The Secret To Success Is Firewood [Wait, what?]

Our family enjoys a good old-fashioned wood burning fireplace.

Gas logs are great too, but they just don’t compare to the warmth, smell, and sound of real, burning wood.

If you want to burn wood in a fireplace you have 3 options:

1. Ask someone to give you some firewood.

2. Buy firewood.

3. Chop your own firewood.

Let’s pause with the firewood for a moment… I want to ask you a question… what would you say is the secret to success?

It’s the question that many wonder about every single day, and it looks different to each individual.

Countless books have been written about success, but for now let’s focus on how it relates to the 3 options I just mentioned.

GIVE success to me!

It’s unfortunate, but very true, that when it comes to success… many people choose option 1. They simply want everything given to them. They don’t want to work, they just want results handed to them by exerting only the effort it takes to hold their hands out to receive it.

The problem with this approach is that when no effort is exerted in obtaining something, there is little effort put forth to retain or recapture it. 

Why?

Because there is no appreciation for the cost of the result. 

Those who choose option 1 will often resort to it over and over again, simply because it’s all they know how to do. In my experience, these individuals, at best, make sub-par employees and team members. At worst, they are lazy, difficult to motivate, and often more costly to an organization than what they provide in production. 

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Buy your way there

While many will try to jump on this “easy” path of option 1, others will choose to “buy” their success (option 2).

I don’t believe there is anything necessarily wrong with this option. If you are blessed with the financial resources to pour money into an idea or project to ensure its success, then be thankful.

But, the problem with this path to success is that if it does work, it’s often very expensive. Many who have tons of money and financial resources will often rely on those resources to get them into/out of any situation. This approach can work, but you have to be able to stomach the losses. And, if the money does happen to dry up, you’re going to to have to figure out how to be successful some other way…

So this brings us back to that firewood.

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Chop, chop, chop

I’ve chosen option 1 before  – asking someone to give me firewood. But, you know what? I felt kind of lousy about it. Someone else did the work for that wood and here I come asking for them to just give it to me?

I’ve also chosen option 2 and bought firewood.

But, buying firewood can get really expensive, because I’m paying for someone else’s work.

Personally, I enjoy option 3- chopping my own firewood. It’s good exercise and I can see the results of my labor.

When winter is approaching, I love looking outside and seeing a big pile of firewood because I know there will be many fires built in that fireplace during the colder months.

And, I’m sure it’s my imagination, but for some reason, the firewood that just seems to burn brighter and hotter than the rest is the firewood that I chopped myself. That big pile didn’t get chopped in a day or even a week. It got there as the result of one thing: hard work, diligently performed over and over and over. 

This applies not only to firewood, but to life as well. Option 3 not only gives the “chopper” an appreciation for what it took to get that big pile of firewood, but also the knowledge of what it will take to repeat the task.

So, next time you want to experience success, don’t ask someone to give it to you… However, you could ask someone to give you their advice on the most effective method of chopping wood!

Happy chopping!