Tools For Success

From the beginning of everything, man has looked for help doing things he couldn't do for himself or by himself.

Life and history have been altered forever by man's discoveries, inventions, or the application of tools: Fire, the wheel, the bow and arrow. What would our lives be like today without electricity, television, smartphones or the internet?

With acknowledging that however, I believe and I fear that these increible "tools" were all developed by the very tools we own and are using less and less today, and I fear they may, as a result, atrophy and become vestigial.

I'm speaking of the enormous resources available to us for and through, personal development and growth; Exercising creative problem solving; Learning the true value of listening and connecting with others; and Speaking powerfully and with effect and impact.

Not readily or openly taught in our education system, these are life skills and tools that not only make us better individually, but allow us the opportunity to make a difference for and serve others.

Everyone has a "smart phone," but are we "smarter" as a result?

At the risk of losing total credibility, I must say, technology in general and Artificial Intelligence, specifically, scare the hell out of me. Not to take away from their convenience or even brilliance, I fear they will begin to replace...for some, not all, the most powerful tools we already have and own; Human individuality, creative thought and problem solving, and talents....even real connection.

What are your personal God given gifts?

Are you authentically interested in others? Are you empathetic and can others sense that about you? Do you have courage? John Wayne famously said: "Courage is bein' SCARED TO DEATH....but saddlin' up, anyway!!"

Does anyone "read" anymore? I have a 44 year old nephew who acknowledges...with a sense of pride, I may add, that he doesn't watch movies produced before 1980. and he hasn't read a book since high school.

His life is a train wreck.

Some of the most valuable tools we own or can attain, won't cost us anything, except the time to think about and unconceal them. What are yours?

RUSS DEVAN is a popular industry-wide speaker and trainer, and he is president of Success By Design Inc, the consulting firm he founded in 1991 to support both the corporate and distributor levels of Network Marketing. Russ is a long-time contributor to Upline. He is currently concentrating on developing his training system on the Internet. Russ lives with his family in Scottsdale, AZ. This article first appeared in the November 1993 issue.

Editor's note: Russ has been doing and teaching this for decades successfully... it works! Russ is now a columnist with The Network Marketing Magazine and someone I consider The Greatest Networker In The World! George Madiou