Launch out into the deep. Don't live in the shallows. Live it in the deep waters. Grasp every enobling experience that is available to you. Embrace every dimension of living that challenges you, that educates you, that elevates you. Live for purposes greater than yourself.
You only live one life. Don’t spend it in safe, shallow water. Launch out into the deep.
Your worldly success, will partly be a function of your choices and capabilities, but it will also be subject to the vagaries of life, and to chance. Fortunately our relationship with God depends on none of that. It's entirely in our control.
Starving research and development is like eating the seed corn.
The best advice I know is to give those worldly things your best, but never your all.
I don't think God cares whether you get rich. I don't think that he hopes your business will make a huge profit. I know a lot of religious people who think God will intervene to make their investments grow. Or will get them a promotion. Or make their businsess a success. But life on this Earth is about learning to live and work in a place where God does not make everything work out for good people.
The new American dream is not owning your own home. The new American dream is getting your kids out of the home you own.
Dive into your profession with passion and heart. Go beyond what's expected or required. And in doing so by the way, you will learn the secret to advancement. And that is doing your present job well.