Ali’s Decision Sans Technology

“Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own cellar, or underneath his own wheat-fields, or in his own garden, instead of wretchedness, starvation, and death by suicide in a strange land, he would have had “acres of diamonds.” For every acre of that old farm, yes, every shovelful, afterward revealed gems which since have decorated the crowns of monarchs.”

And further…the book states:

“If only the first farmer had taken the time to study and prepare himself...to learn what diamonds looked like in their rough state...and, since he had already owned a piece of the African continent, to thoroughly explore the property he had before looking elsewhere, all of his wildest dreams would have come true.”

Today’s take away:

Technology and all the trappings tend to make us run around like the clown at the circus who is trying to keep multiple plates all spinning at the same time. We look for the answers on multiple search engines, Facebook, Twitter, and an infinite number of other sources. We run to spouses, family, friends and co-workers. And, as this book (Acres of Diamonds) has highlighted, we could eventually completely exhaust ourselves in the process of finding answers and solutions far from home. Considering the basic nature of mankind, and even if Ali had today’s technology, I’m betting that his same condition and conclusion would still apply…only faster.

The reason this book is a classic is because it has a simple, timeless and memorable message.

“The thing about this story that has so profoundly affected millions of people is the idea that each of us, at this very moment, may be standing in the middle of our own acres of diamonds. If we only had the wisdom, vision and patience to intelligently and effectively stop and explore our work and ourselves, we would most likely find the riches we seek right where we are, whether they be financial or intangible or both.”

Point is, before you go running off to what you think are greener pastures, make sure that your own is not just as green or perhaps even greener. It has been said that if the other guy's pasture appears to be greener than ours, it's quite possible that it's getting better personal attention. Besides, while you're looking at other pastures, other people are looking at yours.

The lessons from this message:

•When our attitude is right, we realize that we are all walking on acres of diamonds.

•Opportunity is always under our feet. We don’t have to race all over the world. All we need to do is have the wisdom to recognize it.

•The grass on the other side always looks greener.

•When people don’t know how to recognize opportunity, they even complain of the noise when it knocks.

•The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but it is never the same one, so be prepared at all times.

As always, classics never go out of style…you decide.

Opportunity    Commitment    Solution    Action