Several years ago I shared some pearls of wisdom from a little book, “Tips on Finance,” by Herbert N. Casson. Although written nearly 80 years ago, the principles are timeless. I found in chapter two, “Making Money Happily – 12 Tips on Success and Happiness,” a treasure of concepts that could have come from the best of today’s “positive mental attitude” writers.

The premise is set that the purpose of life is to find happiness. Casson warns us not to be fooled by our childhood definition — a good time means fun, no work, do as we like and something for nothing. “Many of us, not all, discover that this is a silly notion. It leads only to mischief, spankings and stomach-aches.”

He counsels us that success may be measured by what we possess, but happiness is judged by how we feel.

Since we have space constraints within my column, I will discuss the first six tips this week and the next six next week.

• Do your job, whatever it is, a little better than people expect you to do it. Your attitude is everything, especially your attitude about your work. To many, work is regarded as a penalty. Do something extra. This is the first step.

• Learn all you can from those above you. Ask yourself about your attitude about those above you. Do you revere them? We need to be teachable. Our egos need to be set aside, our self-centeredness abandoned. We need to learn from those above us.

• Help those who are less fortunate. When we have had some success, we need to pass on some of it to others. Casson said it well, “this for your own sake … it’s not a price to pay for heaven, nor a bribe to avoid hell. It is the one way to get success and happiness. Learn, then teach. Get, then give. This is a law of life.”

• Get rid of fear. Check your personal “self-talk.” See how many times a day or week you use the phrase, “I’m afraid.” Fear never accomplished anything. Playing it safe all the time only achieves “not getting hurt” — that’s all. Understand fear, accept it for what it is, and then do something you’re afraid to do.

• Live one day at a time. There is nothing so precious and so scarce as time. It has been said the best increment of time is the day. Casson said, “monthly reports are valuable. Weekly reports are far better and daily reports are the best of all.”

• Waste no time on little things. Learning to distinguish the big and little things of life is an enviable talent. Many of us waste our energy on things that don’t matter. Deciding what is important and what is not is the secret.

These tips are helpful. Nearly every great business person I know has a personal philosophy that incorporates many of them.

Contact Tom at 1030 Seminary St. Ste D, Napa CA 94559, 254-0155, fax 254-0158 or e-mail suntrm@aol.com.