It’s been a while since I’ve offered up a compilation of my favorite column-ending morals – arguably among my readers’ most requested articles.  Besides reviewing all the topics we’ve covered, these morals remind me that a few words can have a big impact.

I will admit right now that no matter how hard I work on the two pages that precede it, I take extra pains to get the morals just right.  If a reader remembers nothing else, the moral will serve as a quick lesson that usually applies to much more than business.

Here are some of the nuggets mined from the last three and a half years.

• Change your thinking, change your life.
• It’s not enough to know how to do things – you must know why you do them.
• The best way to sound like you know what you’re talking about is to know what you’re talking about.
• If you hit enough singles, sooner or later you are going to win big.
• Instead of giving myself reasons why I can’t, I give myself reasons why I can.
• Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do.
• An attitude of gratitude should have wide latitude.
• When a person’s temper gets the best of him, it brings out the worst in him.
• It’s never too late to become what you could have been.
• If you’re looking for a big opportunity, look for a big challenge.
• If you want to be heard, you must know how to listen.
• If you want to be successful, you must practice reciprocity without keeping score.
• We do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do.
• If you live in the past, you won’t have much of a future.
• What could you accomplish if no one told you it was impossible?
• You don’t have to know everything as long as you know the people who do.
• It’s okay to ruffle a few feathers from time to time.  Show some pluck!
• The team you build will determine the business you build.
• To get what you’ve never had, you must do what you’ve never done.
• Be prepared, or be prepared to fail.
• Even the turtle knows you have to stick your neck out to get ahead.
• Don’t be afraid to take the plunge – just test the water before you dive in!
• Finding a reason to celebrate isn’t hard work – hard work is a reason to celebrate!
• Giving someone a piece of your mind rarely gives you peace of mind.
• The person who asks may feel like a fool for five minutes, but the person who does not ask remains a fool forever.
• If you want to outsmart the competition, you have to out-think the competition.
• Good luck usually depends on good judgment.
• Don’t be afraid to make a decision.  Be afraid not to make a decision.
• When you can’t afford to make a mistake, good advice is priceless.
• What you learn on your first job will last through your last job.
• Don’t let hard times turn into end times.  Let them lead to your best times.
• Thank U is a college from which we should never graduate.
• Minds are like parachutes – not much good unless they are open.
• My goal is to be as good a person as my dog thinks I am.
• If you can’t be an expert, hire an expert.
• Some people dream about success, and others wake up and do something about it.
• People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be.
• A person without knowledge is like a house without a foundation.
• The world’s work is done every day by people who could have stayed in bed, but didn’t.
• It only takes a little spark to ignite a great fire.
• Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.

Mackay’s Moral:  As Ben Franklin said, “A word to the wise is sufficient.”