Contrary to popular belief, we are not rewarded on merit. That's a fundamental axiom that has not sunk in yet for many people. Even after witnessing for years evidences that some of the nicest people have the hardest life, some of us still cling to the notion that somehow we are rewarded on merit. It simply does not work that way.

Whether we like it or not, we are governed mostly by the laws of nature. Those laws are about cause and effect, not about nice sentiments. Though we would like to thinks otherwise, those laws are not subject to the capricious whims of sentimentality.

It may be nice to be nice but that's not how we get the things that we want out of life. Granted, virtue is its own reward but it's not what should be counted on to assure a full and happy life.

All this rhetoric might sound as if it was against ethic, doing the right thing, being kind, nice and honorable. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's about understanding what works, what does not work and being able to understand the difference. It's about trying to answer the question, "Do nice guys finish last?"

A question that can best be answered by saying that nice guys can finish first so long as they don't count on being nice as a method to achieve their goals. Goals are attained by following the ethical path that leads to the objective and not by being nice and somehow believe that some higher power will grant us our wish simply because we deserve to have it.

Most of us were brought up with the belief that if we were good, good things would happen to us and if we were bad, we could expect to be punished. Those are very lofty sentiments but they are also quite naïve. It might sound good in theory but it simply fails the test in actual practice.

The path to success is better found by studying what successful people do than by listening to what they have to say about how they have achieved their success. Those guys and gals know enough to know that you win people over by telling them what they want to hear and not what they should hear.

That is why a search for truth should be concentrated on facts and not on lofty theories. Action and not words are more revealing. By studying what successful did, what results they obtained by doing what they did, we get facts and not theories, we get information and not explanations, we get the truth and not reflections on the truth.

Successful people are on a mission. They know what they want and they know how to get there. They know that the nice guy card has to be played and they know how to play it. They understand that to win you need to get people's approval and in order to get that approval, you must come out as a nice guy.

Being a nice guy is part of the process but not the process itself. Some of the nicest people on the face of the Earth are a testimonial to that axiom. These nice people concentrated all their efforts on being nice and in the end failed miserably.

To succeed you need to be a nice guy but you need more than that. You have to be determined, focused and dedicated to your objective. You need to stand-up for your mission or cause; you need to use every ethical mean at your disposal to achieve your desired end result.

Do nice guys finish last? They will if that's the only card that they play... but if they play the full hand... you'll see them standing first at the finish line.