Weekly Wisdom #359 - A Lesson From Thomas Jefferson?

The difference with contemporary life when compared with that of the 19 century is that we actually managed to go backwards within our lifetime. The reason why people today complain so much more is because their standard of living actually fell behind. They were accustomed to something better and that something better was taken away from them. Their accustomed lifestyle is no more. For the first time, they're worst off than the previous generation. In Jefferson's day things actually progressed year over year. Today, most people are upside down in debt and aren't able to get their heads above water to even consider starting anew. Jefferson, being a revolutionary, expected to get his head chopped off if his adventures were to fail - but then again, that was his oath. Most average Americans were not prepared to get the rug pulled out from under them. Uncertainty and insecurity is no way to progress, but we all keep treading on anyway.

This is the world we live in today:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/silicon-valley-shack-in-palo-alto-lists...

P.S. - Everything else is immaterial, irrelevant, and unnecessary.

I think the difference is that Thomas Jefferson knew what he wanted and kept his focus on the "goal". Today, a lot of people just focus on maintaining what they have and not on moving forward every day. I have found the last few years to be challenging, but out of every adversity comes an opportunity. Every year has gotten better. There is so much abundance to be grateful for and opportunity. We all must Do what we can, With what we have, Where we are. The Golden Rule always applies so make every situation a WIN-WIN. Do something every day to move yourself AND your "business" forward and you will have a blessed life. Thank you Dean for all of your inspiration and "wisdom". LindaB

That is so key. I'm focused on that with my family, friends and business. I learn so much from your weekly wisdoms. Thanks for being so faithful in delivering the best to us.
LISTENING!

Thank you Dean!

indeed, Thomas Jefferson was an extremely accomplished man; and even though he faced challenges throughout his life, he managed to live a rich and fulfilled life, always thinking of the welfare and equality of the people.
Sadly, he died with a huge debt...
Valerie

"Sadly, he died with a huge debt..."

Sadly, that has become the American way of life now. Number one consumer debt being college loans. Nothing is sacred any longer. Even when one tries to better themselves through education, they're still fair game to creditors. In fact, student debt has tripled in the past 10 years to more than $1.3 trillion, with more than half of it being held by households that have a net worth of less than $8,500. It represents more debt than all credit card debts combined!

P.S. - Everything else is immaterial, irrelevant, and unnecessary.

Listening to others is the key characteristic and take home message I got, thanks for your consistentcy with your WW. They really help keep me moving forward.

Make it a great week!
Thom

Good stuff Dean close to another deal here in sunny san diego, love you man thx for all you have done you are a rennaisance man(if that is spelled correctly) contributing to humankind thx

Nice to hear that you are reading about Jefferson. I cannot recommend enough the works by Joseph Ellis, also a Pulizer Prize winner for a couple of his works, including on Jefferson. However, "The Quartet" came out this year by him... About the actual writing of the constitution when the Confederation was failing, and nobody, even our friends in Europe, thought we were going to make it! Even England had NOT fully gone home and for 10 more years kept a standing Army in Ohio, waiting for America to cease. We had no idea about ourselves. Each state saw themselves as a separate nation. The average person never ventured farther than 30 miles from their homes for their whole life. !.6 million people and some 720,000+ were slaves, and most of them lived in Virginia! What a mess. And it goes to what you said about Jefferson. In their focus, and in the case of The Quartet of Washington, Madison, Adams and Hamilton - all the while when Jefferson was our Ambassador to France, these men and Adam's wife, pulled off the seemingly impossible. Now this might seem like a stretch, but consider ELON MUSK: TESLA MOTORS, SPACE X AND SOLARCITY. Musk has a Worldview. Nobody was rushing to make electric cars, or to get America back into space, and the Chinese had dropped $30 billion into the Solar industry and wanted to own it worldwide! We had a lousy $1 billion into Solandrya and The Obama Administration got clobbered in the media when it failed! ALONG CAME MUSK! He did exactly what you talked about. Google's Larry Page earlier this year in a press conference said that "Elon Musk did what everybody said couldn't be done! Musk said we had to do it. American Corporations have gotten lazy. And we can't say it was luck because he's done it 3 times now and next is Satellites!" It was never about what if he fails. That's why these Weekly Wisdom's count so much. Read Ashlee Vance's new book, "ELON MUSK" which came out this late Spring. After reading Jefferson... I'd like to see how YOU draw the parallels I've read it 3 times since it came out! I think Musk embodies the Founding Fathers in many ways. And I believe that that is what we are about, in pursuing our dreams, visions and ideas. It's no different than pursuing a new life as an Investor of distressed real estate, or finding a way to help those with the knowledge we have so they do NOT have to move and upset their lives. I've done a couple of those and that is super satisfying. What I'm doing now is way off the mark of what the rest of the DG Family is doing.. But it's all because of your book initially, the network, your on-going training and the like! And this great nationwide network of fantastic people! The greatest in attitude of any group I've ever worked with. And I like the parallel to Thomas Jefferson!

Getting out of our own heads and paying attention to what the other person is communicating to us is very valuable advice. It requires patience and some humility. Thank you Dean.

Hi Dean,

Another great weekly wisdom.....

Listening, and Writing is a gift....

I agree that down through the ages, " The Blue Print for Success " is the same....It hasn't changed......

Thank You for all you do......xo

Regards,
Sharon