JOHN'S KEYS TO SUCCESS

John is an incredibly accomplished and successful businessman. As such, he is

quite popular as a mentor. He enjoys showing young professionals the ropes. The
first thing he says is that his career has certainly not always been smooth sailing.
In fact, he learned a number of lessons along the way. "First and foremost," John
said, "don't believe that success is ever mana from heaven." He said that everyone
he had met had a similar rags to riches story, and that a lot of hard work had gone
into the success.

John believes in hard work, but also in recognizing the right opportunities. "It's
absolutely essential to never spread yourself too thin" John advised. "If you have
too many irons in the fire, you'll certainly miss out on real opportunity" he
continued. "I've seen people as busy as a bee who never really seem to do
anything" he pointed out. The more I thought about this advice, the more I
understood what he was saying. If you put on your thinking cap, you'll realize that
it's impossible to really concentrate if you have to worry about fifty different things.
Another important lesson was that it's important to know which side your bread is
buttered on and make sure to give that activity your full attention. In other words,
you need to ride the gravy train. Don't start looking for new challenges if everything
is working out for the best!

John stressed that the most important ability of any successful entrepreneur was to
have the presence of mind to not only take advantage of an opportunity but also to
keep your eye on the ball. Some people are quick on the uptake, but then they get
bored. It's important to be consistent, but not spread yourself too thin. Finally,
make sure to never show your hand to your opponents. In any case, that's how to
be successful according to John.

Dictionary: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/
 List:

 As busy as a bee: Very busy

 the ropes: Know how to do something.
 smooth sailing: When a process is very easy
 along the way: experiences that are acquire over the time
 manna from heaven: An unexpected benefit
 rags to riches: When a person that was poor, but now is very rich.
 spread yourself too thin: when you demand too much to yourself
 irons in the fire: Something in progress
 put on your thinking cap: when you think very carefully and seriously about
something.
 bread is buttered: Know how to act to people to get something
 ride the gravy train: get a lot of money without effort
 presence of mind: When you have a cold-head mentality and you can make
intelligent decisions
 keep your eye on the ball: keep your attention on your objective
 quick on the uptake: Understand something easily and faster
 show your hand: when a person's plans are known for other person

Activity

 My friend is as busy as bee these days. He never gets time to relax.

 We've been lucky in life. It's been manna from heaven since the very
beginning.

 I'm sure the situation will improve. It will along the way.

 You need to presence of mind for this problem. It requires a lot of

concentration.

 Alan put on your thinking cap during the negotiations for the business
deal.
 Franklin went from rags to riches in his life. He started with nothing and
ended up a very rich person.

 Some artists are lucky and have a huge hit early in life. Then they smooth
sailing for many years afterwards.

 My boss roped me irons in the fire at work because it was my first week.