This is not a business book

Entrepreneur Czar Joey Concepcion has given me the privilege to submit an article in his new Go Negosyo book entitled, Tagumpay, and I would love to share this with you and encourage you to get a copy.

Paul Getty was once recognized as one of the wealthiest men in the world. The media adored him, the public admired him, and the youth were encouraged to be like him. In an interview, Getty was asked, “What does it take to be wealthy and successful like you?”

Paul Getty looked at the newspaperman and answered, “I will give you my formula for success. They come in three parts:

1. Wake up early.

2. Work hard.

3. Find oil.

Many of us do wake up early. In fact, I know many people who don’t even get enough sleep. Most of us work hard, but not all of us find oil.

Finding oil will not make one rich. Think of the people just sitting on their land filled with oil. They make a little profit out of selling their property, but none makes it to the List of the World’s Wealthiest. It takes a lot of entrepreneurial skills and traits to be able to find oil, and convert it to wealth and riches.

The stories you’ll find in this book are all about the different kinds of oil those simple enterprising people discovered.

So here are the ideas you and I can learn from the book in order to achieve entrepreneurial success:

1. Winners know that life is not what happens to them; it’s how they take it.

People who look at circumstances and determine beforehand that life is not fair and that they will never be successful – discover they’re right. Pre-qualifying in the negative, they have already sealed their faith even before they even started. But the successful entrepreneurs in our book did not mind the circumstances. They created their own opportunities. 

2. Winners dream big.

Study the individual experiences of these entrepreneurs. Their dreams are not limited to overseas employment. They know that their country is a gold mine, and all they need to do is to mine the gold. 

3. Winners wake up and do their work.

The common denominator, the one thread that is woven throughout these entrepreneurs’ successful business journeys, is the fact that they all work hard. They all understand that there is no short cut to success. While some people continue to dream and remain poor, these winners dreamed and woke up to work hard in realizing their dreams.

The surest way to go broke is to sit around waiting for a break.  

4. Winners manage their money well.

Money is congealed life. The Bible never said “Money is the root of all evil;” What Scriptures say is that, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Many of the successful entrepreneurs in this book save their earnings. They maintain a healthy attitude towards money, and they do not waste it on reckless and flamboyant lifestyles. 

5. Winners learn from adversity and convert them into resource for success.

The stories in every page teach us an important lesson: Adversity does not produce weariness among winners. It strengthens resolve and character.

When a storm comes at sea, a ship turns to face the tempest. If the vessel allows the storm to hit its side, it will capsize. If it turns its back to the storm, the storm will drive it wherever the wind blows. Only in facing the storm is the ship safe. The featured entrepreneurs in the book all faced the storms of their lives head on. And they never gave up.  

Once a month I devote time to giving a two-day public workshop-seminar on leadership. Senior executives as well as entrepreneurs would attend. One of my participants happened to be a miner. We were talking about the wealth of the nations, and this miner grabbed my hand and said, “Francis, do you know that if we could only mine three percent of our country’s natural resources, it will be more than enough to pay off all of our debts, both foreign and local?”

God has blessed us with so much natural resources, yet one question prevails in my mind: “Why are we still poor?” How could a small country like Singapore be considered “First-World Country” when they do not even have natural resources?

And then the answer hit me. Natural resources are not the real resources; the people of a country are. And we need to mine them and get the gold out for wealth creation. But more than the creation of wealth in mere pesos and gold, we need to create wealth undergirded by righteousness, honor, dignity and character.

This book is not a business book. It is an inspirational book about ordinary people like you and me who have discovered their gold in their businesses. Read their stories – then go and mine your own gold. And be prepared to live a life of success and fulfillment. And do not forget to give God the credit! 

(Get advice about business and life from inspirational guru, Francis Kong. Text FRANCISKONG to 4631 (for Smart) or txt GO FRANCIS to 2910 (for Globe) to subscribe. Just P2.50 per day!)