Since the Food Pyramid now has gone the way of “Pluto is a planet (long live Planet Pluto), ” let me offer you a new pyramid to think about.
The Success Pyramid.
No, it’s not the big empty building on the Mississippi in Memphis. Nor is it in Egypt. It’s not even a paperweight on your boss’ desk. The success pyramid is just a simple observation about the dynamics of success that I’ve made over the years. OK, let me stop right here and tell you, I am not a success guru. Nor a motivational speaker. I’ve been blessed in my life with several great things that have happened to me. But I’ve also had many failures, too. I’ve studied the failures over and over trying to learn from them. And one of the biggest roots of a failure is where I placed my faith. The faith that motivated me.
So, here’s the Success Pyramid. And like the Food Pyramid, you want to be motivated by what’s at the top, not the bottom.
Others’ Faith in You: When I spent my time worrying about what others thought about me, it drug me down to whatever their opinion might have been. “Others” can be your family, your friends, your boss, even your spouse or people in the community. I know personally, I’ve allowed this to really hold me back. It made me stop believing in myself. Which, of course, is the next step on the Success Pyramid.
Faith in yourself: Self esteem is great. Don’t get me wrong. I spent many years without it. But you can’t rely on it because unless you are completely narcissistic, you will have moments of self doubt. Trust me. I’ve been knocked down enough to know that it happens. It’s like depending on a clock without a battery-backup. You’re in good shape most of the time — but when an emergency comes, you’re left in the dark.
Faith in a higher power. I call Him God. You can fit in whatever your belief system is in here. Bottom line is, believe in something bigger than yourself. It will give you Faith. It will power you through the toughest of times. This is fairly new concept for me and it has brought me great peace. And is starting to bring me even greater success.
So there you go. A little early morning observation before I go draw three cartoons and put on a radio show. I pray you have a great day and all the success in the world comes your way.
How much better all our lives would be if we took this to heart!!
Excellent!
Nice :)
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Well said.
slept late 2day. ok though, thursday is for the most part a day off. I’m only on my 1st cup a coffee 2day, pull MR’s blog & what do I see? A new pyramid to think about. Right there in black & white. I like it. & ya kept it simple. & its something to think about for sure. I also happen to have been reading a bit about the several months of Alexander the Great’s stay in Egypt.
think of how Alexander the Great sailed south to the apex of the Delta & what he must of thought as he passed by Pyramids of Giza, while on his way to Memphis. I’ve read that after Alexander, in these lands, was offered the double crown of the 2 lands, that he was “in a world where the gods were perceived as living entities and were considered a part of everyday life, Alexander must now have began to believe in his own divinity as a fact rather than a simple exercise of propaganda.”
“Alexander attended lectures given by the Egyptian philosopher Psammon. Wholeheartedly agreeing with his teaching that “all men are ruled by god, because in every case that element which imposes itself and achieves mastery is divine”, Alexander also drew on his own experiences, when he added that whilst god is indeed the father of all mankind “it is the noblest and best whom he makes his own” (Plutarch).”
anyways, thanks MR for getting me thinking while waking up late on thursday morn.
Are you reading a book or just researching on the web? My daughter loves Egyptian history and it has rubbed off on me!
no no, not a book..just the web (http://www.egyptvoyager.com/articles_alexanderinegypt_01.htm)
I love to learn about the history of different civilizations! My kids should be old enough in just a few more yrs to take them on a family vacation out west to show them the ruins of the different civilazations that used to live here in North America. My love of history may have just come from my own similar childhood vacations . My ol’ man would drag us all over the country in the summertimes in an RV to tour National Parks, State Parks & of course historical sites. As a kid I found it fascinating to see ancient Indian ruins & the art their pple left on rocks, walls & even inside their homes (cliff dwellings) that still stand thousands of yrs later!
funny thing barb, I started collecting coffee mugs (maybe as young as 9 or 10) on family vacations. Of course I didn’t even drink coffee! but always a mug with the name of the place we visited & maybe a picture of sorts for a reminder.
Somewhere along the way I actually started drinking coffee & thru the years unfortunately I’ve lost many, many of those coffee mugs. Lost souveneir mugs from the many moves I’ve made & mostly leaving them in cars cupholders by accident (cars that get shipped outta state going to used car inventories) Some I’ve got back, most I’ve lost. Crazy thing is, even with all the ones I’ve lost, I bet I still have over 100 mugs taking up lots a kitchen cabinet space.
Mugs from all over the world. Gotta mug from some Indian mounds in Ohio that are in the shape of a winding snake. and I gotta mug that has the mask from the phantom of the opera that we saw in London. The mug is black, with a black mask on it, then when ya pour the hot coffee in it, the mask turns white. Mugs from all over England, France, the ancient Roman Empire. As a kid I was amazed to see how many civilazations had lived on the lands here in North America, & as an adult I would feel like a kid again at the amazement when visiting ruins on the other side of the world.
Wow!! You were lucky to be able to travel as child. We were not able to. Your mugs sound fascinating!! Did you see Michael Crawford or someone else as the Phantom? Love me some Crawford!! Also Michael Ball sings the songs very well also!!
yes I’m really grateful that dad always had the traveling bug in him. I remember when I was really young, I watched somthing on TV about the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. When dad got home from work I excitedly told him all about what I’d seen on tv. He said “wow, that sounds like something we should go see”, & just like that, within a matter of days we were on a road trip in a big dodge van to Michigan.
& barb, I don’t remember who it was that did the singing. ha, I enjoyed it, but I believe I was more interested in some of the other events of that particular trip. We visited the ancient Romans bathes, in the city of Bath & Stonehenge was nice too. My wife really enjoyed the Opera & also riding these really narrow boats down a canal into a shopping area, if I remember correctly it was called Camden market.
So sorry bout your niece barb :-/ I know how scary troubled pregnancies can be, prayers for ya’ll will be sent.