In 1955, my family and I moved to New York City to work with the Long Island franchise of the Dale Carnegie Institute. I remember my first day of training well. We were in downtown Manhattan, and I saw a number of people running toward the corner. I asked my associate what was happening. He explained they were going to catch the subway, which ran every five minutes. I thought it was weird that people were in such a hurry they couldn't wait five more minutes. Three weeks later, guess who else was running to catch the subway?!

We hurry too much and are influenced by what goes on around us. This is a far cry from the circumstances of early America. If a man missed a stagecoach, he just said: "So what? Another one will be along in a couple of weeks." Now if a man misses even one section of a revolving door in a bank building, he is impatient. We need to slow down and let our spirits catch up with our bodies.

It's my conviction that we need to settle somewhere between the two above paragraphs. If we took the "waiting-on-the-stagecoach" approach, we never would be able to compete or provide for our families and ourselves. On the other hand, if we always are running to save that five minutes for the next event or subway train, we eliminate any chance of serious reflection or problem solving.

Leonardo da Vinci suggested that we go away for a little relaxation every now and then, for when we come back to our work after relaxing, our judgment is surer. He said remaining constantly at work causes us to lose the power of judgment. Patience and sound thinking should prevail. Take that approach, and I'll see you at the top!

Zig Ziglar   arcamax.com

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