Two brothers in a small town had a reputation for bad behavior. But they were rich enough to avoid the consequences. The pastor of the local church knew them well and tried to find the good in both of them, although this was next to impossible.

One day, one of the brothers died suddenly. The other came to the church and asked the pastor to speak at his funeral.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t know what to say,” the pastor replied.

The brother took out his checkbook. “I’m writing you a check for $10,000 for the church renovations you’re always talking about. All you have to do is tell everyone at the funeral that my brother was a saint.”

The pastor thought for a moment, then accepted the check.

At the funeral, the pastor stood before the townspeople who had come to see the last of one of their disliked neighbors. “I didn’t know this man well,” he said. “I do know that he cheated on his wife, and cheated everyone he did business with. But I can say one thing about him: Compared to his brother, he was a saint.”

My father, Jack Mackay, used to tell me, “You can’t buy a good reputation; you must earn it.” He also offered this advice: “You spend your whole lifetime building a good name and reputation, and one foolish act can destroy it.”

I took his words to heart, and aside from building long-term relationships, there is nothing more important than a good reputation in building a successful business. Without a positive reputation, success is elusive.

Richard Branson, who founded the Virgin Group that controls more than 400 companies, told me in an interview, “All you have in business is your reputation -- so it's very important that you keep your word.”

There are many people who were at the top of their game when they made one fatal mistake -- due to poor judgment, arrogance or the inability to do the right thing. Reputations are destroyed, and all the money in the world can't buy them back.

As Warren Buffett said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.”

How true! You can do things right 99 out of 100 times, but mess up once, and the consequences can be severe.

Reputation doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. But if you do the right thing consistently, you will build a great reputation. Reputation is never completely secured -- it is being continually earned.

Elizabeth Arden, the founder of the cosmetics, skin care and fragrance company, said, “Repetition makes reputation, and reputation makes customers.”

Building a great reputation is like building a company; you need to do it one brick at a time. While you cannot build reputation on what you are going to do, you do build expectations with your customers. And if you don’t meet those expectations, you can’t expect your customers to trust you. Your reputation is always on the line.

So, which companies have the best reputations? Rolex topped the list, according to recent research from the Reputation Institute. The report was based on data from more than 170,000 ratings of companies in the first quarter of 2017 by consumers from around the world. Each firm was assigned a score by the researchers based on its reputation in seven areas: products/services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and performance.

Rolex was recognized for its strong reputation with consumers across all seven performance areas, especially quality of products/services. Lego ranked second for best reputation with consumers. The Walt Disney Company was third, followed by Canon, Google, Bosch, Sony, Intel, Rolls-Royce and Adidas.

Fastcompany.com lists seven habits of people with great reputations, and I think they are worth sharing: They get things done. They take ownership of their mistakes. They are generous. They listen to other points of view. They’re decisive. They don’t sacrifice principles, and they’re resilient.

That list is a perfect guideline for those who aren’t sure what they need to do. Pay particular attention to the final habit: resilience. You will make mistakes, you will upset some people, and you will be blamed for things that aren’t your fault. But your reputation will take a beating if you react rashly. Take the high road, not the shortcut. That’s the brilliance of resilience.

Mackay’s Moral: Your reputation depends on your past and determines your future.

Years ago, one of the most popular shows on television was “Candid Camera,” which captured people's funny reactions to situations on a hidden camera.

One set-up that I remember in particular was a little grocery store that put a big table heaped with oranges outside with a sign that said “FREE.” They purposely didn't leave anything to carry the oranges in. Predictably, everyone tried to take three or four more oranges than they could carry. Their hilarious reactions at being busted for being so greedy usually included embarrassment.

Greed is one of the most dangerous emotions. It makes people act irrationally and foolishly. Greed clouds your judgment. That’s why in the investment community they say bulls and bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered.

Businesses that overcharge or take advantage of their customers often end up spending more to fix their reputations than they made in the first place. That is, if they stay in business at all. One way or another, they will get slaughtered.

Our materialistic society urges us to accumulate more. We “need” a bigger house, a bigger car, a bigger TV. We see other people with more stuff, and we want more.

Let’s face it: Few of us would ever turn down a pay increase. It’s natural to want more. The quandary lies in deciding how much more is enough. There’s no crime in accumulating money or things. The problem arises when the quest for more dominates all else.

The Merriam-Webster definition describes greed as “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something than is needed.”

The key word is "excessive."

Greed doesn't necessarily relate only to money. Anytime someone wants more than their fair share or has a strong desire to accumulate something, especially at the expense of others or if there is only so much to go around, is an example of greed.

Greed is one of the seven deadly sins, along with gluttony, lust, sloth, pride, envy and anger. Each of those also relates to greed: Greed is the gluttony of stuff. Greed is the lust for stuff. Greed is moral sloth; an inability to conceive of making do with less than too much. Greed is the pride of having stuff. Greed is the envy of those who have stuff. Greed is the anger that believes we have the right to possess. Greed is destructive.

My friend Brian Tracy says: “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What's in it for me?’”

According to folklore, long ago during the time when the salmon swam up the Cheakamus River to spawn, the people of the Squamish Nation would fish and store their catch for the coming winter.

One day, a man came to the river and cast his net into the water hoping to catch something for dinner. Within minutes, he had enough fish to feed his family through the following spring. He packed his catch in cedar baskets and prepared to haul it away.

As he started to leave, he looked to the river and became unsatisfied with the abundance he already possessed. He cast his net into the water once more and pulled out another bounty of salmon. He emptied his net onto the shore and admired his second catch. He now had enough fish to feed two more families until the spring.

Instead of leaving, the man wondered just how many fish the river would give to him. He tossed his net into the water for a third time. He pulled it back in and found that it was tangled and filled with sticks, river stones and muck.

He shrugged off this misfortune and turned away from the water. When he looked toward the last catch of salmon he’d left on the shore, he saw only piles of rocks in its place. When he checked his cedar baskets he found them filled with twigs and roots.

Then he noticed Wountie, the spirit protector of the river. Wountie spoke to the man and told him that his greed had broken harmony with the river -- and that Nature expressed her displeasure by withholding her gifts to him.

The man returned home with empty baskets, haunted by the consequences of his actions. He would always remember that enough is more than plenty.

Mackay’s Moral: One who grabs too much may lose it all.

In my favorite comic strip, “Peanuts,” by Charles Schulz, Lucy asks Charlie Brown what day of the week he likes best. For the next few frames, we see Charlie thinking and thinking. Finally, he says, “You know, I've always been kind of fond of tomorrow.”

For once, I have to disagree with good old Charlie Brown. My favorite day is today, because every morning when I wake up, today is what I have to work with.

With the New Year upon us, I have a challenge for you. Stop worrying about that which you cannot control.

Many years ago, this advice came from Robert Jones Burdette, an American humorist and clergyman: “There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept from fear and apprehension.” Can you guess which two days he's referring to?

Various versions by numerous authors expanded on Burdette's answer:

"One of these days is yesterday with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.

"The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn."

And then we get to the meat of the argument:

"This leaves only one day -- today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities -- yesterday and tomorrow -- that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives people mad -- it is remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday and the dread of what will happen tomorrow."

Let that sink in for a minute. Today is the only day we can take action and have an impact. Sure, we learn from yesterday. And of course, we plan for tomorrow.

But unless we approach each day with a renewed positive outlook, we are wasting enormous potential. And that is what I challenge you to exploit to the max.

Use every tool in your kit to build on the traits you need to think and act positively each day. These include reliability, communication and listening skills, cooperation, loyalty and humor, among other qualities. If you are concerned that you are weak in any of these areas, resolve to improve. Make a New Year’s promise to yourself to not waste another minute on negative thinking. Make every today better than yesterday.

I had the honor of knowing Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, who endorsed my first book, “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.” Dr. Peale happened to have a best-seller of his own which you have probably heard of: “The Power of Positive Thinking.” That book, which he wrote in 1952, has sold more than five million copies. I recommend it as an essential volume on every businessperson’s bookshelf.

Among the gems you’ll find in “Positive Thinking” are thoughts such as these:

-- “You do not need to be a victim of worry. Reduced to its simplest form, what is worry? It is simply an unhealthy and destructive mental habit.”

-- “The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Fill your life with love. Scatter sunshine. Forget self, think of others. Do as you would be done by. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.”

-- “When you expect the best, you release a magnetic force in your mind which by a law of attraction tends to bring the best to you.”

-- “BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. But with sound self-confidence you can succeed. A sense of inferiority and inadequacy interferes with the attainment of your hopes, but self-confidence leads to self-realization and successful achievement.”

Dr. Peale’s writings will inspire you to look at life through a more positive lens. Take a little time in the new year to read -- or reread -- this valuable resource. Trust me, I dust off my well-worn copy whenever I start to worry about yesterday and tomorrow instead of celebrating the opportunities I have today.

Mackay’s Moral: Have a positively Happy New Year!