Happy New Year!

As we say “good-bye” to the old year and “hello” to the new, it’s a great chance to look ahead to our plans for the future. I believe that the road to success is paved with goals.

Who are the people who are most likely to succeed? What’s the secret of their success? Let’s see if Nick Baxter can help us to find the answer in this short film from 1950:

“To succeed at something, you have to have a purpose, make plans for reaching it, and work at it all the time,” says Nick’s friend, Don. “You should be working on your future right now!” His admonitions have the desired effect. Nick contrasts two possible futures, and decides he knows which one he prefers:

Yes, I want a future that’s something like that. I want to be happy, to be somebody, to have a good job. Friends, a home, a wife and kids. But how do I get there? If that’s my purpose, how do I reach it? How? Detailed plans…

I can write them down. I can add to them as I go along — change them even — but the important thing is having plans, plans to work with.

Of all the old videos I’ve shared in the past year, this has the worst acting — by far. Despite this, and despite the glacial pace, it’s one of my favorites.