We continue our exploration of John Templeton’s twenty-one steps detailed in The Templeton Plan by reviewing Step 7: Investing Yourself in Your Work. As the summer vacation season winds down and we all begin to refocus on putting in a good day’s work, Templeton’s advice about work and how to be successful may come in handy.
In Step 7, Templeton offers sound advice on acquiring a strong work ethic at a young age:
Those who learn the secret of hard work will find success; the winning of awards and scholarships will point you in the right direction. The awards needn’t be major; they can be ribbons awarded for winning a spelling bee or a swimming meet in school. But big or small, it pays to set yourself the task of winning an award because it trains you to work harder. Once you win something, you’re all the more motivated to win something else.
We live in a credit economy and an advertising culture that advises us to buy now and pay later. At best, this is a dubious proposition. The underlying philosophy—a dangerous one—is that we accept gratification before we’ve earned it. Although it goes against the grain of our current “live for the moment” orientation, children should be taught to “study first and play later.” If children do their homework in school or as soon as they get home, they will begin to build a reputation as students who know the meaning of responsibility and hard work. They will please their teachers, their parents, and themselves. They will make the honor roll and win scholarships. They will truly enjoy their leisure time because they will have earned it. Those children will already be on the fast track to success because they will have learned the first key lesson: Defer pleasure until the job is done.
