by Rick London

I used to debate with my former girlfriend, a woman much more socially and finally successful than me, about the business principals to success. Though she did it, like me, the old fashioned way, made a plan and worked the plan and increased organizational skills along the way, she still believes there is some mystique and "laws of attraction" to it. Of course she is a Beverly Hills attorney, I, a cartoonist and e-tailer. Since the times of EST and other "thought mills", California has been a haven for slick re-packaged ancient scrolls disguised as "NEW"-AGE. She partly buys into it. I don't buy into it at all. Let me rephrase that. I do buy into it. I just happen to know it is nothing new except more slickly packaged and worded more for the proletariat.

I am the better marketer of the two, she says, but the jury is still out. She never advertises, does not even have a website, and her waiting room is always full of people waiting to pay her and pay her well.

Being a Cancer (that remains my excuse), I naturally am less organized and more clumsy than my former Aries better-half (Gerald Ford was a Cancer...get the picture?). Her claim to fame is a monumental law firm on the most expensive property in the U.S. (possibly the world). My claim to fame is digital funny pictures on some expensive Internet property that may or may not make a lot of money, depending if I sell it or not. We both started small, she on a park bench after escaping her mother country and me in a metal rural Mississippi warehouse where 44 year old cartoonists, I guess, were considered "possessed" and nobody much wanted us for neighbors. I am also an inventor, writer, and student, but that is a whole other story.

She drives a new Mercedes. I drove an '89 Buick Regal until I got a heart condition and stopped driving. She has a big home in the Valley. I have a modest studio apartment on a mountaintop in Arkansas. I now have a 2000 Saturn and I'm prefectly satisfied with it.

Her debate is one I hear often. "You don't think big. You need to learn to think big. I think it's an Arkansas thing!" That makes me laugh. I want to say, "Yeah, tell it to Sam Walton."

I don't really get much into New Age philosophy. Let me rephrase that. i do and I don't. I get into it from the biblical point of view, because, that is really all it is; ancient text rewritten ever so gently and packaged beautifully. And if we don't watch out, some "guru aka false profit" is getting rich as I write this. I prefer to read the same material free from ancient scriptures. Yes, its a harder read, but its the same thing.

Being an ex S. Californian, and please forgive me all you out there who don't fit that discription, New Age was, more or less a way of life. But if one takes the time to do a little research, most New Age is actually Ancient Age and simply reworded, slickly packaged and custom built to make a new guru wealthy. This new "The Secret" takes the cake, sort of a "Think it and they will come"; no action needed, simply attract it with thought. Okay. P.T. Barnum would love to know the buyers of this package. Sorry Oprah, I know you endorse it, but......let's think this through. Hard persistent work is the key to any success; not "law of attraction"; though I will admit, law of attraction does follow hard pesistent work, but I think they are putting the horse before the cart.

This confuses me. I wonder sometimes if it is about income. If it is, well, she's right. A seasoned attorney generally makes more money than a seasoned cartoonist and e-tailer no matter how "big we think".

So everyone is telling me to "live the dream" and "sell the dream". I don't want to be sold those things. I feel like I'm in a conversation with Elmer Gantry when that occasionally happens. I'd rather talk about the weather.

Carl Jung was in full agreement. He felt it wonderful to live a spiritual life and live in the now as well. Too much attention on dreams can make "Johnny a dull boy", just like too much attention on reality can too. There has to be a balance. And that is an art. And that art, like any skill, can be learned.

Jung warns us that once we have achieved our dreams, we may not necessarily be 100% happy; in fact, he adds that we can almost count on that. That does not mean not to pursue happiness. It is part of our personal and national Constitution. It is just to realize that reality. We will always have problems and issues, no matter what.

I think the thing to do is "do what you like". For some people, the dream is money. Back when Nelson Rockefeller was one of the richest if not the world's richest persons, he was asked, "How much money is enough?" He answered, "Just a little bit more."

I worked in corporate America for two decades chasing the almighty dollar. I made a lot of them. I can assure you they did not buy me happiness, and, in retrospect, because I hated what I was doing for a living.

Prepare to fail (and succeed). The world of business is full of success stories (household names) who failed many times before they ever succeeded. Read their autobiographies. You might be very surprised.

I suggest never to choose friends based on their bank accounts. I used to do so, and was trained to do so and always heard "You can't make money off of people who don't have money". That tired old cliche is a dreadful lesson. You *can* make money working with people who don't have much money. If they have a hard work ethic, and honesty and so do you, you'll make much more, and have a lot more fun doing it.

Each of us have different dreams.

A lot of our former education is good. Especially the basic principles. But let's remember, times have changed. When I worked in real estate, we were sent to guru workshops on "sales tactics and manipulation". They were based on the world being "not so savvy". The world is a lot more savvy now and manipulation and tactics insult most's intelligence.

Big thinking? I like to think that I think big. But I act small. I love the term, "Think globally, act locally". If all I did was think big, I think that would requre a lot of energy and I would not get much legwork done. I don't mind working in the trenches. You shouldn't either if you have a true entrepreneurial spirit. That will change. But we have to start somewhwere.

Thinking big can be a good thing, but measure your waist size first. Be sure it is not too big for your britches, and carry on, never misleading anyone. Do what you love to do. The money will follow so "they" say, and they have proven themselves right. Live someone else's "dream" and you may or may not make money, but its a moot point. One then has to ask him/herself, "Am I happy rich or not, living someone else's dream? The choice is yours. It really is.

If you are true to yourself, you will be happy, rich or not.

About the Author, Rick London:

LTSuperstore is Best Of The Web's most popular site for unique offbeat cartoon gifts & collectibles funny gifts amd cartoon collectibles. Unbiased product reviews.

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