Celebrate 2008! - Part 4

Today, as promised, we will speak of some tips and techniques that will help you stick to your resolutions. The key to keeping any resolution lies in your mental and emotional states. I love to watch and play sports because this is one place where you can see the truth of that statement over and over again. Players who have their head in the game and who play it with high enthusiasm and determination achieve incredible victories - even in areas where they may be physically out-matched. So any time you are struggling with a resolution or goal, check to see where you are mentally and emotionally and you may find the solution to your problems.

Keep a Success Journal

One of the greatest tools you can have when working towards any goal is a journal. It is essential for recording your ideas, your success, your failures and what you learned from them, tracking your progress, etc. A success journal can be as simple and as inexpensive as a 3-ring binder with notebook paper in it or a spiral-bound notebook. It can also be a more expensive blank, hard-bound book - whatever works best for you. Jim Rohn, a favorite speaker and author of mine, prefers to use more expensive books. He says: "The reason why I spend so much money for my journals is to press me to find something valuable to put in them." Your success journal will not only be valuable to you but also inspirational to others who read them and see how you accomplished your goals and dreams.

Measure Your Dedication

In the thesaurus, synonyms for the word "resolution" are aim, boldness, constancy, courage, dauntlessness, decidedness, decision, declaration, dedication, determination, doggedness, earnestness, energy, firmness, fixed purpose, fortitude, guts, heart, immovability, intent, intention, judgment, mettle, moxie, obstinacy, perseverance, pluck, purpose, purposefulness, purposiveness, relentlessness, resoluteness, resolve, settlement, sincerity, spirit, spunk, staunchness, staying power, steadfastness, stubbornness, tenacity, verdict, will, and willpower. Does this accurately describe the way you set and keep your resolutions? I suspect that most of us set and work on our resolutions in a way described by one of the two antonyms the thesaurus listed: half-heartedness.

This is a good list of qualities to determine how dedicated you are to achieving the resolution you set. Ask yourself questions like:
Do I have a definite aim to shoot for?
Am I bold enough to move outside my "comfort zone" to achieve it?
Will I be constant in my efforts to accomplish it?
Do I have the courage to overcome any and all obstacles that arise?
Will I be dauntless no matter how hard it gets?
Have I made the decision to accomplish this resolution? (Note: The word "decide" comes from the Latin word "decidere" which means "to cut off from." So, when you truly decide, you cut yourself from any other option including quitting and failure.)
Do you have the dedication to see your resolution through?
Are you determined to succeed no matter what?
Are you earnest in your intention to change your life?
Do you have the energy to go after your resolution with enthusiasm?
Are you firm in your decision to do this?
Are you fixed in your purpose so that nothing can knock you off course?
You get the idea. Pick out the words above that speak to you and that you would like to describe you and your pursuit of accomplishing your resolution. Write down your questions and rate yourself on a scale of 1 - 10. Then ask yourself, "What can I do right now to make this a '10'?" Record the answers in your success journal. Ask these questions again and again throughout your resolution-achieving process so that you are always aware of where your emotional and mental levels lie and do what you can to keep yourself as close to a "10" as possible.

One great example of dedication is Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Playoffs. Michael Jordan, as most of you know, played basketball at a level that made him virtually unstoppable. What made this game different from all other games was that, just hours before the game, Michael could barely pull himself out of his hotel bed as he was suffering from food-poisoning, the flu or both. Most players would have sat out the game being in that sort of condition, but not Michael. Though his body protested, his head and his heart were in the game and in it to win. Michael had ice on his head during time-outs. By the end of the game, his teammate, Scottie Pippen, was practically carrying him off the floor. But, in spite of the physical challenges and difficulties, Michael scored 33 points, had 7 rebounds and 5 assists and played 44 minutes of the game. Is there any question here of whether or not he was a dedicated player? It is no wonder that he said, "If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

Keep Your Goals In Front of You

Yesterday, I mentioned that we would talk about why a written goal is so much more powerful than just keeping it in your head. One reason why this is so is because every time you write down your goal statement you drive it deep into your subconscious. It tells your subconscious that you are serious and your subconscious will work for you by feeding you ideas and inspiration and make you aware of resources and opportunities that become available to you.
Review your goals (or even better, rewrite them) every morning and every evening of every day. Take 5-10 minutes to visualize and see yourself accomplishing your goal. Feel the feelings associated with your accomplishment. Hear the sounds. Smell the smells. Experience the joy! The more senses you get involved, the more real you make it, the more you believe it both consciously and subconsciously.

Keep an index card with your goals written on them in your wallet. Write them on the back of your business card. Have a card with your goals on them taped to the dashboard of your car, the bathroom mirror, the bottom of your computer monitor, the backside of your front door - everywhere you can think of so that you encounter them again and again and again throughout the day.

Dream Board

Another way to keep your goals in front of you is a dream board. This is a bulletin board or posters filled with pictures that relate to your goal. If your resolution this year is to make more money so that you can save up for your dream vacation, cut out pictures from travel brochures of your destination, the means by which you will travel (cruise ship?), and the activities you will participate in while you are there. If you are trying to get in shape or lose weight, cut out pictures of people who are trim, fit or have the ideal body shape you are shooting for. Paste your head over theirs - just make sure it is a picture where you are smiling. Put your dream board someplace where you will see it every day - preferably several times a day - and use it to recharge your vision often!

Chart Your Progress

Make a large poster with the days of the month at the top and a list of your daily activities on the left side. Use bold colors to fill in the days that you successfully accomplish your tasks to give you a visual picture of how you are doing. Just like a check-list, it is compelling to have a tool such as this because you will feel this strong urge to fill in those spaces and you will be more motivated to accomplish your daily tasks. Post it up on your bedroom wall where it is nice and visible so it is the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning and the last thing you see when you go to sleep.

Get an Accountability Partner

If you are only accountable to yourself, you will find it so much easier to quit on your goals. You can rationalize away your own guilt, can't you? After all, you have done it so many times before. Make yourself accountable to others, however, and it becomes so much harder. You will find that you won't want to let them down. Some people will say that you shouldn't tell others about your goals because most people are negative and will only tear you down and tell you that you can't or won't make it. I believe, however, that other people are essential to your success. So choose a positive person (or several people) who believes in you to be your accountability partner. Ask them not only to be your cheerleader throughout the process, but also the stern coach who will kick you in the butt when you need it the most. When you have all your closest friends asking you how it is coming on the book you are writing, the exercise program you are starting or your dream to learn to play the piano, you will do all you can to give them a positive report every time.

The best accountability partner you can get is one who is doing it with you. When you have a walking partner or an exercise partner who will not let you sleep in but drags you out every morning at 6 a.m. sharp to go the gym, there is no way you can fail! (And if they aren't going to let you sleep in when you are tired, there is no way you are going to let them sleep in after all the times they dragged you out of your bed kicking and screaming, right?)

Procrastinate Procrastination! - Schedule It

When you feel like putting off your goal-achieving activities for any reason - whether it is because you're tired, you just want to relax a while, whatever it is - make a decision to procrastinate procrastination. Put off the putting off until later that day or even tomorrow. Schedule a time to watch T.V., surf the internet, play video games, do some recreational reading, etc. and keep that appointment. If you don't keep it, you will have even a greater desire to procrastinate on your goals because you will feel like you have been cheated on your "me" time to sit back and relax.

Procrastinate Procrastination! - Eliminate It

How do you motivate yourself in that moment when you really feel like putting off your goal activities? Easy! Just write down the answers to 3 simple questions:

1. Where are you and what are you doing? You may notice a pattern of locations and activities that have been making it difficult for you to get motivated. I found that laying on the living room couch, curled up in a ball to get warm was not the best place to motivate myself to get up and get moving in the morning (even though I had moved from the bed to the couch). Even sitting on the couch was dangerous because I would soon lay my head back and fall back asleep in seconds. So I started avoiding the couch like the plague!

2. What do you want to do? Now this isn't where you say, "I want to go back to bed and get more sleep!" This is where you write down what you want to accomplish in terms of your resolutions and goals. You may think you need a little more sleep, but what you really want is to go hit the gym so that you can drop those 20 pounds! You want to tighten that tush and those abs so that when you look in the mirror you will see your body curve in all the right places! You want those bulges to be on your biceps again rather than on your waistline! What is it that you really want to do?

3. How will you feel while doing it? You may you feel more energized because you are exercising again. You may feel more powerful because you conquered your weaker self. You may feel more joy in knowing that you are on the way to achieving your goal. Decide how you will feel and you are more likely to experience that feeling.

Once you have answered these three questions, you will feel more motivated to work on your goal. The reason for this is that you have already seen yourself doing it in your mind while you answered the questions, didn't you? And where the mind goes, the body will follow. You still had your mind thinking about bed and sleep so that is where you wanted to be. Now that you are thinking and seeing yourself exercise and having fun and losing weight, that is what you want to do. Trust me. It works!

Procrastinate Procrastination! - Shift Your Focus

Mike Litman, a mentor of mine, taught me an important concept in overcoming procrastination or doing those activities that you really don't feel like doing in any given moment. Some people get up on those cold, windy, rainy mornings, look outside at the weather, crack their jaws with a mighty yawn, decide it's not worth it and head back to bed. Other people get up on those cold, windy, rainy mornings, look outside at the weather, crack their jaws with a mighty yawn, throw on their gym clothes and minutes later they are at the gym enjoying a great workout. What is the difference here? It's their focus!

The person who decides it's not worth it and heads back to bed is the person who is focused on the process. They are thinking about how cold it will be to go outside, how tired they will feel just starting their workout, how their muscles will burn as the work up a sweat and then how much colder they will be going back out in that weather all sweaty to go home. Brrr! I am getting cold just writing about it and even I wouldn't mind a nice, warm bed right now.

The person who goes to the gym isn't thinking so much about the process as they are focusing on the results. They are thinking how good they will look in their bathing suit. How good it will feel to put on that dress that is two sizes smaller without feeling like they were stuffed into it. The admiring look their spouse will give them when they walk into a room. The joy of chasing kids around the playground without feeling out of breath. The pleasure of living long and actively well into their golden years because of the exercise habit they had established in 2008. When you don't feel like doing something, focus on the results you will accomplish and allow the feelings of enjoying the benefits motivate you to action!

Make the Process Fun!

One reason why people don't follow through on their resolutions and goals is because they aren't having any fun. They want to lose the weight, but they don't particularly enjoy getting up early. They would much rather stay up watching their favorite T.V. shows. And if you are going to be up that late you have to eat a snack because you get hungry that long after a meal. My wife found a way to beat this by having me arrange the family room in such a way that her she could see the T.V. from her treadmill. Then she had me buy her a pair of wireless headphones on eBay so that she was the only person who would hear anything. After that she would set the DVR to record all her favorite shows. She went to bed at a decent hour, got up the next morning at 5:30 a.m., threw on her exercise clothes, and went for very brisk walks while the kids slept and enjoyed her favorite T.V. shows at the same time. The kids never woke up because the headphones eliminated the need to turn the volume up. Plus, she never had to sit through the commercials because she could fast-forward through them.

The Mary Poppins Principle

If the tasks that you have selected to achieve your resolution ever end up feeling a little bit tedious and boring, apply the Mary Poppins principle! "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and - SNAP! - the job's a game!" Make it fun and challenging. Establish your personal "bests" in different areas of your tasks and try to beat them. Don't allow it to become mundane. Have fun with it!

These are just a few of the ideas that are out there that will help you stay committed and focused on achieving your resolutions this year. Come back to The Millionaire Marathon blog throughout the year for more ideas, tips, and coaching on how to go for your dreams and get them.

You now have everything you need to set your New Year's Resolutions and to achieve them. Have you written anything down yet? Well, what are you waiting for? Get started!

Have a happy New Year, everyone! I hope that 2008 will be your best year ever (at least until you get to 2009)! I know you can make it so! Have fun but stay safe tonight!







Oh, wait! I did promise you 5 days of information, didn't I? Come back tomorrow for Celebrate 2008! - Part 5 where I will give you some final bits of advice. I'll see you tomorrow morning!

Celebrate 2008! - Part 3

As I promised yesterday, these next couple of days will be used to focus on how to set powerful resolutions and make them stick. I am sure you have realized that New Year's Resolutions are nothing more than a goal or goals to improve some aspect of your life set at the beginning of the year. So what we are really talking about today is effective goal-setting techniques.

"Success is the progressive achievement of a worthy ideal or goal."

~Earl Nightingale

I would also say that this is a good definition for happiness since I don't know too many happy failures. I love the quote above by Mr. Nightingale, but I want you to take notice of the word "worthy." There are people who achieve a goal and still are not very happy. You can often see this in situations where a man works hard to create a future for his family but neglects them in doing so, which can often result in divorce. When setting resolutions, select those goals that are worthy and complimentary to your total life picture. The pursuit of these goals is the road to happiness.

Steps to Setting Powerful Resolutions

1. Write down what it is that you want

The first step in making any journey is to know where it is that you want to go.

"The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The key word in this step is "want." You want to determine what it is that you want - not what your parents want, not what your spouse wants, not what your boss wants; what you want! You should be working towards your goals and dreams; not somebody else's. When you are working toward and achieving what you want, you will rarely run short on motivation and drive.

A great way of determining what you want is to create a Want List. At the top of a piece of paper, write down "I want ..." and finish that sentence in as many different ways as you possibly can. See if you can get up to 100 or more "wants." Don't worry about what you think is realistic for you to be, do or have. Let your imagination run wild! Describe your ideal life. Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? What do you want to see? Where do you want to go? Who do you want to meet?

Consider the following categories while making your list:
Romance
Children
Health & Fitness
Family
Community / Legacy
Fun
Friends
Relaxation
Personal Development
Environment
Spiritual
Financial
Career & Work
Home

Whatever you put down, make sure it is something that YOU want! And come back and add to this list as often as you think of something else.

2. Prioritize your Wish List

After you have a healthy-sized list, write in the margin to the left how soon you want to accomplish these goals. Put the number 1 for those wants you would like to accomplish in one year or less, 3 for those you want to do within 1-3 years, 5 for your wants you want done in 4-5 years and so on. This gives you tentative deadline for the goals you will set and an order to pursue them in.

3. Select one of your short-term goals that really excites you

Since we are setting a New Year's Resolution, you will want to focus on the 1-year wants. Take a moment and visualize each one individually and consider what it would be like to achieve each one. Select the one that excites you the most because this will stack the deck in your favor in terms of achieving it.

4. Write out an effective goal statement

This is a very important step and may take a little time both to explain and to do. It is all about turning your wishes into powerfully defined goals. You may have heard it said that an unwritten goal is only a wish. That is absolutely true! We will discuss more of the power that a written goal carries and how having it written down can help you achieve it in tomorrow's section. For now, let's look at putting your dreams down on paper as a powerful, effective goal statement.

The first step is to turn your wishes into S.M.A.R.T. goals. S.M.A.R.T. means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible.

To make your goals Specific, you need to answer the six "W" questions:
Who - Who is involved?
What - What do you want to accomplish?
Where - Identify the location where this will take place
When - Identify a time frame to accomplish it in
Which - Identify requirements and constraints
Why - Write down specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal

Measurable means setting the criteria for measuring progress towards & the achievement of your goal. Ways to do this are to answer the questions How much? How many? How long? and How will I know when it is accomplished?

The Attainable aspect of your goal is fairly simple. The truth of the matter is that you can attain most any goal when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to grow, develop and carry out those steps. So, ultimately, there is nothing you cannot do if you work hard enough, smart enough and/or long enough.

Realistic means that your goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. I must warn you not to set your goals too low. The reason for this is that high goals exert higher motivational force than low goals. Setting a goal such as "lose 5 pounds" are not nearly as exciting as "lose 25 pounds." You must set realistic ones based on your situation, but set a goal that will challenge you and cause you to stretch and grow.

Tangible means that your goal can be experienced with one of the five senses (i.e. taste, touch, sight, smell or hearing). If you set intangible goals such as development of personality characteristics or changing behavior patterns, these can often be tied to tangible goals or measurements. What this means is that if you set the resolution to be kinder to others this year, you have an intangible goal. Tying this goal to a goal of giving three different compliments to three different people every single day satisfies the goal of being kinder with a tangible means (hearing) of measurement.

Once you have determined the S.M.A.R.T. aspects of your goal, you are ready to write your goal statement. When you write it down, state it in the positive. This means writing down "I will put $100 in savings each month" rather than "I won't overspend my budget this year." You also want to state your goal in the present. Stating it in the present means writing your goal down as if it has already happened. This stimulates your subconscious mind and increases your level of belief that it will be accomplished.

5. Make a plan to achieve your goal

Once you have your goal statement, it is time to break it down into smaller, more achievable steps or step goals. Most people experience difficulty in achieving large tasks like writing a novel or losing 25 pounds. It is daunting and it becomes a motivational killer because you don't ever believe you will get there. It is just too big to focus on. Step goals like writing two pages per day or losing three pounds per month are more believable and, therefore, more achievable. So identify smaller step goals and assign a reward for each time you reach a milestone.

Once you have your step goals written down with their rewards, start listing every single activity that you can think of that you will need to accomplish to achieve each step goal. Write down the monthly, weekly or even daily activities that you will need to do - whatever spacing works best for you. I will warn you, however, that the greater the length of time between your activities, the weaker your motivation is to take the next step. Daily activities work the best because consistent daily steps make for successful habits that will drive you to the accomplishment of your goal. But, again, do what is best for you and your life schedule.

Once you have your periodic activities listed, prioritize them in a manner that will optimize your goal-achieving process.

Take time to identify foreseeable obstacles as well and what you will do to overcome them when the time comes. You may not think of everything up front, but doing this will leave you much better prepared for the ones you do think of. The others you will deal with as you encounter them.

6. Identify the price that must be paid and determine to pay it

"To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it."

~Bunker Hunt

Probably one of the major reasons why many people give up on their goals is they don't identify the price they must pay up front and determine to pay that price no matter what. Achieving a goal means making changes in your life - oftentimes, changes in some long-standing habits. This is never easy, comfortable or free. There is an emotional price, a physical price, a social price, a personal price and/or a financial price. You must make that determination to pay it or, when the going gets tough, you will most likely quit. Don't let that happen. Figure out what the price may be up front. It may mean giving up snacks and sweets. It may mean spending less time watching T.V. or hanging out with friends. It may mean earlier mornings or later nights. Whatever the cost may be, figure it out for yourself and establish an iron will to pay it no matter how tempting it may ever be to just give in.

7. Establish a Tracking & Accountability System

Set up a way to track your progress on your goal. Whether it means a spreadsheet on your computer, a calendar, a notebook - whatever works best. You need to have a way to see where you are at all times, how you are doing on any given day and where you can improve. Then share this with someone you trust. Become accountable to them so that they can help keep you motivated and honest with yourself. The reason I said someone you trust is because you need to give them "push-ability." You need to trust them to give you that kick in the pants when you need it. And when they give you that kick, keep in mind that it is because they love you and they want to see you succeed.

Those are the seven steps to setting highly effective and powerful goals. Some of these steps may take a little bit of time to establish, but it will be time well spent in preparing you and setting you up to accomplish your goals and dreams. Spend the necessary time to complete the steps above, but do them quickly so that you don't over-analyze any of them. To do so would result in "paralysis by analysis" and all you will have is a well-thought out idea of something you could have accomplished if you had acted while you were still excited about it.

Once you have your goal written down, your plan in place to achieve it and your tracking and accountability system established, the only thing that is left is to act. Do something, anything as quickly as possible. Get the ball rolling. Procrastination is the "silent killer" of your success and the longer you wait to start, the harder it will be to get going. So while the fire is still burning, while the enthusiasm is still high, take action! Do it now!!!

Come back tomorrow for Celebrate 2008! - Part 4 and learn a number of techniques and strategies that will help you keep those resolutions all year long until you have accomplished them. I'll see you then!

3 Ways to Ask

Yesterday, I suggested that in order to get more out of life you need to ask for it. As I was writing that blog post, it occurred to me that there is more than one way to ask. I have for your consideration three different ways to make your request and the situations where they are most likely to come into play.

1. Verbal Asking

This is probably what the majority of you first think of when you hear the words "Ask for it!" This method is primarily used when you want something tangible from someone else. When kids want a drink, they verbally ask their parents - even if it means calling out their order from the other room at 2 a.m. When employees want a raise, they have to verbally ask their boss. When a customer wants a discount, they verbally ask the salesperson. Probably the only instance where you don't believe you have to verbally ask for something from someone else is in marriage. (You mean you didn't know that men are supposed to be mind readers?)

2. Asking by Taking Action

This method of asking is primarily used when you want something from yourself rather than for yourself. If you want to become a more successful salesperson, you need to act the way a successful salesperson does. If you want to have bigger muscles, you have to ask your body to cooperate by acting on your desire and lifting weights. If you want to have more positive thinking, you ask your mind to cooperate by focusing on what's good in life. If you want to lose weight, you have to take action by implementing a better diet and exercise program. I really don't think it would be an effective strategy to ask each piece of cheesecake you eat to stay away from your hips. They tend to ignore those types of requests.

3. Asking by Giving

This last method is best realized in emotional areas. If you want to feel love, give love to others. If you want to feel peace, bring peace into the lives of others. It also means that if you want to feel hate, give hateful experiences to others. So we must be careful with this method - especially because that which we receive, good or bad, is usually in greater proportion to that which we gave out.

The great thing about this method is that it can totally change your day in an instant. If you are feeling sad and lonely, you can change that around by simply giving your loving friendship to another.

So take some time after you have read this and think about what it is you want and ponder which method would be the most effective to use in order to ask for it. Then start asking!!!

If it is scary for you to ask for things, my recommendation to you is to ask anyway!

"Do the thing you fear the most and the death of fear is certain."

~ Mark Twain

The more often you ask - even for little things, the easier it will be to ask no matter how big the request.

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

And if you don't get it right away or someone tells you "No!", my advice to you is to take the advice of Mark Victor Hansen when he says, "You have to ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask!"

To learn more about the power of asking and how to do it, I recommend reading The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.

How To Get More Out of Life

Yesterday, we spoke of the whiners, the gripers and the complainers - all those people who are not happy with what they get in life but are more than happy to tell you all about it. The funny thing is that they are getting exactly what they asked for!

I bargained with Life for a penny,

And Life would pay no more,

However I begged at evening

When I counted my scanty store;

For Life is a just employer,

He gives you what you ask,

But once you have set the wages,

Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial's hire,

Only to learn, dismayed,

That any wage I had asked of Life,

Life would have paid.

~ Jessie Belle Rittenhouse

If you want to get more out of life, ask for it!

But most people don't ask for more. They usually just complain to those people who can do nothing about what they are complaining about. People who are unhappy with their wages or their working environment go home and complain to their spouses. People who are unhappy with their spouse go to work and complain to their co-workers. People who are unhappy with their financial situation complain to their families about how broke they are. Why don't they go to the source of their problem and ask for it to be better?

Fear! That's why! Whether it is fear of rejection, fear of being alone, fear of being laughed at, etc. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "He (or she) who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life." And the only way to conquer fear is to take a chance and do the thing you are afraid of doing.

So, if you are sick and tired of the wages you have been receiving in any area of your life, quit complaining about it and just ask for something better!

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Let me show you a fun way to "bargain with life for a penny" and then increase your asking ability until you have over $1,000,000! Read through The Millionaire Marathon introductory series starting with In the beginning... and follow the instructions at the end of the series to find out how to do it!

The Secret to Getting Ahead In Life

You probably know plenty of people who are habitual complainers. They often share with you the dismal state of their finances, their relationships, their job, their weight, their whatever. Maybe you have been guilty of this as well. I know I have. It is an easy trap to fall into, especially when you are bombarded by it every single day from friends, family and co-workers. You almost have to have something to complain about just so that you can fit in.

Well, today, I am going to share with you the secret to getting ahead in life. By following this little tip, you will set yourself ahead of all those miserable, unhappy complainers you are surrounded by. The best part about it is that it is so easy to do. So here it is:

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." ~Sally Berger

That's it! That is all you need to do to set yourself apart from the grumps, the whiners and the complainers. I bet you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?

Most people are content to complain about the way their life is and all the different people who are to blame for it. It's easy. It's comfortable. It sures beats the alternative of doing something about it and try to be happy. Come one, now. That would take some effort. (Oh, no! I can't believe I just said the "e" word!)

Miserable people know what they want. It is the gap between what they want and what they actually have that is making them miserable! They know why they want it - they want to be happy. But they have contented themselves in their misery. After all, it's not that bad. Well, it's not that good, either!

If you want more money in your bank account, cut back on unnecessary expenses and start putting that money into savings. Or join The Millionaire Marathon! If you want better relationships, compliment someone or do something nice for them. If you want a better job, apply for one or further your education. If you want to lose weight, go for a 15 minute walk and dump your secret stash of chocolate in the garbage can on the way out. Get up and do it now! Watching The Biggest Loser tonight isn't going to cause YOU to lose any weight.

Don't worry about whether it is the best thing you can do to improve your situation. People who do that suffer "paralysis by analysis" and never end up doing anything. Just do something! Anything! And by doing something, by getting started, you immediately change your life for the better. You will feel good about yourself, too. And don't you want to feel good tomorrow, too? Of course you do! So, do it again tomorrow!

There is one word of warning here. When you get started on making your life better in whatever area you choose, and if you keep working on it every day, the whining and complaining of your friends, family and co-workers will really start to bug you. So start converting them to the "get started" philosophy, too, or you may have to find a happier crowd to hang out with.