Setting Goals

Have you ever been caught running a red light and not been given a ticket? Luck was on your side; you got away with it. Have you ever jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and not been hurt? If so, you probably weren’t as lucky. You may be able to break the laws of man, and occasionally get away with it, but you can’t defy the laws of nature.

Take into consideration the law of cause and effect. For every effect, there must be a cause. That cause must always come before the effect. Simple and to the point, it’s the easiest natural law to remember and probably the easiest to forget.

Who would stand in front of a fireplace and expect flames without first filling it with wood? Certainly no one in his right mind. But how often have you heard someone say that from now on he will do only what he is paid to do - and nothing more - unless he gets a raise? According to the cause and effect law, he’ll be waiting quite a while. He must first do more than he is being paid for, to make himself worth more than he is being paid.

Who would expect to make a withdrawal from a bank account before first making a deposit? No sensible person would! Have you ever seen a spouse who wanted more out of a relationship, but wasn’t ever willing to invest more in that relationship? Because of cause and effect, this kind of spouse will always be in for a rude awakening.

Who would stand before a bare piece of land and expect corn without first planting the seeds? No sensible person would! But have you ever met someone who feels as if they are owed the rewards of success without first being willing to put forth the time and effort it takes to become successful? According to the law of cause and effect, the investment must always come first, if the rewards are to follow.

Life teaches us that we have to put wood in a fireplace before we get flames; we have to make a deposit before we can make a withdrawal; we have to plant seeds, water them, and nurture them before we can harvest the corn. Too often, unfortunately, we don’t apply this practical knowledge to the way we conduct our lives.

If you yearn for a particular effect in your life - whether it involves a relationship, or a career, or something else - you must first set in motion the cause of that effect. When you don’t get a desired effect, you can be sure that you have not set the appropriate cause into motion.

You can be equally certain that once the cause is set in motion, the effect you want will follow. The cause needs to come first. Once it does, the effect will follow.

One of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life is this: Do you want to be a cause or an effect? When you choose to be a cause, you make things happen. When you choose to be an effect, you settle for whatever happens to you.

When you decide to be a cause in your game of life, you get to call the shots and make all the plays. But when you choose to be an effect, you only get to watch the game on television; you have no control of the game. You’re satisfied to laugh and to cry, to live and to die, based on the actions of others.

The difference between being a cause and being an effect is the difference between being a screwdriver and being a screw. One acts; the other is acted upon. This book presents strategies for those who would rather be a screwdriver than a screw.