Some of my colleagues told me “Life must be easy as a consultant. You arrive at the office at nine, wearing comfy jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers.” I always smile whenever people say that to me and tell them “Of course! Why don’t you join one? I’ll be your client.”
Just to be fair, life is never easy for anyone, even if you are a son or daughter of Bill Gates or Donald Trump, or whatever creature who lives on this planet. Life happens, difficult things happen. If you feel that life is easy, then something must be horribly wrong. With so many things happening in life, and with our body getting tougher than our ideals, I often think about Scrooge McDuck.
Even if nine out of 10 people see him as a stingy and cheap character, or equate him with “greed”, I do not see him as a shallow character. For me, Scrooge is a manifestation of hard work and sacrifice, which some people may find hard to fathom.
Learn Your Lesson, Be Tough on Yourself
Little Scrooge came from a poor family in Scotland and had to start working at the age of 10. For his 10th birthday, his father, Ferguson McDuck, gave him a shoe shine box as a present so he could earn some money. He had to clean a ditch digger’s shoes that were covered in mud and it took little Scrooge half an hour to finally clean the boots. Scrooge passed out and woke up with a dime in his hand. However, it was an American coin, which was worthless in Scotland. Heartbroken, little Scrooge realized that life was tough, and learned his lesson well. He swore to be tougher than the toughest, sharper than the sharpest, and earn square money. Thus, the dime became his inspiration in life, later to earn the famous nickname “Lucky Dime.”
That’s what I like about Scrooge McDuck: his self-awareness level is beyond those of most people. Even though it was not his fault, he turned the unfortunate experience into a lesson to make himself a stronger duck. Do not mourn your downfall but learn and draw inspiration from it, and keep moving forward to become a stronger person.
Do Not Seek Shortcuts
One day, a grown-up Scrooge went to seek fortune in the middle of an Australian dessert. He had a golden opportunity to snatch a sacred opal stone, which was well protected and well hidden by the Aborigines it was difficult to trace. It would make him rich for the rest of his life and enable him to quit his work as a prospector. But, since he had already made a vow that he would make his money fair and square, he put the opal stone back in its place. Such a temptation for a shortcut will come in our life, tricking us into taking the easy way. Do not let your body become tougher than your ideals, enjoy the process and always do the best to reach whatever goals in the future.
Seek an Adventure
If you are a consultant, it is important to always cram as much knowledge into your head as possible and to experience many things. That way, you will be able to “click” right away with anyone you consider important and achieve excellence at work. Through his experience in life, Scrooge gained a lot of knowledge and he was able to turn it into an advantage. His thirst of adventure drives him to do marvelous jobs nobody imagined before. So, why don’t spare some time to go beyond your “circles” and taste a new experience? Go to places you never visit before, read tons of books, a
