"Before you ever receive the wonderful treasures of a happy life, you must first give. Give of yourself. Share our fabulous product. Be of service to others. Only what you give can be multiplied back into your own life. That is the law of the harvest, the law of the ten-fold return. If you give nothing, even if it is multiplied, you receive nothing." - Mary Kay Ash
"The bumblebee has become the number-one symbol within our organization of women who have 'flown to the top'! Some years ago, Mel, my late husband, gave me a diamond bumblebee pin, and everyone just loved it. Since it was so popular, I decided to present a pin like that every year to each woman who was crowned Queen of various categories at our annual Seminar. It's a beautiful pin, but that isn't the whole story. We think the bumblebee is a marvelous symbol of woman... The bee has become a symbol of women who didn't know they could fly, but they DID! I think the women who own these diamond bumblebees think of them in their own personal ways. For most of us, it's true that we refused to believe we couldn't do it. May be someone said, "It's impossible to get this thing off the ground." But somebody else told us, "You can do it!" So we did!"
From Mary Kay's Autobiography ('Miracles Happen' is available on the Section 2 order form)
Did you know that there is a great deal you can learn about the relationship between beliefs and achievement from a bumblebee? When I think about how often we limit our achievement by our expectations and beliefs, and I always seem to picture a bee.
You see, some time ago a group of aeronautical engineers decided to study the bumblebee. They measured its wingspan, computed body weight, examined its over-sized fuselage and concluded that there was no rational reason why a bumblebee can take off or land safely. Of course, the bumblebee doesn't know this, so it goes ahead and flies anyway!
Over the years, I've collected hundreds of true stories about folks who have done amazing things because they didn't know they weren't supposed to be able to do them. I've also seen many stories about people who didn't really accomplish much at all because they had it in their heads that they couldn't.
You see, belief puts a lid on your potential. More than anything else, your beliefs are what determine what you can or can't do in this life - not your intelligence, gender or personal wealth, nor your parents, age, race, or physical appearance. That is why, if you change your beliefs about what is possible for you, your behavior automatically changes, too. When both beliefs and behavior change, your results will change as well and you will begin to cause all sorts of wonderful things to happen to you.
So, take a lesson from the bumblebee - we teach it to six year olds! - and don't let anyone convince you to keep your dreams on the ground.
- Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute