some short story ideas

I came across some scribbled legal pad pages today while cleaning out some files. I remember making the notes one sleepless night just as random thoughts of things I've learned over the years. Each is an idea that I could write many pages about. I'll put them here as a reminder to finish the thoughts out someday when I'm laying on the beach in Belize one week a month.

1. You can win by losing most of the time. If you lose $1.00 on 9 out of 10 decisions, but make 20.00 one the decision you got right, you come out ahead. Keep your losses small, and let your profits run and grow!
2. You will usually get the better end of any deal by letting the other person believe they are smarter than you. I always want to appear at a disadvantage in any business deal . . .at least intellectually . . . with the other side, and by so doing, they will usually make some serious blunder in the transaction because they have been deceived by their own vanity. Stroke peoples ego and vanity if they are puffed up, and both will grow to a point of handicapping them and blinding them to wise judgement.
3. Push, pull, ride, or get out of my way. Life is made up of those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who end up just saying "what happened?". I want to be in the first group. As the saying goes "unless you are the lead dog in the pack, the scenery never changes."
4. One of the easiest things to make money at, is to find some task to do that no one else wants to do. People will pay you a fortune to do their unpleasant needs.
5. When you're selling something and someone only has half as much money as you want, then try to sell them half of what you've got.
6. Don't force your employees to be thieves. Pay people the absolute maximum you can pay them, and make sure you pay them enough to meet their needs. If you don't they will be forced to steal from you. They will either steal money, or they will get a second job to make ends meet, and then they will be robbing you of their best effort.
7. I will always get out of life the most that can be had, if I first make it my mission to help others get out of life what they want most. It is the law of returns.
8. I also get the most profit by duplicating myself. I need to clone myself over and over and over. As one man I am limited to what I can make in 20 hours a day. If I duplicate myself a dozen times and make only 10% of the profit from each of their labor, I will make more from their collective efforts than I could have made by myself.
9. Related to number 2, is to always regard others more highly than myself. For those who have inflated egos it will lead to your success and their disadvantage. For those who themselves, have controlled egos, it will honor them and be respectful and they will return the honor to you and respect you. Either way, you will come out ahead. Call everyone sir or maam or madam until they tell you to call them by their first names. Even if they are younger than you. Give respect, and you will earn respect.
10. People's needs are not determined by your store hours but your store hours should be determined by their needs. Keep your priorities in order.
11. All I need to beat my competition is a slight competitive edge.
12. It's not a beautiful or useful product if no one else thinks so besides you.
13. You don't have a line of elephants if you have two aadvarks in the middle.
14. You can't line people up in a circle.
15. Pardon me. Is my underwear showing? Encourage others to show you your blind side.
16. Don't let someone try to rescue you from drowning if they can't swim.
17. Likewise, you can't rescue someone from drowning if YOU can't swim.
18. Make friends with your enemies is the best way to not have enemies. Otherwise, slay them.
19. One way to lose weight if you eat too many donuts is to go by one night and just blow up the donut shop. (when no one is there of course). Tongue in cheek. But the point is, to solve a problem . . .think outside the box and identify EVERY possible solution.
20. You can make a better slide rule, but no one will want to buy it. You can build a better mousetrap, but no one's going to want it if they don't have mice. Create or see a need. Then make a product or service to meet the need. Don't make something that no one needs.
21. I have found in my life that round wheels work best. So there you go. Now you know that too. Don't waste any of your time trying to wonder about that anymore. Go do something useful. How can you make a better, smoother, faster, "round" wheel. That's how to be successful. If you try to find a way to make square wheels work, you will waste your life.
22. Yes. With faith you can move a mountain. But what are you going to do with the dirt? Use your faith for things that you need it for. Probably you'll be happier just moving the molehills out of the way.
23. "Gosh, I don't want to do THAT. So let's hurry up and get started and get it done. Get the annoyances out of your life and stop stressing over the unfinished, unpleasant tasks.
24. You don't need more than 1 friend out of 10 to kick you in the rear. Surround yourself mostly with friends that will encourage you on to greatness.
25. Profit is good. And it's ok to get rewarded in a business enterprise and even to make skillions of dollars doing something for being smarter, faster, or more efficient than anyone else. If they don't like you having so much more money than them, they need to go invent something wonderful.
26. Sell people more than they expect to get for less than they expect to pay. You'll make a fortune. Regardless of how much profit you make.
27. Curtis Mathis and Hobbs Bonded fibers. Make something or offer something that is so far superior to your competition that you have no competition. Stand so far above the crowd that people cannot comparison shop your prices. Be in a league of your own and then you can set your own price.
28. You can't sell something for a price that is greater than someones desire or need. Regardless of what you have to pay to make it.
29. If people's desire isn't high enough to pay your price, then increase their desire. Unload a truckload of mice in their yard and they will flock to you to buy mousetraps.
30. You can't sell a lady a pair of shoes that fit you. They need to fit her.
31. People will always be envious or resentful of your success. Because if they can't understand my success, then they have no understanding of their own failure.
32. New clean oats cost about 4.00 a bushel. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse one time, those are considerably cheaper. I sell new clean oats.
33. Father Tyl and the back up plan for the racehorse lottery.
34. Give people raises in money first and then if you've done that as much as you can, give them titles to raise their esteem. Have a supreme housekeeper. And a Superior Maintenance Superintendent.

That's only half my list. More coming later.