PART IV

“Therefore, give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil. – 1 Kings 3:9”

So far we reviewed the lessons learned from scrolls one through nine in the classic book, “The Greatest Salesman in The World” by Og Mandino.

In those scrolls, Mandino taught us the secrets of good habits, love, persistence, individuality, present moment focus and emotions. Last week, we learned to Laugh at The World, Multiply Our Value and Act Now. Let’s dive into the next lesson taught by this great book.

Scroll X: I Will Pray for Guidance

After Solomon had taken over as king from his father, David, the Lord appeared to him in a dream. God said to Solomon, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

Solomon replied with the words from 1 Kings 3:9. He asked for wisdom. The Lord was pleased that Solomon had not asked for superficial things. God was so pleased that he granted Solomon the wisdom he asked for and the riches and fame that he had not requested.

Mandino teaches the same lesson in Scroll X. He advises us to never pray for things, but guidance. He suggests we pray for wisdom to know the right things to do. Just like Solomon.

Let’s review what we’ve learned from each scroll.

Scroll I: Good habits are the key to all success. To live successful lives, we must always be replacing our bad habits with better ones. Even when others look upon our habits as exceptional, we know we can and must do better.

Scroll II: Greet this day and everyone we meet with love. Never take a moment or an encounter for granted. Always dig for reasons to applaud others. Especially your enemies.

Scroll III: I will persist. Best stated by Winston Churchill – “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Scroll IV: Each of us is God’s greatest miracle. Embrace every difference he as given you. Your differences are your greatest competitive advantage.

Scroll V: Live each day as if it was your last. Don’t waste a minute. Each second is precious and can never be regained once spent. Focus on the task at hand.

Scroll VI: Master your emotions. Never let your feelings dictate your attitude or actions. We must overcome negative feelings to live in a state of gratitude and excitement. Our attitude will determine the level of success we achieve.

Scroll VII: Laugh at the world. Remember that “this too shall pass.”

Scroll VIII: Multiply your value 100x. If a grain of wheat can multiply to feed a hungry world, we can multiply our value for the good.

Scroll IX: Act now. Do whatever you must to create an environment that forces you to act now.

Scroll X: Pray for guidance. Don’t pray for an easy life, but for the strength to excel in the life you have been given.

Those are some great life lessons. Now it is up to us to put them into practice in our businesses, homes and lives!

We love helping leaders build great businesses. If you’d like to learn more you can check out our free resources at www.valuesdrivenresults.com/resource-library/ or give us a call at (229) 244-1559. We’d love to help you in any way we can.

Curt Fowler is president of Fowler & Company and director at Fowler, Holley, Rambo & Stalvey. He is dedicated to helping leaders build great organizations and better lives for themselves and the people they lead.

Curt is a syndicated business writer, keynote speaker and business advisor. He has an MBA in strategy and entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School, is a CPA, and a pretty good guy as defined by his wife and four children.