This morning, I was reading the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, and “got” something I've never gotten before. It had a very profound effect on me, and thought I'd pass it along.

As the story goes, a man woke early in the morning to go hire workers for his vineyard. The first men he hired agreed to work for one penny per day. After those workers had been laboring for 3 hours, the man observed there were many still unemployed and standing around idle in the marketplace.  He hires the men and tells them to work in his vineyard and he would pay them what was right.

3 hours later, he hires more who were idle in the market, and 3 hours after that he hires some more, telling each to go work in his vineyard and he would pay them what was right.

At the 11th hour, he went again into the marketplace and saw that there were still men standing around doing nothing. When he asked why they were idle, they replied by saying that no one would hire them. So the man invited them to work in his vineyard, promising that he would pay them what was right.

In the 12th hour, when the evening had come and the work day was done, the man rounded up his workers to pay them. Beginning with the first to be hired and continuing to the last, he gave each of them one penny for their efforts.

Those who had been hired first were angry and felt they should be paid more than one penny, saying: “The last men you hired worked for only an hour, but you are paying them the same amount you are paying us. While we were working hard bearing the heat of the day, these others were standing idle in the marketplace and yet we earn the same as the them?”

The man answered by saying:

“Friend, I do you no wrong: did you not agree with me to work the day for one penny?”

After having read the sentence above, I found it difficult to continue reading the rest of the parable. I couldn't help but think, what have I agreed to? And I wanted to ask you, what have you agreed to?

At the end of the day, we get paid what we agreed to get paid. There are two ways we have made this “agreement.”

First, at some point in the past, you agreed with some man or woman how much you would work for. You made that agreement. You are not being held captive or at gun point. You are earning what you are earning because you agreed to earn that amount.

Years ago, when applying for a job at Home Depot, on the application it asked, “Desired Salary.” The first thing that came to my mind was, $10 an hour. But then I thought, what if they'll pay me 12?!

It was af if I was sitting there making an evil plot to trick Home Depot into paying me $12 an hour rather than $10. I was so excited about the prospect of getting $12 an hour, I became giddy and could hardly wait to turn in my application.

A few days later, I got a call from the manager at Home Depot who invited me to come down for an interview. When we got to the part on the application about money, she saw that I had written $12 an hour in the desired salary box, and asked, “Do you feel you are worth $12 an hour?” And sadly, I said yes. I “agreed” to $12 an hour. My self-worth was so low at the time, I sold my soul and threw myself under the bus for $12 an hour! Shameful.

Can you relate?

The other way we “agree” to what we get paid is with our subconscious mind.

There are two numbers we battle with all the time when it comes to money; the amount of money we want to earn, and the amount we feel deep within us that we are worth. With few exceptions, over time the income you earn is much closer aligned to what you feel you are worth “deep down” or in our subconscious mind, than to the amount you hope to earn.

This “deep down” amount is what you have agreed to earn. So at the end of the day, if you see others earning the same as you or even more, and they worked less hours or are less skilled or less likable than you, just remember the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. You do not get paid what you want. You get paid what you agree to get paid, either with yourself or with another person.

For those of you who are employed, what did you agree to be paid when you signed on? And for those of you who employ yourselves, you will find that you are earning round about what you feel you are worth. This is called your financial or success set point. Interesting isn't it?

This is why personal development and working on your mind is so critical. If you don't change, nothing is going to change for you.

Some of the hardest work you can do, is not sweating it out 12 hours a day in a vineyard. It's working on your mind; working to increase your self-image, self-worth, self-confidence, knowledge, skills and discipline. You are the captain of your fate, not your boss, the economy, President Obama, or your mamma!

You are not a tree! If you don't like how things are, you can move! You can change! It's your choice.

Will the exception of temporary dips in life, you earn what you earn because that is what you agree to be paid.

I'd love to read your comments about this article. You can share them below. And, please LIKE, SHARE AND TWEET below.

The Holidays are here and I wanted to give you a gift.

Here's a couple of audio tracks from one of my CDs. They are really good! (Am I allowed to say that if I made them?)

As we approach the new year, millions of people are hoping to do better in 2012 than they did in 2011, and these audios will help you with that. Enjoy!

If you would, spread some Holiday cheer by Liking, Tweeting or Sharing below.

Click below to download/listen to your audios.

Happy Holidays! – C.S. Hughes

A couple of days ago, I posted an article titled, The Power of Decision. Apparently, it struck it nerve because it's been “Liked” on Facebook more than 100 times in less than 48 hours. So, while we have some mental momentum going, I thought I'd post the follow up to that article, which is The Power of Commitment.

Decision and commitment are twin sisters. On one side of the coin you have decision. On the other is commitment. One without the other is useless. What good is it to make a decision that you are not committed to seeing out? And what good is it to commit to something you've not yet decided on?

There have been many things said about the power of commitment. Books have been written, and quotes have been coined on the topic by the dozens. One of my favorite quotes on commitment comes from Jeff Olson, author of the Slight Edge. He teaches, “Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do long after the mood you said it in has left you.” It's so easy to get exited in the moment, but the real test is what you do when you're in the trenches taking enemy fire. Persisting in spite of any obstacle, insurmountable or other wise, is what commitment is all about.

Motivational speaker and author Zig Ziglar once said, “Most people are committed like a Kamikaze pilot on his 39th mission.”

That one gets a smile out of me every time.

My favorite quote on commitment is below.

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer; W.H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, 1951

Isn't that incredible?

Let me put this quote in my words with some commentary.

Until you are truly committed, there is always the possibility of you dragging your feet, or throwing in the towel, quitting, or more cowardly, just quietly back-stepping into the shadows of mediocrity. No matter your goal, your desire, your definite major purpose or chief aim, there is one basic truth that you must know in order to see your ideas and goals come to fruition. It's this; in the very moment that you truly and whole heartedly commit yourself, THEN Providence moves too! So many are going at life alone. They never engage the Power of Providence. Not that Providence wasn't always there and willing to assist, it most certainly was. But most never engage Providence. When a person is committed, they have stepped into a place of faith. And it is faith that unlocks the coffer of miracles.

How does one with no faith perform a miracle? He can not. And how can one with no faith accomplish her goal? She can not. Faith grows into full blown commitment, and commitment reels in the divine assistance of Providence. This is the difference between those who try and fail, and those who just simply do.

Providence defined is, the protective care of God. I don't know about you, but I want to invoke the protective care of God. Of course He cares for us anyways and always. But the question is, does He care about your goal? It's my belief that he doesn't care unless you do. And, what the quote above is saying is, that when you are committed to your goal, then God commits too. Incredible! And once God commits to your Goal, or in other words, commits to assisting you with the desires of your heart….

Then, all sorts of things will begin to happen that would have never otherwise occurred. As a result of your faith and commitment, Providence will cause that a whole stream of events will flow into your life, seemingly magically raising in your favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance. All the people you need to meet, you will meet. The leaders you need to attract, will arrive. The sales you need, the speech you need to perfect, the relationship, the money you need to make, the assistance of the right people, the mentor, the coach, the publisher, the designer… anything you need in order to accomplish your goal will mysteriously and divinely show up in your life.

And in the end, when success is perched upon your mantel, and you have experienced the pinnacle, the very top of the mountain, and possess the perspective and enlightenment of achievement, you will look back on your experience, and if you are honest, will realize you had Help. As hard as you worked, you had Help. As much pain as you endured, you had Help. Even with all the sacrifice, you had Help. And it is that Help that every high achiever should desire. And when you get it, you can and will enjoy every harmonious desire of your heart. And that, is the Power of Commitment.

Are you really truly committed to your goal? Let us know. And as always, if you enjoyed this article, please LIKE IT or SHARE IT using the Facebook & Twitter links below. And I'd love to read your thoughts and insights. Share below.

Most people never succeed in life, because most people never decide to succeed in life. They never make up their minds, with passion and certainty, and claim success! They never, like the Founders of the greatest nation on earth, made a declaration of their own independence from poverty and or mediocrity and the tyranny of control! Many just go through life living in silent despair, hoping that someday, things will get better. So sad… and such a waste of Life.

Surely, you want success or you wouldn't be reading this article. But have you decided that you will be successful, not matter what? No matter the cost? No matter the sacrifice? No matter the toil and the labor and the physical and emotional challenges involved? Success is forever hidden from the man or woman who fails to decide their own positive destiny.

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America made a bold Declaration of Independence from Britain.  This was not an announcement. It was not an affirmation. It was a powerful Declaration resulting from a fearless decision that would alter the history of the world…forever.

These men decided that they would in deed pay the price for sovereignty and freedom and success and independence. They decided long before they were in combat with “the enemy,” that they would pay any price. And they decided that they would lay down their lives if needed in the fight to bring their decision… their declaration into the forefront of reality.

Decision derives from the Latin decisio, which means a cutting off. The verb is decidere, which means to cut off (de = fff, caedere = to cut). This is where we get words like, scissors, incision and caesarean section. To decide is to cut off, to severe, to separate.

If you truly desire to be successful, you must cut, or severe, or separate yourself from poverty, from ignorance, from laziness and from any tyrannical powers in your life. You must decide that the fight for freedom and success is worth it. You must decide that you too will pay any price, that is honest, legal and ethical. And you too must decide that you will, with certainty, become successful, however that is defined in your own life.

So many approach their opportunities like toe-dippers. They hope to be successful as they stick their toes into the waters of opportunity. If it's cold, they don't get in. If it's hot, they don't get in. They only get in if it's comfortable, and if ever it becomes uncomfortable, they get out long before they have an opportunity to become successful. This is the approach of the masses, and this is why the masses are the masses. This is not the way to approach success.

Success sounds like this: “I don't care what the water feels like. I don't care how long I gotta be in there. I'm gettin' in and I aint gettin' out til I get what I want. 

Og Mandino, author of the Greatest Salesman in the World, said it best when he declared, “I will persist until I succeed.” This was his bold declaration and powerful decision. It did not matter that he was a drunk. It did not matter that he was unemployed. It did not matter that he could not pay his bills and meet his obligations. It did not matter that he was mentally and emotionally scarred from having killed so many people in World War II. It did not matter that his wife left him and took his only child from him. And it did not matter that he was roaming the streets considering suicide. All that mattered was his decision and declaration…. I WILL PERSIST UNTIL I SUCCEED.

It was that decision that led Og into a library where he would read the first of many books on the topic of success. And it was that decision that fueled his fight to become something and someone of significance. And it was that decision that led him to become a successful, best-selling author of more than 21 books.

After having earned my first million in my network marketing business, industry rookies would often ask me, “Was there ever a single moment where you knew for sure you were going to be successful?” My answer, was always yes, which brought an additional inquiry. “How did you know you would be successful?” My response….”I decided that I would be… no matter what.”

If you've not decided, with passion, boldness and certainty, that you will, no matter what, become successful, I hope you will do so now. Step away from the masses. Separate yourself from mediocrity. Cut yourself from despair. Sever yourself from poverty. Detach yourself from ignorance. And sunder yourself from your fears and excuses. Step into your greatness by making a bold, new decision and create your own liberating declaration of independence. And be willing from the start to pay the price, any price, that will be exacted from you during your journey.

You can. Your choice. Click here to learn more.

By the way, I'd love it if you would “Like” this post and share your comments below.

This phenomenon has never been explained or diagnosed. For someone who has sight, I can’t imagine how terrible it would be to be blind. But worse than being blind, would be being blind and deaf. This is how Hellen Keller lived her life… blind and deaf.

Though she accomplished more in her life than billions on the planet who both see and hear, some continued to have compassion on her, seeing her as some poor, unfortunate disabled person, while seeing themselves as whole and complete. As the story goes, one such person asked her what, in her opinion, would be worse than being blind. Her answer was simple. Having sight with no vision.

Ms. Keller understood that it is not our sight which take us places, but rather our vision. The ancient text puts it this way: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

One of the reasons so many drift though life and end up on the rocks of devastation is because they have no vision. They have sight, which misleads them to believe they are making progress because they can see the movement all around them, but that movement is not progress. It’s merely movement. Progress comes not from sight, but from vision.

It’s too bad there’s not a tool to check our vision like there is to check our site. You may have 20/20 sight, but what is your vision??

Something to think about.

I'd love it if you would “Like” this article and share your comments below.

The girl noticed a balloon tied to a fence outside a used car dealership. Imediately she jerked lose from her mothers grasp, ran to the balloon, grabbed the string, shoved it in her mouth and was making a hard core attempt at snapping the line with her teeth, before her mother grabbed her again and made her let go of the balloon and string.

I laughed out loud. What a maniac! I thought to myself. She looked like a rabid crazy person.

As I continued driving, I realized that little girl wasn't an out of control mini-maniac. She was merely going after what she wanted, in a way that you and I used to go after what we wanted before we became “too cool.” She saw something she wanted. She didn't think about it. She just went after it. She didn't ask for opinions. She didn't care what anyone thought. And, she was willing to break away from the safety of her mothers grasp. 

Getting what you want is a lot simpler that you may think. You just figure out what you want and go for it. We are so afraid of what mommy or someone else is going to say or do. We are too cool to look ravenous. Too cool to take a risk. Too scared of rejection and too fearful and mindful of the opinions of others.

Who cares!? Who cares how you look!? Who cares about what others say? Stop caring! Initially, I would have said about that little girl, that she was a cray little nit! But in reality, she was only going after something she wanted! But like so many of us, she allowed herself to be constrained by her mother, or someone else, and she didn't accomplish her goal.

I was so inspired by this little girls effort, that I've written this post about her. I hope you'll get the message and fearlessly and shamelessly go after what you want, in spite of how it may look to others.  If the passers by in your life, the haters, the naysayers and the dream busters don't approve of what you are doing or what you want to do, in terms of your becoming successful, realize they aren't paying the bills. Just brush them off like an unsightly piece of lint.

When I started a business back in 1999 that has led to my earning millions of dollars in that and other businesses, I shared my business idea with two of my room mates. One of them loved the idea and invested with me and became a business partner. The other one took me into the kitchen, put his hand on the refrigerator to the left my head, leaned toward me and said, as though I valued his oppinion, “If you do this, I will lose all respect for you.” (Yeah I know. Major dream buster!)

I don't recall if I said this out loud or if I merely thought it, but either way it was good. I said/thought: “Dude, you live in the ghetto with me. You don't respect me and I don't respect you. Listen, I'm going after my dreams of becoming successful. If you want to pay all my bills and see to it that I become successful, I'll listen to your opinion. If not, shut it!”

That was a very important moment for me. That was my breaking free of my mothers grasp, grabbing the balloon and shoving the string in my mouth in an effort to get what I wanted. I didn't care how I looked to my naysaying room mate. I didn't care about his ghetto opinion.

So, how do you get what you want? Stop caring so much about everyone and everything else that are not aligned with your goals, and simply go for it, come what may! That's it. So many people pursue their goals in half speed or less, weighted down by concerns about the haters. Forget about the haters and go get your goals! My musings.

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I cracked the door to see who it was and to tell them I would be right back after I put my dog away. It was the Sheriff and he had his game face on. I closed the door, and while scurrying to get my dog out the back door, I was thinking, What did I do? Did that bank have surveillance?

I went back to the front door, opened it and said hello. The Sheriff skipped all the pleasantries and got right down to business.

“Do you have a son named Ryan or Zion or something like that?” he asked.

Oh crud! I thought. What the heck did they do? I wondered. I can't believe it's already started!

“Yes I do.” I said.

“Ryan or Zion has called 911 about 10 times in the last few minutes and is actually on the phone with them right now.” he said.

“Oh my gosh!” I said, relieved but also a little entertained. “Yes. It's Zion, my 5 year old. He's supposed to be taking a nap in my office and there's a land line down there. I am so sorry.”

“It's ok.” he said. “Do you mind if I come in and talk with him for a minute? We've found that this actually helps them to stop calling 911 except for emergencies.”

I agreed.

My wife Sky was in our bedroom and heard the conversation and had gone down stairs to get Zion.

When she got to my office, Zion was still on the phone having a full blown conversation with the good peeps at 911. Sky asked,

“Zion, who are you talking to?”

“The lady.” he said, matter of fact-ly.

Sky took the phone and told the 911 operator that the officer was here and that we were so sorry.

“A police man is here and wants to talk to you Zion.” Sky said.

“Why?” asked Zion, with eyes wide opened. (He was super scared.)

“Because you called 911.” Sky said.

She took him by the hand, walked him upstairs and introduced him to the Sheriff.

“Did you make a phone call Zion?” asked the Sheriff.

“Yes”

“What number did you call?”

“1199. I mean 911.”

“Why did you call 911?”

“Because I don't want to take a nap.”

The sheriff couldn't even keep a straight face. It started with a grin, then a smile, then full blown laughter.

CLASSIC!

We had a little chat with Zion after the Sheriff left.

We asked, “Why did you call 911.”

His answer…another classic. “It's the only code I know.”

Happy days!

Feel free to share using the links below.

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Though both my mother and father worked outside the home when I  was growing up, I was raised in a culture where moms traditionally stayed home and were the primary nurturers of the children, and fathers were the sole or primary bread winners for their families. I have strong convictions about this personally and feel that God has hard-wired the genders radically differently and each has been genetically and spiritually programmed to thrive in differing environments (though each may do well in any environment they chose to do well in).

Having said that, there are many woman who want to wield the sword of business success. They want to bring home the bacon. They want to leave their mark in the work place. They want to compete. They want to be recognized. They want to earn. They want to accomplish. They want to make big money, go to the very top, and they want to win! And, they should absolutely be able to experience all of these things and more. And, in fields where gender does not and should not matter, women who bring the same or more value than the men they work with, should be able to equal or out earn them…. but they don't.

Neither my mother or father went to college. Both worked until near retirement age. When dad retired (forced) from the work place, he was earning $82,000 a year as the Chief of Graphics at Lockhead Martin, with more than 50 employees working for him. When my mom retired, she was earning $23,700 a year as an hourly worker at Mrs. Baird's Bread Thrift Store. What's up with that?

I stumbled onto an amazingly insightful video this morning on this very topic. The speaker you will see is Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. Though I don't agree with all that she says, and feel she is hair pessimistic, she will make you think. Overall, I enjoyed her speech.

To both my male and female readers, if you have a hard-charging female in your organization, company or family, etc., or perhaps one you want to light a fire under, this would be a great video to pass along.

And finally, when you finish watching the video below, I'd love it if you would share your thoughts/feelings or add your insights. Also, please use the Facebook and other share options below. Enjoy the vid.

The following story is about America's first FEMALE self made millionaire, Madam C. J. Walker.

Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 on a Delta, Louisiana plantation, this daughter of former slaves transformed herself from an uneducated farm laborer and laundress into one of the twentieth century’s most successful, self-made women entrepreneurs.

Orphaned at age seven, she often said, “I got my start by giving myself a start.” She and her older sister, Louvenia, survived by working in the cotton fields of Delta and nearby Vicksburg, Mississippi. At 14, she married Moses McWilliams to escape abuse from her cruel brother-in-law, Jesse Powell.

Her only daughter, Lelia (later known as A’Lelia Walker) was born on June 6, 1885. When her husband died two years later, she moved to St. Louis to join her four brothers who had established themselves as barbers.

Working for as little as $1.50 a day, she managed to save enough money to educate her daughter in the city’s public schools. Friendships with other black women who were members of St. Paul A.M.E. Church and the National Association of Colored Women exposed her to a new way of viewing the world.

During the 1890s, Sarah began to suffer from a scalp ailment that caused her to lose most of her hair. She experimented with many homemade remedies and store-bought products, including those made by Annie Malone, another black woman entrepreneur.

In 1905 Sarah moved to Denver as a sales agent for Malone, then married her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker, a St. Louis newspaperman. After changing her name to “Madam” C. J. Walker, she founded her own business and began selling Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and healing formula, which she claimed had been revealed to her in a dream. (Madam Walker, by the way, did NOT invent the straightening comb or chemical perms, though many people incorrectly believe that to be true.)

To promote her products, the new “Madam C.J. Walker” traveled for a year and a half on a dizzying crusade throughout the heavily black South and Southeast, selling her products door to door, demonstrating her scalp treatments in churches and lodges, and devising sales and marketing strategies. In 1908, she temporarily moved her base to Pittsburgh where she opened Lelia College to train Walker “hair culturists.”

By early 1910, she had settled in Indianapolis, then the nation’s largest inland manufacturing center, where she built a factory, hair and manicure salon and another training school. Less than a year after her arrival, Walker grabbed national headlines in the black press when she contributed $1,000 to the building fund of the “colored” YMCA in Indianapolis.

In 1913, while Walker traveled to Central America and the Caribbean to expand her business, her daughter A’Lelia, moved into a fabulous new Harlem townhouse and Walker Salon, designed by black architect, Vertner Tandy. “There is nothing to equal it,” she wrote to her attorney, F.B. Ransom. “Not even on Fifth Avenue.”

Walker herself moved to New York in 1916, leaving the day-to-day operations of the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company in Indianapolis to Ransom and Alice Kelly, her factory forelady and a former school teacher. She continued to oversee the business and to work in the New York office. Once in Harlem, she quickly became involved in Harlem’s social and political life, taking special interest in the NAACP’s anti-lynching movement to which she contributed $5,000.

In July 1917, when a white mob murdered more than three dozen blacks in East St. Louis, Illinois, Walker joined a group of Harlem leaders who visited the White House to present a petition advocating federal anti-lynching legislation.

As her business continued to grow, Walker organized her agents into local and state clubs. Her Madam C. J. Walker Hair Culturists Union of America convention in Philadelphia in 1917 must have been one of the first national meetings of businesswomen in the country.

Walker used the gathering not only to reward her agents for their business success, but to encourage their political activism as well. “This is the greatest country under the sun,” she told them. “But we must not let our love of country, our patriotic loyalty cause us to abate one whit in our protest against wrong and injustice. We should protest until the American sense of justice is so aroused that such affairs as the East St. Louis riot be forever impossible.”

By the time she died at her estate, Villa Lewaro, in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, she had helped create the role of the 20th Century, self-made American businesswoman; established herself as a pioneer of the modern black hair-care and cosmetics industry; set standards in the African-American community for corporate and community giving, and became the first self-made female millionaire in America.

Tenacity and perseverance, faith in herself and in God, quality products and “honest business dealings” were the elements and strategies she prescribed for aspiring entrepreneurs who requested the secret to her rags-to-riches ascent. “There is no royal flower-strewn path to success,” she once commented. “And if there is, I have not found it for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard.”

Perfect. Love this and thought I'd share. Hope you will. Please use the share links below. And, this would be great to share on Facebook.

Special thanks to C.J. Walker’s great granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, for sharing her writings with the world, and for giving bloggers permission to reference her work. A’Lelia has written a book about Madam Walker’s life and you can get it here.