Advice from Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury died today at age 91. Bradbury, sci-fi writer, was most known for his books The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. In telling about what it was like to be a writer Bradbury once said,


"The first year I made nothing, the second year I made nothing, the third year I made 10 dollars, the fourth year I made 40 dollars. I remember these. I got these indelibly stamped in there. The fifth year I made 80. The sixth year I made 200. The seventh year I made 800. Eighth year, 1,200. Ninth year, 2,000. Tenth year, 4,000. Eleventh year, 8,000 ...
Just get a part-time job! Anything that's half way decent! An usher in a theater ... unless you're a mad man, you can't make do in the art fields! You've gotta be inspired and mad and excited and love it more than anything else in the world! 


It has to be this kind of BY GOD I'VE GOTTA DO IT! I'VE SIMPLY GOTTA DO IT! If you're not this excited, you can't win!"


Cowboy Safety is a waste of time if you do not have a goal of some kind are are willing to do what not takes to reach it. In a Cowboy Safety program there are many things that must be done that will otherwise seem to be a waste of time. The part-time job concept, not necessarily the part-time job, is a part of a Cowboy Safety program. 


Reread what Bradbury said about his earnings. It was not an accident that he reached 8,000 in year 11. He kept doing what he has to do in order to succeed. 


David Sneed