The Lesson Of The Quarter

TWENTY-FIVE CENTS!

Dropping Quarters & Expecting Them to Fly

By

ELDON R. TAPP

TWENTY-FIVE CENTS!

Dropping Quarters & Expecting Them to Fly

By

Eldon R. Tapp

Copyright © 2017 by Great Life Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author and Great Life Press. Inquiries should be sent to the publisher.

Published by:

Great Life Press

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N. Ogden, UT 84414

Printed courtesy of Create Space and Amazon.com

Dedicated to everyone who wants to make their life better.

Never settle for mediocrity when excellence is available.

Live a Principle-Driven Life!

Preface

     Somewhere along in my mid-forties, after years of reading and other types of learning, I somehow stumbled across a concept that had completely escaped me up until that point. Oh it was there, lingering around the fringes of my conscious thinking process, but it had never come into a crystal clear focus up to that point. The problem was that this lack of full comprehension of that idea was killing me!

     That’s what this book is all about. After observing the rest of the human race around me, I have come to the conclusion that a very large percentage of us are suffering the consequences of not understanding this concept and its ramifications in every area of our lives.

     After reading over 500 books (Yes, I actually took the time to count them awhile back!) in areas of personal and business growth and development, I have still not found anyone who has directly addressed this concept and its foundational relationship to everything else that is being taught out there. That’s not to say that no one has ever written or spoken about it, just that I have never come into contact with it yet.

     Yes, it is hinted at and talked around in some fashion or another once in awhile, but not discussed in any detail. Every other piece of literature out there in this genre seems to take it for granted that we all understand this concept with perfect clarity, therefore there seems to be no need to discuss it.

     Even when I bring the idea up in a discussion with somebody who is struggling with some challenge because they obviously don’t fully grasp it, they will most often dismiss you with a simple, “Oh yeah, I already knew that”.

     But what I’m talking about here is truly the single most foundational lesson of success that I have ever found. If you have missed this one idea, then all of the other lessons on success that you are taught will never be able to give you the full potential of their value in your life.

     One morning a few months ago I was lying in bed about half awake when into my mind came a perfect way to explain the concept as well as the thought that it could best be explained in a story format. That is the genesis of this book.

     I promise you that if you will read and thoughtfully ponder what I introduce here, that your ability to recognize life-changing ideas and implement them into your life more effectively will skyrocket! Learn the “Lesson of the Quarter” and begin applying it in your life and your career or business. Answers will “show up” that you never expected before. They may even come from some very unexpected places as you “connect the dots” in your mind.

     If you already have a very clear understanding of this idea, look around you and become more aware of the conversations that you have with other people. You will probably begin to recognize, just as I did, how many of your friends, co-workers, or employees don’t quite grasp it. Taking the time to teach them or to pass along this book may be life changing for them too. If it is your employees that we are talking about, then your company could begin to see some unprecedented growth!

     It is a powerful lesson! Take the time to learn it fully and comprehend it deeply! Then, spread the word!

     Eldon Tapp

Introduction

     Often we learn best by reading a story. At least for many of us it keeps us awake and engaged. That’s why I have chosen that format to introduce this topic.

     The Brian Tanner in our story is a totally fictional character. However, he represents a lot of what many of us are going through in our lives to one degree or another. I have found myself at crossroads similar to what he experiences in this story more than once in my life.

     The answers to those challenges that we face often come from totally unexpected places such as what happens to him when he meets a new friend. Always keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Learn how to stay humble enough to be taught important lessons from places and people that you wouldn’t have naturally expected to possess the answers.

     Now, dig in and see if “The Lesson of the Quarter” can help you with some of the problems that you may be facing!

Chapter 1

HOW DID I GET HERE?

  Brian Tanner’s life was a mess!

     Almost everything that was important to him was either falling apart or at least not anywhere near where he had hoped it would be by this time in his life. His construction company was taking almost every bit of his available time and he constantly seemed to be out of money. Because his work was requiring so much of his time, his marriage was not nearly as strong as it should be and he felt like he was completely failing his 3 kids. He had almost totally given up on his religious life. He really didn’t have time for it in the first place and on top of that he honestly didn’t feel like it was doing him much good anyway.

     It seemed as if about the only people he had any sort of relationship with anymore were the guys on his construction crew and a few other contractors that he frequently crossed paths with. Even then, he found himself pushing so hard to reach deadlines that it seemed like he was frequently alienating his help too. Because money was always so tight, he was constantly feeling like he was behind and now he was starting to feel the pinch of some mounting debt that he hadn’t been able to pay off the way he had thought it would work out.

     His confidence in his abilities as a builder grew stronger with each project he completed, as the compliments came for his skilled craftsmanship and attention to detail. But somehow the magic and the feeling of accomplishment was being worn down by the drudgery that was setting in.

     The biggest problem was that he just couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. It didn’t seem like there was any possible way to make it any better. He felt like he was giving everything that he had.

     Was this really the way it was going to be for the rest of his life?

     That sounded absolutely miserable!

     One Thursday in late May, he finally reached his breaking point. A couple of his helpers had made an expensive mistake on the latest house they were building. While he had been away after some supplies, they had framed two whole bedrooms and a bathroom backwards in the house. To make matters worse, the home had a vaulted ceiling that they were framing into and so every single stud had to be cut to a unique length and angle. That meant that some of the lumber wouldn’t be reusable and would become expensive waste on top of the extra time to tear it out and rebuild it in the correct location.

     Sometimes stuff just happens! He couldn’t get too angry with them. After all, he had occasionally made similar mistakes himself before. This time though, it was just that it had a compounding effect on the way the entire rest of his week had been going.

     He had a materials bill at a lumberyard that was a couple of months overdue. They had been calling him asking for payment that he wouldn’t have until this job was finished. Then last night at home the kids had needed some money for an end of the year field trip and he just didn’t have it. Not only was that extremely frustrating as a father, but his wife Sandra had become quite irate with him over the whole episode. She hadn’t even been willing to tell him ‘goodbye’ as he left the house this morning.

     He had had about all he could handle and he just didn’t have any more emotional energy left to give to anyone. He was done!

     After telling his guys to take the rest of the week off, he left the jobsite and slowly drove back to his house. Backing his truck up to the garage, he threw all of his tools into a corner and went inside.

     Grabbing a soda pop out of the fridge, he pulled off his work boots and plopped down on the floor in the den and sat staring at the stonework on the fireplace.

     He was stumped! “Something has to change,” he thought. “I have tried everything I can think of and nothing seems to be getting any better. I’m just tired of thinking about it.” He laid his head back against the sofa cushions and closed his eyes.

     A half hour later something roused him from his sleep and he realized that it was the sound of Sandy’s car pulling into the garage. Waiting for her to come in, he wondered what she would have to say about him being home from work in the middle of the afternoon. Like a prisoner waiting for his executioner he simply continued to sit there.

     As the door opened, he heard her call, “Brian?”

    “In here babe,” he answered.

     “What’s going on? Why are you home so early?”

    “It’s a long story. Can you come here for a few minutes?”

     After explaining to her what had happened, he shared with her how beaten he was feeling. “Something has got to change,” he told her. “I am not going to live the rest of my life this way. I don’t know what to do right now. But I am going to take my fishing-pole and head up to the lake for a couple of days. You can go with me if you want, but I probably won’t be good company and frankly, I really want to just be alone to clear out my mind and see if I can find some answers.”

     “Well, I guess we can manage here for a few days without you. I’ve been thinking lately, that some time alone might be helpful for you too. So when are you going to head out?”

     An hour later he had all of his camping and fishing gear loaded along with some groceries and after a stop for some gas, he was on the road. He was headed to a place that was about two hours away. That should be far enough away from civilization to find some peace and quiet and no cell phone service!

     He arrived at the lake in time to find a nice camp spot around on the back side. Setting up camp took him another hour or so. Then he was able to sit down and relax by a nice campfire with another soda pop and a can of beef stew that he had warmed up.

     Staring into the fire, he could slowly feel the tension easing out of his body. “Man! Why can’t I ever relax like this at home”, he thought to himself? “It seems like there is always somebody or something demanding my attention. If I’m not sleeping, I’m working at some thing or another. It would be so nice to actually feel like most things were going right in my life instead of out of control all of the time. Why can’t I just feel like I’m in control some of the time at least?”

Chapter 2

CATCHING HOPE!

     Morning gradually began to creep into the sky and lighten the ceiling and walls of the tent, but it was actually the early morning sounds of the birds chirping and greeting the day that finally woke him up. Without realizing it, he had slept all the way through the night and actually felt quite rested for a change.

     Climbing out of his sleeping bag and getting ready for the day was a peaceful and relaxing process this morning.

     Starting a fresh fire, he dragged out his cooking supplies and fried up a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon and hash browns. “That sure beats my usual bowl of cold cereal all to pieces,” he thought!

     Taking his time to savor and enjoy every bite, he pondered exactly what he wanted to do for the day. “Number one,” he promised himself, “is that I’m not going to think about any of my problems at all today. Just fish and explore a little bit. Maybe I’ll take a nap or two and eat again when I get hungry. That’s it. I’ll just keep it really basic and let my mind and body relax some more. Then maybe tomorrow I’ll start thinking about some answers,” he thought to himself.

     By late morning, Brian had been fishing for about three hours. He’d been having fun. The fish were biting and he had caught several but all of them had been rather small, so he had thrown them back. He hadn’t wanted to keep anything unless it was big enough to make a nice meal for dinner. As the day grew warmer, the fish retreated to deeper water and things began to slow down. He re-rigged his pole for the deep water and cast it out as far as possible. Then he found a nice comfortable spot to sit in the shade of a tree and leaned back to enjoy the beauty of the day in this wonderful setting.

     Throughout the morning he had worked his way nearly a half mile around the shore of the lake. An hour or so before he had noticed that there was another fisherman working his way around the lake in the opposite direction. They were now only about fifty yards apart. As Brian sat and watched his pole and allowed his mind to float, he was only slightly aware of the other guy fishing off to his left.

     Suddenly he realized that his neighbor had just hooked into another fish. Turning his attention to watch the action he soon realized that this guy was tied into something fairly large. Then without warning it suddenly broke the surface and leaped completely clear of the water! To his amazement he realized that he was watching this guy try to land a fish that was one of the biggest he had ever seen! It was probably way bigger than his tackle was rated for. This should be a fun fight to watch!

     Pulling himself to a sitting position, he watched the man carefully play the monster fish for at least a minute. It was quite a battle as he tried to keep just enough pressure on to keep the hook from slipping out and yet not so much that the fish could break the line with a sudden flip of its body.

     Then when the fisherman realized that Brian was watching, he yelled over to him, “Any chance you have a net with you? I wasn’t planning on hooking into anything nearly this big today.”

     “Sure! You focus on getting him to shore and I’ll be there in a second.”

     Grabbing his net, he jumped to his feet and quickly made his way down the shore to the man’s side.

     “That is going to make an awesome fishing story,” he said with a huge grin!

     “You bet it is,” the man replied! “I’ve never hooked into anything this big before! I hope I can get him landed.”

     “Don’t worry about reeling him in right now,” Brian said quietly. “Just focus on keeping the line tight and wear him down for awhile. Then he’ll be a whole lot easier to get into shore so I can get the net on him.” It took the fisherman almost ten minutes to wear the big monster down before he started coming within netting distance. Every time it swam past, Brian was astounded at its size.

     Finally after a great display of patience and some skillful pole handling, they had it in the net. What a catch! It was a huge bass, and was probably almost as big around as it was long.

    “If you don’t mind, I’ve got to get a picture of this one,” Brian smiled. “My buddies at work will never believe me if I don’t!”

     Before holding it up, the man reached into his vest pocket and pulled out an older digital camera. “Here, would you take one for me too,” he asked?

     “Of course,” Brian laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one this big anywhere except mounted on the wall at the sporting goods store! That’s amazing! Are you going to keep it or are you a catch and release guy?”

    “No, I think I’ll let it go,” he replied. “There’s no way I could eat this monster all in one sitting and besides, if it has managed to live this long, I think it deserves to live another day! I just want a couple of good pictures to keep the memory fresh.”

     After a few photos, he gently sat it back in the water and held it upright until it swam away under its own power.

     “That was a really fun experience,” he said with a huge grin on his face. “I’m sure grateful you were close by with your net. There is no way I would have ever landed it with that small line that I was rigged up with. Thanks for helping me out.”

     “No problem,” Brian answered. “Do you come out here very often?”

    “No, this is my first time actually. I like to travel around the country and I just happened to be here an extra day so I decided to try my luck. I guess it worked!”

     “How about you?” he asked. “Are you from around here?”

     “Not really,” Brian told him. “I’ve been here a time or two but I actually live a couple of hours west of here. I just came up yesterday afternoon. I needed to take a break and get away from work and all the stress I’m feeling in my life right now. This seemed like a good place to hide out for awhile. Watching you land that fish has been a real highlight of this trip.”

     “Yeah, I suppose getting to see and participate in something that exciting every so often would be an attitude booster. Life sounds like it must be pretty rough for you right now, eh?”

     “Oh you know, work pressures lead to money pressures, which lead to family pressures and sometimes you just feel like nothing’s going the way you hoped it would. So I wanted to get away from all the stress for a few days and hoped that I might find some answers. If not, then at least I’d like to find some peace.”

     “Oh hey,” the other man reached out his hand, “I forgot to introduce myself. My name’s Roan. What’s yours?”

     “Brian.” he said taking the hand that was extended.

     “So this might sound funny Brian, but I don’t believe in coincidences, do you?”

    “Not really I suppose.” Brian answered with a quizzical look on his face. “Why?”

     “Well I just happen to have spent most of the last 30 years or so mentoring and coaching other people to find answers when they are in situations like yours. If you don’t mind sharing your story with me, I just might be able to offer you some help. That is, if you have the time. Who knows, maybe I can make your trip to the lake productive for something besides some R&R.”

     “You know, today I’m open to just about anything, even from a stranger in the wilderness. The fishing seems to be tapering off for me at least. I’m not sure how you managed to hook into that big daddy at this time of day. Do you really have time to take out of your vacation and visit?”

     “Sure! Let’s go grab your gear and I’ll tell you a little about myself on the way back to camp.”

     After retrieving his pole and tackle box, they headed back along the shore to Brian’s campsite.

    “You see Brian,” Roan began, “I lost the last of my family many years ago and since then I have devoted my life to two things, seeing as much of this amazing earth that God created for us as I can and taking every opportunity that I am given to teach and lift people. I spent almost all of my early life in the military and saw a lot of things, both in war and in civilian life, that showed me how much we as a people need more truth in our lives.

     “I continually watched people make decisions that hurt them over the course of their lives, yet they seemed oblivious to the fact that they could have prevented that pain with just a little more correct knowledge.”

     “So where did you find so many answers in your life then,” Brian asked curiously?

     “Ah that’s the fun part,” Roan laughed! “For starters, I’ll bet I’m way older than you think I am. Most people usually underestimate my age when they guess. Besides being a veteran of a lot of life experiences, those early scenes that I witnessed made me hungry to find answers. I have spent most of my adult life searching for truths that can help me solve problems both in my own life and in the lives of those close to me. I read a lot and I try to listen carefully to other people who have had a lot of success in different areas of their lives.

     “So tell me a little about yourself Brian.”

     “Well I will be thirty-four this year. I’m married to a sweet girl named Sandra. We have three kids from 11 down to 5. I’m a contractor who likes to build mid-sized homes where I can do something besides just bare bones shelter-type projects. I used to love playing sports, but over the last few years my business has gotten so demanding that I’m just hoping for a few minutes with my wife and kids every evening and I’m not doing very well at that most of the time.”

Chapter 3

DO I HAVE A CHANCE?

     After arriving back at camp, they grabbed some snacks out of Brian’s grocery stash and sat down in the shade of a huge tree. Brian spent the next half hour answering Roan’s questions and filling him in on the details of his life and how he thought that he had gotten into his current mess.

     “So what do you think Roan? Is there any hope for me or am I just going to have to suck it up and realize that this is the way it’s going to be for the rest of my life? I’m sure you don’t encounter very many people who sound quite as pathetic as me, do you?” he asked with a weary grin on his face.

     “No Brian, cheer up. Life is never as bad as it seems from within your own mind. The problem is that most of us have done all that we can within the limits of the knowledge that we have managed to accumulate up to this point in our lives. From where we stand and what we can see, it just seems like we have done everything that we possibly can and there is no way out. It often seems that there can’t be anything that can make such a huge difference that it could completely turn things around for us. That seems to be the perspective of most of the people I meet who feel trapped.

     “The reality is, that I have often watched one little missing piece of information make a radical difference in the outcomes in a person’s life. On top of that, I’ve seen it happen in a relatively short period of time too. Most of us have never given much thought to how valuable new knowledge is and how much knowledge actually exists out there for us to learn from. We don’t feel like we have enough time or energy to gather it, and we have no real idea of the impact that it can have in our lives.

     “Most people are just so glad to be done with their formal schooling that they don’t want to devote another precious minute of their lives to that kind of learning experience ever again. So we end up equating just about any kind of learning with that particular public school model, which most of us didn’t enjoy in the first place.

    “What we fail to understand is that the true learning process is so freeing and mind expanding that it becomes exciting, exhilarating, challenging and almost addictive when you begin to comprehend it.

     “There is a story about Socrates that I like which says that someone once described him as the wisest man in all of Athens. When that word got back to him, he is reported to have replied that, ‘If there is any wisdom that I do possess, it is that the more that I learn, the more that I realize how little I really do know.’ That is my paraphrased version at least, of what was said by one of the most knowledgeable men of his time.

    “Unfortunately, most of us seem to think that upon becoming adults and finishing our formal schooling in whatever form that might have taken, that we have gained most of the education and knowledge that we will ever need in this life. Because we never have had anyone open up to us the view that Socrates saw of the unlimited nature of knowledge and its ability to affect and transform our lives, we tend to ignore it and classify it as boring or unnecessary.

     “When we begin to run up against problems in our lives, we never really stop to think that those problems are a direct outcome of the limitations of our current knowledge base.

     “Tell me something Brian. Do you like to read?”

     “Well to be honest with you, the answer to that question would have to be no. Reading wasn’t my favorite part of my school years and by the time I got out of college, I told myself that I would never read another book again. Reading usually puts me to sleep unless it is accompanied by a lot of pictures and is about something that I am really interested in like sports, hunting or old cars.”

     “Ah, you are so typical of many people in our society today. It seems like our culture has done a really good job of teaching us to avoid one of the greatest sources of truth and great information that exists. Today it has become even more complicated with the arrival of the internet. There is so much information out there and available at our fingertips almost instantaneously, that we are moving even further away from the idea of reading good books.

     “We will come back to that discussion later if you would like, but for now I want to propose to you that the answer to almost all of the problems that we face, is to find some new and more accurate information and begin applying it to our problem area. One of the best sources of that information is a good book.”

    

Chapter 4

THE LESSON OF THE QUARTER

     “All right Brian, are you ready for lesson number one?” Roan asked as he reached his hand into his pocket and rummaged around for a moment.

     When Brian nodded affirmatively, he continued. “I am going to teach you the single most fundamental lesson of success that I have ever learned. This is one concept that is so simple and yet so lost in our world today that most people never completely grasp its importance in their lives. If you don’t understand this one idea, it can wreak havoc in every area of your life.

     “If you do gain a thorough understanding of it, it can change everything, including giving you the solution to every problem that you have described to me about your life.

    “I call this ‘The Lesson of the Quarter’.”

     Roan held up a shiny new quarter. “Brian, I am going to make a twenty-five cent investment in your future.

      “If you manage this investment correctly, it could potentially have a limitless return in every area of your life. It could be worth millions in your finances. It could produce unlimited happiness and staggeringly wonderful results in your family life. It could help you understand things you could never have imagined in your spiritual life. Your health will be better. You will have more close friends and people who will look up to you who are willing to follow you because they trust you to lead them in the right direction. Your company will run much more smoothly and efficiently. You will place more value on your freedoms and understand more clearly where they come from. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

     “Are you ready to learn?”

     “If this lesson is truly that magical,” Brian replied, “I’m all ears.”

     With that, Roan casually flipped the quarter across the fire pit where Brian deftly caught it with his right hand. “Nice catch.” he said smiling. “All that sports training must have paid off.”

     Brian laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. Maybe it will help me catch some wisdom here too.”

     “Okay my friend, hold that quarter out in front of you at shoulder level. Good, good. Now open your fingers and let it go.”

     When he complied, the quarter quickly fell to the ground at his feet.

     “So what happened?” Roan asked.

      Not quite sure what Roan was looking for, Brian tentatively answered. “Um, it fell to the ground I guess?”

     “Right! Now pick it up again.”

     Brian did so.

     “Okay. Now hold it out in front of you again. Now let it go. What happened this time?”

     “The same thing. It fell to the ground.”

     “Really? Hmmm. That’s interesting. Try it again.”

     Again Brian picked up the coin and dropped it.

     “Same result?”

     “Yep.”

     “Again.

     “Again.

     “Again.”

     Roan had him repeat the process ten times over, to the point that Brian was rolling his eyes at him.

     “Okay, okay. I get it, but what’s the point. It will always fall to the ground. Everyone knows that.”

     “Are you sure my friend? Isn’t there a chance that one time when you drop your quarter that it might fall up? Or maybe fly away or do something different than fall to the ground?”

     “Uh, I don’t think so.”

     “What if you sat here this afternoon and dropped that quarter a thousand times and kept a careful record of what happened? Wouldn’t there be some chance that it might do something different?”

     “Probably not.”

     “What if we had a thousand people gather around this lake and gave each one of them a quarter, then we instructed each of them to drop it a thousand times and record the results? That would be a million attempts you know. Is there any chance that one of them would have their quarter fall up or some other behavior that we didn’t expect?”

     “I don’t think so.” Brian mused. “What was this guy getting at here anyway?”

     “One last question Brian. What if we somehow managed to repeat this experiment to infinity, under the same circumstances? Would there ever be even one quarter that didn’t fall to the ground just like all of the others?”

     “I guess not. But what’s your point Roan? What does this have to do with the problems in my life right now?”

    “Just this Brian. I suspect that if you knew what to look for in each of your problem areas, it would look something like this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out another quarter. Holding it up in the air, just like he had been instructing Brian to do, he suddenly turned his hand and flung it out into the woods forty feet away! “You would actually find that in many situations in your life, you are letting go of your quarter and expecting it to fly over there instead of fall to the ground.”

     “What?” Brian exclaimed! “I didn’t know that I was using quarters to determine the direction of my life.”

     “That’s a good one!” Roan laughed. “I’ve never heard it put like that before.

     “Here’s what I’m getting at though, my puzzled young friend. You just proved for yourself the idea, the concept or the principle of the ‘Law of Gravity.’

     The ‘Law of Gravity” and the other laws of physics that we hear about and take for granted all of the time are cause and effect concepts that are called PRINCIPLES. There are hundreds, if not thousands of principles in this universe that govern the outcomes in every area of our lives. They are at work, not just in the physical parts of life, but in every other area too. They impact our relationships, our finances, our freedoms, our faith, our health, our ability to influence other people, our careers, and our businesses.

     “What is equally as important too, is that you just debunked one of the most ridiculous fallacies that is floating around in our society today, messing up the minds and thinking processes of millions of people. That is the idea that there is no such thing as absolute truth. You just proved that this ‘theory’ is fundamentally wrong. It is an absolute truth that the quarter will always fall to the ground under those circumstances.

     “Therefore, if that is absolutely true, then what other things in our world are absolutely true? What if you were taking actions in one part of your life, where you were mentally expecting the quarter to fly off or to land forty feet away, but it just wouldn’t do it? It kept wrecking your plans. You kept getting these really frustrating results when that blasted quarter would never land where you expected it to, because you didn’t understand the correct principle to apply to it.

      “All of this happens because somewhere along the line of your gathering knowledge, nobody has ever clearly taught you that the quarter will always fall…down! It will always land right there at your feet, not someplace else. It won’t fall up. It won’t fly away. It won’t land forty feet away.  You were basing your entire thought, action and expectation on a flawed thinking process and you didn’t even know it.”

     “But isn’t it possible that the quarter could be made to fly in some way or another?”

     “Sure it is.” Roan replied. “But in order to do so, we would have to apply some other force to it which would therefore change the circumstances. That would mean that our principle still stood intact in the circumstances that we originally produced it.”

     “Okay, I think I am beginning to see what you are getting at, but I still don’t think I’m very clear on what you are saying.”

     “Don’t feel bad Brian. This is the place where most people get unknowingly tripped up.

     “Let’s take a minute here to get really clear on what the word ‘principle’ actually means.

     “A principle is a concept which says that, if you do X, then Y will automatically be the result.

     “It is 100% consistent. It always happens that way. It is so consistent that you can always count on it. In fact, you can build your thinking processes, your habits and your entire life around it.

     “One of the most critical things about life that I try to teach to anyone who will listen is that this entire universe is built upon principles. Principles like the law of gravity, which are cause and effect types of concepts that never change.

     Everything that happens in our lives, every action we take, every relationship we try to build, everything we do to try to earn a living, everything that matters to us in any way, shape or form, has principles that govern its outcome.  

     “If we follow and apply the correct principles in any given situation, we are more apt to get the outcomes that we want. On the other hand, if we ignorantly or even purposefully, try to violate a principle (a universal law) and expect a different outcome, it will backfire. It will come back to bite us in some way or another by getting a result that we either were not expecting or didn’t want.

     “Our society seems to have completely forgotten to teach us that outcomes are based upon definable principles that can be learned and applied to almost any situation that we encounter. They have forgotten to teach us the simple analogy that if you pick up one end of a stick, the other end always comes with it. When you make the initial choice, the second part is not optional. It automatically follows. Our choice of whether or not to learn and apply true principles will have a direct bearing on the outcomes that we get in every area of our lives.

     “ Our choice to learn and apply true principles or to ignore them or remain ignorant of them, will have a direct impact on our ability to find success in our work and careers, our marriages and families, our finances and our freedoms, our faith and our interactions with other people, and more.”

    

Chapter 5

THE LESSON OF THE QUARTER - TRUTH VS ERROR

     “This is where I get to teach you what the true “Lesson of the Quarter” is all about.

    “Here’s the secret Brian. Everything that happens to us in our lives on this earth is governed by unchanging principles, like the law of gravity, that we call truths. The more of those principles or truths that we can learn to apply correctly in our lives, the more we can govern or produce the kinds of outcomes or results that we want. All of the bad results that we get in our lives come as a result of ignoring or being ignorant of some true principles that have existed forever.”

     “Wow.” Brian spoke softly. “That is so profound and yet so obvious when you explain it that way. Do you mean, that just like I know that this quarter will always fall to the ground when I open my hand, that I can learn what other things will always happen when certain circumstances are put into place in other areas of my life?”

     “Exactly!” Roan replied.

     After pondering for a few seconds, Brian asked, “But what about all of these intellectuals and scientists who are talking today about truth being relevant to your situations or beliefs, or even saying that there is no such thing as absolute truth?”

     “That, my friend, is one of the most foolish and dangerous arguments ever created by man.

     “Dangerous, because if we choose to ignore truths or willingly remain ignorant of them, we will either be harmed by them or fail to receive the full benefits of using them in our lives.

     “Foolish, because their argument contains, within itself, the very obvious key of its own falsehood!

     That key is that, if there is no such thing as an absolute truth… then, is that statement itself absolutely true? If it is, then there stands the obvious refutation of their theory. If it’s not true, then there is, in effect, the exact same answer. But if that statement is true, then what else might be true, and… who gets to decide?

     Truth is truth! Your little experiment with the quarter has proven that beyond any reasonable doubt.

    “It is an entirely non-sensical argument.

    “Is the law of gravity an absolute truth? Of course it is. It is so true in fact, that we can define it with a distinct set of mathematical formulas that never vary except as some other force comes into play.

     “No matter how many times we drop the quarter in those circumstances, even to infinity, it will always, invariably, fall down not up.

     “The funny idea is that we can even allow our human intellect to be tricked into believing some of these strange theories, simply because someone else said that they were true and that idea seemed to fit with what we wanted or needed to believe.

     “Now, here is the really dangerous point of the whole argument that there is no such thing as absolute truth. It is, that if you will look behind the argument and dig deep enough, you will find that the person who is trying to get you to believe it, always has an agenda of some kind that will either harm you or manipulate you in some way or another. Or at the very best, they are just ignorantly parroting someone else’s words, hoping that this idea will give them license to act irresponsibly in some way or another. But in the worst case scenario, they are actually trying to convince you to do something that will ultimately prove harmful to you.

     “So Brian, does any of this make sense?”

     “It makes a ton of sense Roan. I wonder why nobody ever teaches these fundamentals to us so plainly and so obviously. In just a few minutes here, you have made something that I should have grasped a long time ago, so clear to me that I am going to have to change the way that I look at almost everything in my life. This concept is so basic, that I can’t believe I never saw it before. I wonder why?”

    “It is very likely my young friend that the people charged with teaching us the important facts of life, may never have had a complete grasp of the concept themselves. It is also completely possible that there are people out there who stand to benefit by keeping us ignorant of certain truths.

     “Just a thought.”

    

Chapter 6

WHAT IS A PRINCIPLE?

     “So what do you think I mean when I use the word principle, Brian? Why do you think there might be so much confusion on the subject?”

     “Well, I suppose that I always just assumed that the word principle was talking about an idea, a concept, a theory or something like that. The confusion thing could definitely have come from the teacher not clearly understanding the concept themselves and therefore passing on their confusion to the students.”

     “Quite so, quite so.” Roan mused.

     “Okay, to better understand this idea, we need to grasp the significance of the true meaning of the word principle. Anytime you hear the word principle used in its correct context, we are talking about the laws of cause and effect. A true principle says that, if you do a certain thing (X), then a certain result (Y) will always follow. When we let go of our quarter, it will always fall to the ground.

     “So, if we can learn to understand and utilize the correct principles in anything we are endeavoring to accomplish, then we will know how to have more control over the outcomes. It’s like in a science experiment. In order to get a consistent outcome, you strive to eliminate as many of the variables that could mess up the outcome as you possibly can.

     “The tendency in our society today is to think that the concept of principles only applies to our physical world, as in the physics that we learn in high school science class. But it is not limited to physical things. There are principles that apply to every area of our lives. Our relationships, our finances, our spiritual life, even our fun, all have principles that govern how they turn out.

     “Now, just so that you don’t feel bad,” Roan explained, “I didn’t figure this concept out until I was well past 40 years old. I had heard people talking about this principle or that principle my whole life, but I never realized the true meaning of the word. It was always a rather vague concept to me. I think that the reason for that lies in the strange ambiguities of the English language.

     “We have at least three different words that we use to describe ideas that are similar to this but not quite the same. We tend to use these words interchangeably when they really have fundamentally different meanings. Those words are Rules, Laws and Principles.”

    

Chapter 7

RULES, LAWS, AND PRINCIPLES

     Let me give you some examples to make my point.

     Here are three different types of concepts that we tend to label with the same word. One example would be Rules of Etiquette, another would be our Traffic Laws, and a third type would be the Law of Gravity.

     Think about this. All of these ideas are Rules, Laws or Principles that are supposed to govern our behaviors in some way or another. We tend to hear them all labeled by any of the three terms at different times and places. However, on closer examination we will find that each of them is in a distinctly different category from the others.

     Let’s start with the Rules of Etiquette. We don’t often hear them called the Laws of Etiquette, but I have heard them frequently referred to as the Principles of Etiquette. So which category do they really fit into?

     Well, what are “Rules of Etiquette”? They are really a set of, mostly unwritten, guidelines for how we should behave in the company of others, so that we come across as civilized, courteous and gracious, rather than uncouth and boorish. Interestingly, these “Rules” are considerably different from culture to culture, to the point of even being exact opposites in some cases. Whereas for instance, it may be the absolute depths of impropriety to belch at dinner in one culture, you would be thought extremely ungrateful to not do so after being served a nice meal in another.

     So are “Rules” of Etiquette universally unchangeable, cause and effect type concepts, that have existed forever? No. Instead, they are a set of man-made guidelines that can vary from place to place and will have no direct consequences, other than that people will probably consider you to be bad company if you violate them.

     This would be a fairly good example for the term “Rules”. They are a set of man-made concepts that are agreed upon by a certain group, who consent to abide by them for the betterment of the group. Also they may vary from group to group and situation to situation.

     Next in our list of concepts would be that of Traffic “Laws”.

     If you violate a Traffic “Law”, does your vehicle automatically burst into flames and send you to a fiery death as a direct result? Nope! This is readily apparent at every hour of every day as many of us routinely exceed the local speed limits! In fact, most of us have learned that we can usually violate Traffic “Laws” with impunity, as long as we don’t get caught.

     The difference here, is that these so-called “Laws” are created by a governing body of some sort, who has the legal authority and power to impose some artificial consequence upon you when they catch you in violation. The important concept to understand here is that the legal consequences are artificial and man-made, therefore they can be changed. Now, this is not to say that there are not real consequences that can happen to us, which these “Laws” are trying to prevent. There are times when our ignoring these “Laws” will lead directly to a natural consequence, such as a wreck with an injury or even death, or something else regrettable. Their purpose is to artificially increase our chances for safety on the roads.

     So a better definition of a “Law” would be, an artificial rule created by a recognized governing body to whom has been given the power and authority to impose these rules and their man-made consequences. The key points here are; 1) who makes the “Laws”, 2) that they are still artificial, and 3) that they are not consistent from place to place or situation to situation.

     Now, for our third type, what is different about the “Law of Gravity”?

     Is it man-made? No. Are the consequences of its violation or of conforming to it artificial? No. Does it or can it be changed by our wishful thinking or our egocentric declarations? No. Has it always existed and will it continue to exist long after we and our entire society and culture have vanished? Yes!

      Therefore, it must be something significantly different from a rule or a law (as described above) in its fundamental conception. That would be the description of a “True Principle”.

     A “True Principle” is something that never changes, that has a direct consequence related to and resulting from the cause, that is consistent from situation to situation, and that can be understood and applied to gain more consistent control over our outcomes in life.

     Looking in the dictionary sheds some more light on why so much confusion exists on this subject. Webster’s includes all sorts of definitions for the word “Principle” that fit into each of these different categories that we have discussed. One in particular, from the Oxford dictionary, adds to the confusion when it defines a principle as: “a fundamental idea or general rule that is used as a basis for a particular theory or system of belief.” (bold italics added)

     If we follow that line of reasoning, then we can come to the conclusion that almost anything can be true. If we base our reasoning upon an “idea” or “general rule” of our own choosing instead of upon an absolute truth with a definitive outcome, then literally anything can be true.

     However, the “Lesson of the Quarter” proves that there are unchangeable facts out there. If we choose to make up our own “facts” and use them as the basis for our actions, then we can begin to understand why we can find ourselves with so many confusing and undesirable results in our lives. 

     Let’s go back to Webster’s Dictionary for a more clear definition that will help to start us down the right path. One of their definitions says: “a law or fact of nature that explains how something works or why something happens.” (again bolds and italics added)

     When we base our thoughts and actions on “laws or facts of nature (or the universe)” we can truly begin to have more predictable outcomes in all areas of our lives.

     “Is this starting to make more sense to you Brian,” Roan asked?

     “I think I am finally beginning to understand your point about the principle thing.” he answered speculatively. “How do I go about figuring out where I may be making a mistake on the ideas that I am using to govern my decisions?”

     “I’ll tell you what my friend, I am going to give you a list of 10 key points about the concept of living a principle-driven life that will help to answer that question. They will be “Ten Principles About Principles” if you will!”

     “Here we go.”

    

Chapter 8

Ten Principles About Principles!

#1 PRINCIPLES FORM THE FOUNDATION OF ALL KNOWLEDGE

     Knowledge Is Power, the saying goes. However, a more correct interpretation of that concept would be that; Correct Knowledge Properly Applied Is Power! After our discussion thus far, I think you can begin to understand that applying incorrect knowledge can never get you the results that you desire. Also, having an entire brain full of knowledge and choosing not to apply it would be virtually useless too.

     So, it is critical for us to understand that if we want to build a life that gets great results, then we need to build it on a foundation of true principles. Correct and useful knowledge has an interesting component woven into it. It builds upon itself.

     It’s like building a brick wall.

     You start with a solid foundation of eternally true principles, then you add one brick, or new truth at a time. If you put solid bricks of truth into your project, you will end up with a strong wall that will never crumble or let you down and will protect you from all sorts of harm and undesirable results.

     However, if you get into the habit of not being careful about the bricks that you use to build with, or even more fundamental than that, if you start with a faulty and flawed foundation, you will end up with a wall that has no strength, character, or integrity.

     If you get in the habit of calling anything that you happen to pick up a brick, when it really isn’t, and you incorporate it into your wall, then you will automatically build weaknesses and flaws into it.

     It might look really nice as you build it, but because you used flawed materials, it will be weak and structurally unsound. It will not be able to provide you with the protection and safety that you were expecting. It could even collapse and harm you.

     Much of the true knowledge that we gain builds upon something that we have learned before. We gain knowledge “line upon line, precept upon precept” to quote the Bible. This is a very real truth.

     Think about how you learned mathematics. You don’t learn complex algebraic or geometric principles until after you start with the foundational principles, like 1+1=2. Then you work your way through the ever-increasing complexity of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables. Finally you can work your way up to where algebra and geometry make perfect sense to you. Each new piece of knowledge makes sense because you already understood the ones that came before it.

     In our society today, many, many people have built their lives in the way we described in the brick wall analogy. They are too willing to accept any piece of information that sounds appealing to them as truth and put it into the brick wall of their decision making process. They never stop to take the time to hold this new information up and examine it carefully to see if it passes the test of being a true principle.

     Nah…, it sounds good, therefore it must be true. Or worse yet, it justifies the things I want to do or am already doing, therefore it must be true. What about the long-term outcome or consequences? Right now I don’t care, because what I’m doing is too fun. I don’t want to honestly think about the future.

     Does that sound too familiar?

     Then, how about the foundation? What do we mean by foundational principles?

     There are some pieces of knowledge that are so fundamental, that they under-lie and affect every other piece of truth that we obtain. These form a foundation on which we build our brick wall of truth, which governs all of the decisions and actions that we take. These in turn, determine the outcomes in every area of our lives.

     Think about this for instance. Is God real or not? If he is, did he actually create this earth? If he did, why?

     If he is real and if he did indeed create this earth and he did so for a specific purpose that directly involves us and our futures for a very long time, wouldn’t that be an important foundational principle to build all the rest of our knowledge-wall upon?

     Conversely if none of that was true, wouldn’t that affect the other knowledge that we accumulate too?

     It would.

     What other kinds of principles might be foundational to you too? How about something as basic as the Law of Gravity that we’ve been talking about? Does that have a big enough impact on our lives to be considered as foundational? Probably so, but if not foundational, then at least somewhere in our first row of bricks, surely.

     This whole concept should lead us to a careful examination of the things that we believe. We need to understand why we believe what we believe. Take time to evaluate where your beliefs come from. Do they hold up under the test of being true principles?

     It is important to live a life where faith plays a key element. In fact that is an important part of learning more and more truth. However don’t just stop with faith. Keep searching until you can uncover the true principles behind the things that you believe. Actually, the true definition of faith, is believing in things that are true before you fully know that they are true.

     In a way, having faith in something implies that you are working to gain a solid knowledge of its truth.

     Many of us live lives that are heavily influenced by the traditions that have surrounded us in our developmental years. Much of the tradition in our lives is very valuable and based on true principles. But all too often, we find that there are things that our family or society have taken for granted for generations that are not based upon true principles. Be willing to examine those things under the microscope of the “True Principle” concept and see if they stand up to the test. Sometimes those ideas that we have held onto for generations are causing us to get some of the undesirable results that we are seeing.

#2 PRINCIPLES ARE ETERNAL – THEY NEVER CHANGE

     The reason that principles are such a dependable foundation to build your life upon is that they never change. Think about the Law of Gravity. How long do you think it has been around? Probably at least as long as the universe has existed wouldn’t you say? That makes it a pretty dependable starting point to base a thought process on. Not only has it been around that long, but it is also the same on this side of the universe as it is all the way over on the other side!

     There is a really interesting little saying that I heard a long time ago that seems more and more true the older I get. It says:

     Methods are many, principles are few. Methods always change, principles never do.

     For years my wife and I studied on how to become better parents. To me it seemed a giant lesson in frustration because, in the heat of the moment, I could never remember the particular strategy that the latest parenting guru had taught us.

     Real change didn’t come about until someone finally began teaching us that there are eternal principles behind why each of our children was acting the way that they were. With that knowledge we finally were able to understand what was unique about each one of them and change the way that we were acting towards them. We didn’t need the latest strategy of the month. We just needed to understand the principles that never change. All of a sudden we began to have vastly better results in our family life.

     The difference was a change from focusing on strategies or methods which would get completely different results from child to child, to a focus on the principles behind who the individual child was and what their unique needs were.

     For instance, in our case we have a couple of children who tend to be very willing to do almost anything we ask of them. But we also have a couple of others for whom it is very important to them to determine their own actions. Needless to say, that required us to learn to present the request differently to each different type of child in order to obtain the best results.

     It was a matter of learning a correct principle which then allowed us to design an appropriate strategy that would work with each different child rather than trying to force all of them to fit into the same mold.

     All through our lives we have areas like this one where we may be focusing on something that we think is a fundamental truth, when instead we are acting on a method or strategy that could have changed and not even be applicable in our situation any more.

     In this example, tradition says that we should have a one-size-fits-all set of rules that apply across the board and everybody has to learn to conform to them. However when we learned some more correct principles, we found that we could get a much better result by learning how each individual child functioned.

     Another example happened in the business world. I was exposed for a period of several years to a particular growth strategy that was bringing phenomenal success. However, twenty years later, that strategy, while still somewhat effective, doesn’t seem to consistently get the same spectacular results.

     Why?

     Could it be that the world around us has changed in such significant ways over the last twenty years that the same old strategy can’t work as effectively as it used to? Maybe it’s time to look more deeply at the principles behind the strategy to see if there might be a new, more effective approach today? Just as that strategy was new and revolutionary back then, could it be time for a fresh and more current replacement to put that company back on the path of phenomenal growth again?

     We need to look deep for the correct principles that never change. Building on that foundation will always bring the greatest results in our lives!

#3 PRINCIPLES ARE CAUSE AND EFFECT CONCEPTS

     A principle says, if you do this (X action) – then that (Y result) happens.

     For example, if I spend more money than I make each month, I will find myself in a very undesirable financial situation. On the other hand, if I will religiously put 10% of my income into a savings account, over time I will create a massive safety net for myself and my family that brings peace of mind and security.

     These “Principles” exist in every area of our lives. Some of them are extremely easy to define. Others are maybe not so totally clear, but you can observe a repeatable outcome. For instance, every time I do this certain thing, I always seem to get this specific outcome. Even if I can’t define the exact mechanism through which it happens, I can see the result. If I am happy with that result, then I have discovered a repeatable principle. If the result is an undesirable outcome, then I have probably found an action to begin avoiding!

     That may be an area where some study will tell me what I need to change to begin getting a positive result instead. It’s time to dig in and search for some true answers!

#4 PRINCIPLES GOVERN OUTCOMES

     While this may seem to be the same concept stated in #3, it is slightly different and very significant.

     “Cause and Effect” would probably be best used to explain the results of individual actions.

     What I am talking about in this concept, is the cumulative effect of many choices on a broader situation such as a marriage or business relationship.

     It could also describe the way that our thought processes, which lead to our decisions and actions, are not the result of one simple little cause and effect principle, but are instead colored by possibly hundreds or even thousands of accumulated perceptions that have influenced our subconscious decision making processes.

     If we are looking at the outcomes we are having in any given relationship in our lives, we may find that it is one simple little principle that we are violating that is messing us up. However, it is every bit as likely, that it may be that we have several false perceptions of how things should work that are combining to produce an undesirable outcome.

     Probably the best example of this concept is our paradigm of how we view the world and everything around us. Our paradigm is formed from literally millions of individual pieces of information that have come into our subconscious mind over a lifetime. All of those pieces are woven into the fabric of our thinking processes relative to everything that was already in there before. That is why two people can see exactly the same input and interpret it in two vastly different ways, and both of them believe that they are absolutely correct.

     So the more we can go back into our subconscious belief systems and weed out the parts where we are using a false perception to make a decision or take an action, the more we will be able to change the outcomes that are governed by those principles that we have been violating, misconstruing, or even completely missing.

     By fixing the flaws in the vast fabric of our thinking processes, we will find ourselves making better decisions and taking more appropriate actions that can lead to the outcomes that we really want. Instead of the compounding effect of several little bits of incorrect information in our equations, we can enjoy the exact opposite, the compounding effect of many bits of correct information.

#5 PRINCIPLES ARE TRUE WHETHER WE BELIEVE THEM OR NOT

     Ah…this is one that gets a lot of people in a lot of trouble.

     Why does it seem to be a perfectly reasonable excuse in our society today to say; “Well I just don’t believe that”?

     That reply is spoken in the face of so many truths, as if it has completely logical power to just make them go away and become irrelevant to the speaker.

     The reason that this is such a dangerous thought process is that our belief or disbelief in a true principle has absolutely no bearing on whether that principle exists or not. It also has no bearing on the consequences of that principle either benefitting or harming us.

     Our belief does have the power to change us, our thinking processes, our actions, and our outcomes in other ways, but it has zero power to change true principles and their consequences that have existed throughout the history of this universe. It just can’t happen.

     What our belief does have the power to do is to cause us to seek out the correct principles that will lead to the results that we believe we want to achieve.

     Our example of the quarter portrays this as accurately as anything. Under those circumstances, that quarter or any other similar quarter will always fall to the ground. No matter how much someone believes that something else will happen, it is impossible to have a different outcome because there is an eternal, unchanging principle involved.

     Another powerful example is when somebody says that they just don’t believe in God. They use that as a justification for not having to give any weight to anything that can be associated with religion.

     The problem is that their belief or lack thereof has absolutely no power to change whether God is real or not. Nor can it change in any way, shape, or form whether or not the principles that he tries to teach us will still have their same effect on that person.

     To illustrate that point more clearly, ponder this. Near where I used to live in southern Arizona is a mountain. High up on that mountain between two giant cliffs is a huge outcropping of rock. It is clearly visible from the foot of the mountain. That outcropping, upon closer examination, is a unique formation consisting of hundreds of thousands of round rocks, some of which are hollow with quartz crystals inside, which are called geodes.

     Now having read that description, you have the right to believe or to disbelieve me. However, whichever choice you make, it has absolutely no bearing on whether that rock actually exists or not. It is still there. Your belief has absolutely no power to change that fact.

     The same principle applies to the existence of God. If he actually exists, and there is ample evidence that he does, then whether or not any individual believes in him or not cannot possibly have any effect upon his reality nor upon the reality of the principles that he teaches.

     Just like the rock, you can either choose to utilize that knowledge wisely or you can break yourself against it.

     You can substitute any principle that you choose into the above example about God and the results will be similar. You can utilize that knowledge to your benefit or you can ignore it to your detriment. Your belief has no power to change the reality of a true principle!

#6 PRINCIPLES ARE CONSISTENT FROM SITUATION TO SITUATION

     This is another place where a lot of people create problems for themselves. They don’t realize that if a certain principle is true in one circumstance, then it has to be true in other fundamentally similar circumstances.

     To go back to our quarter-dropping analogy, if it is true that when I let go of that quarter, that it will fall to the ground, then it will also be true that other things of a similar nature will also be true. Whether what I am dropping is a quarter, a penny, a rock or a glass bottle, because their general nature is similar, I can expect to get the same results. It will fall to the ground under the same circumstances.

     However, if I change the circumstances significantly, such as dropping a feather when the wind is blowing, I will have a different set of circumstances to deal with and will probably get a different result. That is because different principles have come into play.

     One of the most common places where we see this happening is when we hold certain groups of people or individuals to a different and usually a higher standard than we hold ourselves to. If it is okay for us or our group to say certain things and act in certain ways, but we readily condemn others for saying the same things or acting in the same ways as we do, then we are violating the concept of consistency.

     If we insist that one person meet certain standards to gain our approval, but turn right around and give the same approval to another person who meets fewer or none of those standards, then we are failing the consistency test for truth.

     Sometimes, I have even seen someone condemn another person for doing a certain thing. Then I have watched them turn right around six months later and condemn that same person for not doing the exact same thing.

     It is either correct for all of us or it is correct for none of us. It is correct all of the time or it is not correct. If we attempt to live our lives with an inconsistent application of principles we will inadvertently set ourselves up for the pain of poor results.

     We have to learn to be consistent if we want our lot in life to continually get better.

#7 PRINCIPLES INVITE CHANGE

     That doesn’t mean that they invite us to try to change the principle. It means that they invite us to change ourselves to align with them in order to get better results in our lives.

     If we are looking at our lives and thinking that something just isn’t right, then we need to memorize and repeat to ourselves over and over again this saying:

     “If I want something to change in my life, then I have to change something in my life.”

     Not – I have to get somebody else to change something in their lives. But…I, …I have to CHANGE something in MY life!

     We need to seek out the correct principle, which by applying it will bring positive change into our lives. Then, we have to go through the process of changing our thoughts, our habits, and our actions to align with that new knowledge. Otherwise, things will just continue to turn out poorly for us and it won’t be anybody’s fault but our own.

     Change, growth, progression, the pursuit of excellence, those are what a principle-driven life is all about!

#8 PRINCIPLES OPEN UP NEW WORLDS OF KNOWLEDGE, GROWTH, AND RESULTS

     Learning a new principle has the power to open up whole new vistas to us. When we learn to master and apply a principle in one area, we may soon recognize how it has broader applications in many other areas of our lives.

     Often, when I have been studying a book about business principles, I have found that those ideas are every bit as applicable in my family life. It’s like getting two for the price of one! I like that!

     Frequently, these applications can lead us to gain more power in many other areas that we hadn’t even conceived of before. They can also reveal other situations to us where we may be lacking a piece of knowledge that we can begin seeking. As we begin getting better and better results in our lives, the search for more knowledge of true principles may even begin to become addictive.

     That’s why I love the idea from the Socrates quote mentioned earlier, which says that:

    “The more I learn, the more I realize how little I actually know.”

     Several famous people have actually been credited with voicing similar opinions.

     Albert Einstein said something to the effect that;

     “We can’t solve the significant problems in our lives with the same level of thinking that created them.”

     He obviously understood that we need to search out new principles and truths to solve our old problems.

     I think he is also the one who is credited with saying that;

    “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.”

     We all know that the great minds of history like Einstein and Thomas Edison, for instance, were never content to stop with the vast knowledge that they had already accumulated. They were constantly on the lookout for some new bit of information or some new principle that would add clarity to what they already knew or possibly open up a whole new direction in their pursuit of wisdom.

     Why not us? We should be actively looking for new knowledge, new principles, even new ways to apply the principles we already know. All of those things can open up entire new worlds to us in our lives. Take the challenge!

#9 PRINCIPLES REQUIRE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY INSTEAD OF VICTIMHOOD

     The ability to take full personal responsibility for our current situation in our lives is one of the most powerful forces for good on the planet!

     That is not to say that we are fully to blame for everything that has ever happened to us, although we often are much more so than any of us normally wants to admit.

      However, what it does mean is that we can take 100% percent responsibility for finding and implementing a solution to that problem in our lives. After all, do we really think that the other person who we want to blame for creating our problems… do we really think that they are going to have any interest at all in fixing those problems for us?

     Probably not. So why waste our time, effort, and mental energy waiting for them to do so. The answer always lies within us. We have the power to take the reins in our own hands, learn a new principle, implement a solution, and get back to the happy side of life. Let them come along if they will, but don’t waste time expecting them to solve your problems. They are too busy thinking about their own!

     I recently met an old friend after several years and as I questioned them about their lives, I was inundated by story after story about how this person and that person had taken advantage of them, slandered them, or harmed them in many different ways. It was quite depressing to listen to them.

     I wanted to explain the principle of the “Common Denominator” to them, but I honestly doubted if they would have listened to me. Their case was already too well developed in their own mind to let go of it anymore.

     If you feel like you are surrounded by people who seem to be out to get you in some way or another, I would challenge you to look at what is the “Common Denominator” in all of those relationships? For my friend, the one thing that was common across all of those problematic relationships was… THEMSELVES!

     I happened to know most of the people that they were complaining about that day and had never had them do anything bad to me. On the other hand, having been around this particular friend quite a bit, I knew that their natural tendency was to be negative, pessimistic, angry, defensive and hurtful themselves. So the logical outcome of wearing an attitude like that every day, is that you are going to create and come into lots of conflict in your life, which just naturally sets you up to feel like a perpetual victim.

     Choose not to play the victim role. It’s not becoming on you!

     Choose to take full responsibility for your life! That’s what winning looks like!

#10 WHO IS THE MASTER OF ALL PRINCIPLES? GOD IS!

     If the concept, that when you let go of your quarter, it always falls to the ground is a true principle, then that would imply that there are many other true principles out there in the universe.

     Who gets to decide what is true and what is not true? Do you? Do I? No. How about the government? Nope! The United Nations? No. How about a super intelligent group of intellectual philosophers? No again! Scientists? Doctors? Attorneys? No, none of the above!

     I’m not sure that anyone actually gets to decide what is and what is not true or what is a true principle and what is false. I’m not sure that even God gets to decide that in most cases.

     Based on everything that I have learned about him and his plan from a lifetime of study, my guess is that he didn’t create truth and principles, but rather that he has done everything that he has ever done completely within the natural laws, truths, and principles that have always existed within this universe.

     But hey, that’s another discussion for another time and place!

     What I do know, for absolute certain, is that if we are looking for the one individual who knows every true principle that has ever existed and knows how best to use them in our day to day lives, it would be him!

     If he does not exist and does not have a specific plan for us, then there is no need for the whole discussion that we have just had. The idea that there is no real relevance to truth and error except as it best benefits me would be the logical outcome of that line of reasoning. Right and wrong do not exist without him.

     But like I said before, if he does indeed exist and he has a definite plan for us and someone chooses not to believe that, then they are left to get slapped up the side of the head with consequences that they cannot explain or understand.

     He is real. He has a plan. He alone knows all truth and is the master of every principle that exists in this universe!

     Sounds to me like someone I would definitely want on my side!

Chapter 9

LEARNING TRUE PRINCIPLES

     “I agree.” Brian said with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

    “It always astounds me how some people can make things so plain and common sense when they explain them correctly. When I think that I have spent 34 years on this planet and still not have figured out a concept that was this basic to how I live my life, I am completely baffled.

    “In just one afternoon of chatting over a campfire, I can see more clearly than ever before that I’ve been kind of floundering through life just assuming that I was doing the right things. No wonder there have ended up being so many problems.”

     After mulling things over quietly in his mind for a few minutes, Brian turned again to Roan. “Okay, I think that I’m pretty clear now on the basic nature of what a principle is and their importance. So the part that I’m still missing is, how do I learn how to identify these principles and where do I find the ones I need, to go about fixing the mistakes that I have been making so far?”

     “Ah, now you are asking the next important questions. That’s exactly where I found myself once I finally grasped this idea too. Let’s see if I can help you along that path by explaining the things that have been valuable resources to me over the years since then.

     “Probably the first thing that occurred to me was that I needed to start listening a little more closely to the people around me that I respected. I found myself with a new listening mechanism that was triggered by the word “principle”. Now every time I heard someone who I trusted use the word “principle”, my antennas would perk up and I would focus on listening carefully to see if I could catch the specific concept that they were trying to get across.

     “I also quickly realized that there were a lot of people in my life that I needed to stop listening to! At least I needed to stop putting any value on the things that they were saying as it applied to my life. If someone that I was associating with had a less than ideal marriage for instance, I needed to be careful about taking his advice or following his example in that area.

     “The same should go for my finances, my career, my spiritual life or any other area for that matter. If someone lacked “fruit on the tree” in a specific area, I had to realize that there were some principles that they were violating or were ignorant of and therefore they weren’t qualified to teach me in that area.

     “Another thing that I figured out fairly quickly was that if a principle was a cause and effect sort of a thing, then I could probably start looking at the areas where I was having the biggest problems in my life and realizing that something must “be out-of-whack” there. Once I singled out a spot to focus on, I could start looking for help in finding out which principle I might be violating in that specific area.

     “The next key source of better information for me was to find a mentor, or more accurately, several mentors. A mentor is somebody who has “fruit on the tree” in a certain area. However, it is highly unlikely that you are going to find any one person who lives a perfect life out there. So look for several different people who seem to be getting great results in whatever areas you think you need to be working on.

     “Look for someone who is willing to sit down and talk you through the process of identifying your weaknesses and finding solutions in their area of expertise. A good mentor knows how they got the results that they have been blessed with, and they can help you see places where you may need some better information to base your decisions on. They can teach you personally as well as refer you to some good books to read or talks to listen to in order to find better information.”

     “Ah!” Brian said. “Now you’re getting back to the reading thing again. What if I really don’t like to read Roan?”

     “To answer that, I need to be a little blunt with you Brian. Do I have your permission to do so?”

     “Sure, I guess so.”

     “Then here’s the answer to that question.

     “How is that working for you right now?”

     After a brief silence, Brian looked up sheepishly. “I see your point. Not very well I guess.” he replied.

     “I thought that might jar your thinking a little bit.” Roan smiled. “Do you remember our little saying from earlier that went; ‘If you want something to change in your life, then you have to change something in your life?’ ”

     “I do.”

     “If you don’t like the results that you have in your life right now and someone with better results suggests that it would be a smart idea for you to begin reading some good books, then the proper response would not be; ‘But I don’t like to read.’ Rather it should be; ‘How can I learn to like to read more?’ Does that make sense?”

     “Yes, I definitely see your point now. So, how can I learn to like to read?”

     “Well, first it starts with becoming genuinely hungry to find answers and solutions to your problems. Many of us have been given the false impression that reading to learn new things has to be boring or the perfect medication for insomnia. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.

     “A boring book is not necessarily a factor of the material that an author is writing about, but rather a reflection of their own personal communication skills. Ask a mentor to recommend a few books to you that are really entertaining to read as well as informational to start with. Soon you will find that you can actually get drawn into a really good book because it is leading you along through a fascinating journey of seeing yourself and your potential future in a bright new light.

     “If you still find yourself struggling to stay awake as you read, think about the principles that we have talked about!

     “Stand up while you are reading!

     “I promise you that if you start to fall asleep, the “Law of Gravity” will take over and wake you right back up!”

     Visualizing the results of that scenario brought a smile to Brian’s face.

     “Start slow. Try just 10-15 minutes at a time. In fact, statistically speaking, if you will start out reading just 15 minutes a day, 6-7 days a week, you will actually finish most books in about a month. That means that every year you will find yourself getting through at least 12 books. That will be more than enough to put you on a path to some significant improvements in your life!

     “Then the other really great source of information about true principles would be audio recordings of great talks. Again ask for recommendations from your mentors on whom to start listening to.

     “Consider turning off the radio in your vehicle and starting to listen to cd’s, podcasts or audios through your phone or other devices. Turn your travel time from wasted time into highly productive time. In effect you can turn your vehicle into a university of truth on wheels!

     “Use your phone with some ear buds while you are doing work that doesn’t require your brain to be fully focused on your task. Set up your computer or tablet to play positive teaching talks in the background of your home. You will be surprised at the impact that it will have on every member of your family.

     “Just remember to become hungry to learn all of the truth that you can get. With the concepts that we have talked about today, you will soon be able to develop your ability to recognize those true principles as you are exposed to them.

 “As a refresher and a reference point here are the “Ten Principles About Principles” again”:

#1 Principles Form the Foundation of All Knowledge

#2 Principles Are Eternal – They Never Change

#3 Principles Are Cause and Effect Concepts

#4 Principles Govern Outcomes

#5 Principles Are True Whether We Believe Them or Not

#6 Principles Are Consistent From Situation To Situation

#7 Principles Invite Change

#8 Principles Open Up New Worlds of Knowledge, Growth and Results

#9 Principles Require Personal Responsibility Instead Of Victimhood

#10 Who Is the Master of All Principles? God Is!

     “Here is the ultimate bottom line Brian. After all of this has been said and done – any time you run up against a problem area in your life, whether it be in your family, your career, your business, your finances, your spiritual life, your relationships, your politics or anything else, ask yourself:”

     WHAT PRINCIPLE AM I MISSING AND WHO CAN HELP ME FIND IT?

     “Therein lies the answer to all of life’s problems! Correct application of true principles solves problems!”

Chapter 10

CONCLUSION

     So what happened in Brian Tanner’s life after his trip to the lake that weekend?

     That’s the really interesting part of the story, because you see… Brian is a fictional character! As an author, I have the option to use my artistic license to finish out Brian’s story any way that I want to. The problem is, it’s only a story at that point, it is not real life.

     The really important conclusion to these lessons is that they actually do work. I have watched many people discover this concept and work at fully understanding and implementing it in their lives. Invariably, if they are serious about it, their lives begin to change for the better.

     Often though, many people feel like they already have their lives pretty well “together”, so they tend to ignore an important principle like this. In fact one of the most frustrating groups to try to deal with on this subject is the group of people who think that they already understand this when they hear it explained. They will shrug their shoulders when they hear it and dismiss the idea with, “Oh that? I already knew that.”

      They will try to convince you that they are already fully aware that there are principles that govern their outcomes, all the while complaining out the other side of their mouth about how messed up their life is right now. What’s happening is that while they may have a surface level of understanding, they haven’t thought through the whole concept and how it is impacting their lives so much.

     Heaven forbid they should actually listen when someone offers them a solution!

     Don’t be that person, please. Take the information you have learned today and spend some serious time pondering on it. Seek to understand how it should fit into your life and start applying it.

     If you have a particularly troubling area where you have always thought that you were doing exactly the right thing, but it is still not getting you the kind of results you have been hoping for, then maybe it’s time for a deeper examination of what you thought was a true principle. Often, we need to break down an idea that we thought was true and see if it is more complicated than we thought it was. Maybe what we thought was one simple principle actually has many different facets that need to be examined more carefully. Maybe we need to ask ourselves, “What are the foundational principles that under-lie this idea that I thought was a solid principle?”

     Sometimes when we dig deep enough, we will find that we have been basing our thinking on a 1+1=3 piece of information somewhere. We have been dropping our quarter and expecting it to land in a totally different place than where it naturally does.

     I want to close by sharing a personal experience that was radically changed in our lives by learning this concept and beginning to look at some things that we had traditionally thought were true. When we finally gained the courage to examine this old idea from all different angles and actually find the real truth behind it, it vastly improved the results we were getting in that area.

     Years ago when we were starting our family, I began to piece together the basic ideas about how to be a good parent. I looked at my parents, at my wife’s parents, and at a few couples that I knew fairly well who seemed to have raised good kids.

     One of the main things that I came up with was that one of my most important responsibilities as a parent is to teach my children to learn to be obedient. This seemed to be a theme that ran through all of these families.

     So I set out to figure out what rules and what people they needed to be obedient to. This led to a set of family rules and to the idea that we need to always obey certain authority figures in our lives, etc…

     Over time though, the results weren’t lining up with the theory very well. That thought process led to a lot of conflict in our home and a lot of unhappiness all around. Were my kids obedient? Yes, generally speaking, they were out in public. So on the face of things, it seemed to be working. But it wasn’t producing a happy home atmosphere.

     Then along came this idea of principles. As I began to dig into the behavior problems we were experiencing at home, and looking for the principles behind my tradition-based theory on child rearing, I began to see some disturbing mistakes in the traditional line of thinking of teaching your children to be obedient.

     I had already long been taught that one of the greatest gifts that God has given to us is our agency, our right to choose our own actions. That gift is so sacred to him that, although he is completely able to control us, he utterly refuses to do so. It is so important to him that we learn how to make choices ourselves and do so of our own free will, that he will not do anything to stop us from choosing one way or another, even if it ends up being harmful to us or others around us.

     He will try repeatedly to teach us that there are direct consequences to our choices, both good and bad, but he will not step in and take away our right to make those choices or to take away the consequences that naturally result from them.

     After that I began to learn several other principles that had a direct impact on the concept of teaching obedience.

     I learned that there are several different personality or temperament styles. There are natural inborn differences in the ways that each individual responds to different types of inputs into their lives. Some are very willing to do almost anything they are told or asked to do. Others are exactly the opposite. They are naturally resistant to anything that anyone tells them that they have to do. If they don’t come to the conclusion themselves that they want to make that choice, they will fight it with all of their ability to resist, even if they might know that it is right.

     I also learned that each of us learns to feel loved and valued through different means and if I don’t know and use those means properly in my teaching methods, I will run the risk of driving someone away from obedience rather than towards it.

     Those are just three of several principles that I learned about over the years that have a direct impact on teaching my children the concept of being obedient. The ultimate principle that I learned to focus on was quite different than the idea that I had initially been taught to by tradition.

     Rather than spending all of my time and energy on teaching and requiring my kids to be obedient, I learned that it was vastly more effective to focus my energies on teaching them WHY they would want to be obedient. When they began to figure out WHY it would make their lives better and take them to where they wanted to be, obedience was a natural outcome instead of something that was forced upon them.

     I began to show them a vision of what they could become and the role that obedience to the right people and to true principles that they could learn to understand could have in getting them to where they wanted to go.

     I also began teaching them that making mistakes was okay. That it is one of the most powerful learning mechanisms that we have. Is it best to learn from someone else’s mistakes? Of course it is. But if we have to do it the hard way and make the mistake ourselves, then just be open-minded enough to learn the lesson when it is handed to you.

     They also began to learn that just because someone is in a position of authority over them does not necessarily mean that they are right. Age, authority or position does not automatically require us to be quietly submissive to everything that someone else says. As human beings we have the right to have our own opinion and to find and function according to true principles.

     Over the long haul, this approach has brought greater peace and unity into our home. It has resulted in our kids growing up to be naturally more obedient than they ever were when we were requiring it of them.  When our only reasoning pattern was something like, “Because I said so”, or “Because God said so”, it was time to look for a better way to teach the principle. 

     Now they know that if someone asks them to do something, even God, they have the right to ask to understand the “Why” behind it. When they understand that, it helps them move towards their desired goals and they naturally want to incorporate that new principle into their lifestyle.

     That’s the power of learning to live a principle-centered life!

     So maybe it’s time to let Brian’s fictional camping trip become the biggest turning point in your life to this date!

     Take time to ponder everything we have discussed here in this story. Make the decision to learn to evaluate all of your foundational beliefs through “The Lesson of the Quarter”. Have the courage to change something that you find doesn’t stack up to that test and replace it with something that does.

     Decide today to begin to pay the price to become well read. Find a mentor who has built a principle-centered life and pick their brain.

     Above all else, decide to pay the price to develop the new habits that will apply the correct principles that you are gathering. Do these things and your life will begin an upward climb that will become invigorating and vastly more rewarding than you have ever imagined. Will it be easy and pain free? No it won’t. But it will be far better than ever before!

     When you finally learn that truth is a real and usually definable thing that you can harness into principles which you can then implement into your life to achieve great results, you can become almost unstoppable. This entire universe is governed by true principles. The more of them you can learn how to properly implement into your day to day life, the more power you gain to control your world and its direction.

Make sure that you learn and never forget

THE LESSON OF THE QUARTER!

Bibliography

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