevada's crest at 9,945 feet, California's highest automobile pass. This is not the High Road I refer to.
The High Road is a choice. Robert Frost, an American Poet who lived between 1874 and 1963 wrote about this choice in his *The Road Not Taken*:
"I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference."
Under *The Laws Of Money* Chapter of *The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws Of Business Success*, Brian Tracy writes:
"Self-discipline is the most important personal quality for assuring long-term success.
Self-discipline was defined by Elbert Hubbard many years ago as "The ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."
Herbert Gray, a businessman, spent eleven years searching for what he called "the common denominator of success." He studied thousands of successful people and finally concluded, "Successful people are those who make a habit of doing the things that unsuccessful people don't like to do."
And what are these things that unsuccessful people don't like to do? Well, they turn out to be the same things that successful people don't like to do either--like getting up earlier, working harder, and staying later--but successful people do them anyway. The reason? Successful people are more concerned with pleasing *results*. Unsuccessful people are more concerned with pleasing *methods.* Unsuccessful people prefer activities that are "tension relieving." Successful people pursue activities that are "goal achieving."
Your ability to pay the price of success, in advance, and to continue paying it until you achieve the goal you have set, is the true mark of a winning human being."
Sometime around 1900, James Allen, a British author wrote in *As A Man Thinketh,* "Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions."
I made the choice to go for my dreams while transitioning out of military service over ten (10) years ago. Since that time, I realized that I could not do it alone, and I needed a support team in place. I have now built that support team (with a little help from my friends ;-) and offer it to you, in an effort to give back to the source in which I received from ... the open mind. The willingness to erase negative programming and creating the mental space to be filled with the highest, most excellent ideas possible to be received within, of course, the capability of the human mind ... and then share any and all new-found *value* with as many other people as possible (without expecting anything in return).
I am going to share with you my Purpose In Life in the hope that it helps you to create a more fruitful tomorrow for yourself and those you love and/or choose to be of service to. It is framed and hung on my bedroom wall printed on one of those ancient scroll pre-printed packs you can get from Paper-Direct. It provides me with a reference for who I am, a basic truth for my life, and all things flow from it.
I conduct my life with a view toward eternity. I live my own values, increasing my conformity to God's Word in my daily life. I am growing in ways that *glorify God*, serving my congregation personally and financially, giving a maximum contribution.
I have *integrity,* living true to God with my beliefs and values. I have *self-discipline* to achieve my goals. I *focus* on pleasant results rather than pleasant activity. I seek *excellence* in all that I do. I have positive expectations of people and am surprised when they don't perform well, not when they do.
I *love my family* and friends and treat each one with respect. I seek to understand and value their differences. I make daily deposits in their emotional bank accounts, encouraging them to become all they can be.
I accept full *responsibility* for my life. God has given me the *freedom* of choice and I determine my outcome by it's use. I use effective *life-management* skills to live my own priorities. Time is a non-renewable asset which I invest for maximum return.
I seek *wisdom* through the correct application of knowledge, maintaining an endless program of personal development.
I am *physically fit,* feeding my body healthy thoughts and nutritious food. I exercise regularly to improve my strength, flexibility and aerobic health.
I practice good stewardship of the assets God has given me. I realize I own nothing, and can only be entrusted with more as I prove capable with what I already have. I expect increased rewards only as a result of increased *service.*
Credit for the above goes to Star Performance Seminars, Inc. 1995 It was originally titled Personal Mission Statement by the owner/founder. If you are reading this, please don't sue me, I had to file for bankruptcy to pay for your coaching program ;-)
I joke about it because something else they taught me is that I must be *WILLING* to do *WHATEVER* it takes to achieve my goals and dreams and this article just happens to be one of the things it Takes!
Thank you for reading this article. I sincerely hope this helps you.
Make it a Great end of year 2002.
Best regards,
Ed Hirschmailto:ed@dreamstyles.com ICQ# 55939361 650-872-1024 So. San Francisco, California
This Way to FREEDOM!http://WealthLessons.com/id/ed
More articles by Ed Hirsch:
