I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand traffic.

Thanks to my lifestyle, I don’t usually get stuck in one, but sometimes, I forget that it’s rush hour time, as I get in my car.

Yesterday was one of those days, and I was on my way to my friend’s, who’s also a business associate, shop to pick something up.

Without looking at the time, I left my house at 5pm, without even a thought about rush hour traffic, I called and told him that I’m on my way and I’ll be there in 30 minutes or so.

About an hour and fifteen minutes later, I finally got there. The traffic was heavy, although as compared to other major metro areas, it’s not that bad.

As I was slowly moving at a pace of 20-25 mph, I’m looking around the busy highway and all I can see is a bunch of people, with a blank look on their face, slowly moving to get home.

I imagine that they go through this routine everyday, in the morning and at night.

By the looks on the faces of most of these people they’re not that excited about this whole segment of their day. And yet they continue to do the same thing, going to the same job they don’t particularly like, working for a wage they feel is too low, driving in rush-hour traffic that they hate. And in our city, most people would say that they’re lucky to even have a job nowadays.

Is this a way to live?

Why do these people allow themselves to stay stuck in this trance of being in a rat race?

There could be a number of reasons, but the main one is they don’t want to change.

They’re actually ok with it.

Oh they may say they want more money, a better job, an easier simplified life. But do they really?

Is there some hidden benefit to staying where they’re at?

I think there is. If there wasn’t one, they would do something about it wouldn’t they?

How about you? Are you stuck in an experience you’re not that thrilled about?

So what are you doing about it?

Are you reading the right books?

Are you associating with the right people?

Are you associating with the right people?

Do you plant the seeds of prosperity and abundance into your mind or thoughts of lack and limitation?

And finally are you taking action, moving forward, and creating the life you desire, or do you just wish and dream about it?

There’s an old story I’d like to share with you.

A traveler walks into a convenience store in a small town to ask for directions. As he approaches the clerk behind the counter, he sees a dog that’s howling on the floor.

The man asks the clerk why is your dog howling, and the clerk says, oh never mind him.

So the man starts asking for directions, and the dog continues to howl a bit louder. He asks once again why is the dog howling, is there something wrong with him? And the clerk once again says, don’t pay any attention to this, there’s nothing wrong.

So they continue talking and now the dog is howling really loud. So the man stops and says, there’s something wrong with your dog, tell me what is wrong with this dog?

And the clerk says, there’s nothing wrong with the dog, he’s just laying on a nail that’s stuck in the floor, and that’s why he’s howling.

The man looks at the clerk with a puzzled look, and says, why in the world is your dog laying on a nail?

And the clerk answers him with a very profound statement. He says, sir, he’s laying on a nail, because he’s not uncomfortable enough yet.

There’s not much more than I can add to this story.

Except that we all need to look inside ourselves for the real reason why we experience what we do.

Have a comment about this?  Don’t be shy and speak up.

And also, feel free to bookmark this post so others out there can read this.  This maybe a wake up call for some.

One of the most important things that I’ve done over my business career is invest in myself.  Since the age of 19 I started investing in books, tapes, seminars, and that has helped shape my thinking and the results I’ve gotten.

When I was training representatives in financial services, I always stressed to them the importance of investing in themselves.  Always listening to tapes or cd’s in their car instead of music so that they can use that time as a learning time.  A lot of the training the I’ve put together has revolved around personal growth and self-development.

And the interesting thing that I’ve noticed, Read the rest of this entry »