Acres of Diamonds

A century ago, Russell Conwell traveled the United States with a speech he called, “Acres of Diamonds.” He told of a young man who studied at Yale to become a mining engineer. Upon graduation, “gold fever” struck him and he set off to California to seek his fortune.

Yale had offered him a position as an instructor, which he turned down. He persuaded his mother to sell their Massachusetts farm and accompany him. But the trip was futile as he found no gold and eventually accepted a job in Minnesota working for a mining company – at a lower salary than he would have received at Yale.

More interesting is that the man who bought the family farm from the widowed mother was harvesting potatoes one day. As he slid a heavy bushel through an opening in the stone wall, he noticed a shiny stone. He had it assayed and learned it was native silver. The farm was sitting on a fortune in silver!

Why had the mining engineer, who had undoubtedly passed by that same rock and others like it hundreds of times, not discovered the ore? Could it be that he never dreamed a treasure could be found so easily? Was it because he believed that one must go elsewhere to fulfill a dream?

What we are seeking may be found right where we are! There are certainly times to make life changes, but sometimes we must simply change our thinking. What you seek (happiness, security, fulfillment, challenge) may be at your fingertips, though yet unseen.

There may be hidden potential in your present job, your current relationships or the location in which you live. The answers to your dreams may be found at your fingertips if you only believe it is possible. Before making that big life change, look carefully around. You may be sitting on acres of diamonds!

>From ONE MINUTE CAN CHANGE A LIFE, by Steve Goodier

Tagged with:
 

YOUR MOST VALUED STRENGTH

From Steve Goodier’s NEWEST BOOK: A LIFE THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

I recently learned of a research organization that asked several thousand people, “What are the most serious faults of executives in dealing with their associates and subordinates?” Several could be chosen. What do you think was mentioned most often? Here is the list:

1. 15% Bias and letting emotions rule

2. 15% Indecision

3. 21% Miscellaneous, which includes lack of courtesy, loss of temper, sarcasm, jealousy, nervousness, etc.

4. 17% Failure to delegate authority

5. 17% Arrogance

6. 17% Arbitrariness

7. 19% Lack of frankness and sincerity

8. 24% Lack of leadership

9. 34% Failure to size up employees correctly

10. 36% Failure to show appreciation or give credit

11. 68% Failure to see the other person’s point of view

The fault cited most often, as the survey shows, was failure to see the other person’s point of view. It was mentioned nearly twice as often as the next most common problem.

Yet on a more positive side, the strength most valued in the workplace is the ability to understand another. And I suspect that strength rates high in all relationships. We don’t always need others in our life to agree with us, but we do need to feel heard and understood. In fact, feeling understood may well be one of our greatest emotional needs. Without it, we can feel disheartened, we believe we don’t matter, and we find ourselves increasingly unhappy and lonely.

Grade school children demonstrate this important human need to be heard. One writer tells about a group of children who seldom talked about personal problems with their teachers or the school principal for fear of the consequences. But…in which adult were the children confiding most often? The school custodian! Here was a person who would listen without judging. Here was someone safe, someone who would understand.

Author Og Mandino gives us this challenge: “Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend

to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.”

It’s a universal principle: when we habitually decide to be understanding, we soon feel more understood. And our lives are never the same again.

Tagged with: