Tricks of the Trade

TRICKS OF THE TRADE:

John Wooden, basketball coach of the UCLA Bruins, from the late 50’s to the mid 70’s, winner of 11 National Championships, 7 straight at one point, used to say, “If you spend too much time learning the tricks of the trade, you will fail to learn the trade”. Truett Cathy, Founder of Chick-fil-A, the tremendously successful fast food family owned restaurant chain company with over a billion dollars in sales every year, says the same thing in another way; “It is easier to be a success than it is to fail”. Both are saying that everybody is given a certain amount of time to do something in life, why waste it on foolish endeavors that lead to a dead end?

The book of Proverbs expressed this thought a long time before these two famous men did. You find it in chapter 12, verses 1-2, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. A good man gains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man.”

The world is full of failures that tried all of the short cuts to success, but didn’t have the right stuff when things really began to count. Here is even another way to say the same thing. “It is better to be prepared and not have an opportunity, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared for it.”

There are a couple of ways to live a successful life on earth---With Smarts and Smarts with Wisdom. Both can lead to success on earth, leading to riches & fame, with cheering fans along the way. Here’s the big question—WHAT’S NEXT?

Here is the answer. Remember, it was given to us a long time ago---see Proverbs 12:1-2. Did we miss it?