Here’s One Four-Letter Word That Could Make You Work Your Tail Off; It Sure Got Me

PALM BEACH, FL – There is something about success, even just moderate success, that you only experience and/or appreciate once you have gotten there. Something that many people often overlook, and it can sometimes only be fully realized from the outside looking in.

I saw something today that reminded me of it all and I am going to share those thoughts with you. It was a day’s worth of commissioned earnings. It was not a huge amount of money, but it was a moderate days’ pay at today’s standards. Money I very thankfully earned while I was outside working on my house. I do a lot of things and wear a lot of hats in my work, but this was my domain name reseller commissions.

It made me think of how I do not take those earnings for granted, because I know what it took to put them there, and it did not happen overnight, like most everything else in life, it took hard work. But sometimes some people forget. And only certain people will truly know what I mean. They get used to it after a while, and they forget the true “value of money.” It might be your kid, your wife, your friend. It could be anyone, especially someone you might take care of, or someone who doesn’t work for a living.

I remember a long time ago, when I used to work a grueling tough job – I was installing fences. I was not the foreman giving orders, or even the guy driving the truck that would come back and forth to the job site bringing supplies – he had it easy. No, I was the guy digging the holes with the post-hole digger blistering up my hands in the sun, or sometimes, I was the guy clearing an area filled with brush and sticker-bushes where the new fence was to be installed. Yes, I was the low-level guy that did the work most didn’t want or have to. That sucked. I worked my tail off for probably what was a day’s pay at the time, if I remember correctly, about $60.

I must have been about 17 years old at the time, and it was hard work that I will never forget; out in the blistering sun all day where a bottle of cold water seemed like an absolute life saver, when I had the money to get my hands on one, or if I was somehow actually prepared for the day – which didn’t happen often, and brought a bottle of water and bag of ice.

I sure do not miss those days. Believe it or not, at the time I had been incredibly happy to get that job because I did not have one. A friend said come along with me tomorrow morning to the job site and my boss will hire you, “I just know it” he said. And as he predicted, I got hired on the spot and started working that day. I remember it like yesterday, but it was nearly thirty-years ago. I became great friends with the boss-man, who is near twice my age, as we eventually found out that we had a lot of things in common and still talk to him to this day.

For much of my adult life, I look back on many of those tough jobs I had and realized that they created a clear focus for the future. I was determined to get away from all of that. And those memories are what put me on a path to where I would go – where I would get to, and what I would do, and how I would do it, never to return to those days, ever.

Hope I never will, but one thing about life is that it sure does through a lot of curve balls at you, so you always want to be prepared for anything. Try to build up a little nest-egg in case things go south, try and build a steady revenue stream that won’t evaporate, try to have a disaster plan, a plan B, don’t burn bridges if you don’t have to, and never take what you’ve got for granted when you have it.

Because it could all be gone tomorrow.

Every day we hear about someone in the news that had it all, and then it was gone; all just a memory. They did not plan for it, they didn’t expect it, but that is just the way it is sometimes.

It’s mostly those memories of long hard days which brought me to realize why I have always worked so hard over the years, and why I have always tried my best to go that extra mile, put in that extra hour, do it that much better than the next guy, to be so thorough, not procrastinate and get the job done – and to do it myself if I have to.

There was not really anything out of the ordinary about me.

I was and remain, a hard worker in anything I do, to this day. But I figured it all out a few years ago, what it was… What it was about me that made me work so hard. Why I never gave up. It was all about a four-letter word:

Fear

• Fear of loss.
• Fear of returning to those days.
• Fear of that hot sun.

There are people out there right now that are doing the same thing.

They are working grueling hard jobs that they absolutely hate going to every day – and they do it day in and day out. Many of them working their tails off for approximately $100/per day. If you have been there and have found success, even just moderate success, do not lose track of where you have been. Do not forget the little guy. Do not loose touch with the true value of a dollar. Never forget what is behind that effort that got you where you might be. If it’s someone else, do not forget how hard they may have worked to get there and where they may have been. And do not forget how good you have it.

You could be that guy out in the blazing sun. And you could wind up there quicker than you think.

John Colascione

About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®