I’ve been writing this nationally syndicated column for 21 years now, and it seems that the Mackay’s Morals I create for each one really stick with the readers.  Every three years, I dedicate a whole column to some of my most memorable morals:

• No one is as important as all of us.

• Gratitude should be a continuous attitude.

• Killing time isn’t murder, it’s suicide. 

• Hidden talents don’t have to be huge, but the results can be.

• Open a book … open your mind.

• Life is a lot easier if you always play by the rules.

• We all have to grow up, but we never have to get old.

• Corporate integrity begins with personal integrity.

• We is a little word that sends a big message.

• People don’t care how much you know about them … once they realize how much you care about them.

• The most successful managers aim at making themselves unnecessary to their staff.

• Critical thinking is critical to success.

• The only person who can put limits on your imagination is you.

• It’s not enough to know what.  You must also know how.

• Your mind is your most powerful ally in developing confidence.

• If you go the extra mile, you will almost always beat the competition.

• Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do.

• There is one thing more contagious than enthusiasm, and that is the lack of enthusiasm.

• A student of life considers the world a classroom.

• People are judged by the company they keep.  Companies are judged by the people they keep.

• If seeing is believing, visualizing is achieving.

• Creativity, not necessity, is the true mother of invention.

• They say a word to the wise is sufficient, but I say a word from the wise is a gift!

• If you don’t climb the mountain, you can’t see the view.

• There is no such thing as a final offer.

• An old dog can learn new tricks, and a new dog can learn old tricks.

• Failure is not falling down but staying down.

• Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job.

• Saying you’re sorry and showing you’re sorry are not the same thing.

• Exercise your brain so your memory doesn’t get flabby.

• An ounce of commitment is worth pounds of promises.

• Most people strive to be better off, but few strive to be better.

• If you want to make your mark, sharpen your skills.

• Everyone wants to win, but most people are not willing to prepare to win.

• The fool asks the wise for advice, but the wise ask the experienced.

• Pride is the stone over which many people stumble.

• Control your life or it will control you.

• The hardest part of the sale is selling yourself to your customer.

• Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.

• To get what you’ve never had, you must do what you’ve never done.

• You’ll never lose credibility if you share the credit.

• Happiness can be thought, taught and caught – but not bought.

• Failure isn’t final unless you say it is.

• People aren’t strangers if you’ve already met them.  The trick is to meet them before you need their help.

• We may not be able to predict the future, but we can prepare for it.

• A plan isn’t a plan until you have a backup plan.

• Taking your time can sometimes be the best use of your time.

• If a business knows what’s good for it, it knows what’s good for a customer.

• You can’t get ahead if you don’t get started.

• Worrying casts a dark shadow that blocks any glimmer of hope.

• The best way to sound like you know what you’re talking about is to know what you’re talking about.

• Stay on your toes or fall flat on your face.

• You’ll never reach your goal if you don’t have one.

• Start every day/year with a healthy dose of vitamin C – Creativity.

• Taking care of employees is taking care of business.

• Lots of people start, but few people finish.

Mackay’s Moral: (one more time) The smarter I get, the more I realize I’m not finished learning.