Fully Living Life

"Make New Year's goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you're interested in fully living life in the year to come."

~ Melody Beattie

If your life hasn't been all that you wished it would be in 2015, name one thing that you intend to do in 2016 to make it better. Set the goal, commit to it, list the first few steps that you can do to move towards the fulfillment of that goal and take action today. 

Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Do something different this year and let's make it better than last year.

You can do it! I believe in you.

~ Andy Jensen

Own the Future

I can't hardly believe that I haven't posted on this blog for 21 months now, but I've decided it is well past time to revive it and get back to sharing tips, quotes and stories that inspire and motivate us to become better today than we have ever been before! So I hope you will come back often and leave a comment to share any insights you may have gained in your visit here or just to let us know that you dropped in.

Today I would like to share a quote that was e-mailed to me this morning by Brian Tracy:

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Nothing of significance is ever accomplished without first believe in yourself and your ability to do it. Dare to believe as you set and pursue the New Year's Resolutions you have made for 2012.

(You did write out your resolutions, didn't you? If not, read through my Celebrate 2008 blog series where I help you to gain a better understanding of why resolutions are important, how to set effective and exciting resolutions and tips and techniques for making sure you keep them throughout the whole year ... and beyond.)

Commitment Issues

My wife just experienced another milestone in her Mary Kay business. She just earned her 4th free car in the Mary Kay Career Car program, but this one is especially significant because it is her 1st Premier Club level car. As a result, she will be receiving a brand new, straight off the line, custom built Chevy Equinox!

I am very proud of her and all that she is accomplishing and grateful to her wonderful team of women she is working with who have made this possible. We never could have done it without them and I, personally, look forward to celebrating with many of them when they receive their first Career Car from Mary Kay!

When these women earn their first car, it really is a special day because it is a defining moment that allows them to say without equivocation, "Yes! I am a successful Mary Kay consultant!" The recognition is nice. And the commissions on their sales is great, but few people outside their family actually sees that. But when the company gives you a brand new car to drive around for free, that's a tangible, visible mark of success for them.

Unfortunately, not everyone earns their car in Mary Kay. Many of the women coming into the business say that they want the car, but so few ever actually earn it.

Why?

In a word...

COMMITMENT!

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!"

W. H. Murray in The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951

Every single woman on my wife's team, regardless of their current circumstances, could drive a brand new car in the next six months or less if they committed themselves to doing it. Do you want to know how I know? Because my wife has done it four times!!! As great as my wife is (and I do think she is pretty spectacular) she started at the same place as everyone else. But she committed herself to doing what her Director and National told her to do in order to get the results she wanted to get.

She still does that. Just three days ago, she was $3,000 in team wholesale orders away from earning her car. That equates to over $6,000 in retail product. And if that $3,000 in orders hadn't been put in by the end of the month, my wife would have had to start all over from the beginning to try and earn this car over the next six months. I'll be honest with you. She was a little frustrated to be so close and yet still be so far away.

We had several team members step up in big ways. One of them, on her first solo class, sold $1,043. (Well done, grasshopper! She has now made over $1,100 in PROFIT over her first two classes and she was one who joined the company just to have a little extra spending money. Not too shabby!) We had a couple $200 orders and a $500 order and even a $43 order, among others, helped get us a little closer. But all that would not have been enough if my wife hadn't committed herself to making it happen NO MATTER WHAT!!! She went to work and sold enough in the last two days to place a $600 of her own. Now that's commitment to a goal!

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.”

There is always a reason why someone doesn't commit to their goal. I've heard people use pets, parents, illness, spouses, car trouble, kids, church assignments, friends and a plethora of other "reasons" why they can't keep their commitments. It makes me laugh to hear people tell my wife, "My family comes first!" as if to imply hers does not. And yet my wife spends loads of time with our kids, serves actively in our church, hangs out with friends, spends quality time with me and still runs a successful, profitable business with the car score being 4-0 in my wife's favor!

If your family really comes first, discipline yourself, establish better time management habits and commit yourself to succeeding for your family so that you aren't struggling so badly financially. Imagine for one moment how much less stressful your marriage would be with the extra income a successful business would provide. At least the kids won't be embarrassed by the car you drive when you drop them off at school.

I'm not saying that there aren't valid reasons out there for not keeping a commitment. We totally understand those situations and we feel bad when they happen. But here is a good test for whether you have a good reason or just a poor excuse:

• Is it a reason you would give if you had to call your boss at the last second to tell them you weren't going to show up at work that day?
• Would you still have a job the next day if you did give that reason?

In case you are wondering, reasons like "My dog is sick", "My best friend came into town" and "I just don't feel like it right now" will land you in the unemployment line.

It is sad how many women I have seen who have come into this business over the last few years who had such high hopes and grand dreams that have left it to get a job where the discipline of showing up is enforced, you have absolutely no control over how much you earn and, no matter how good you are at your job, they will never, ever give you a free car. Don't let that be you.

Whatever worthwhile goal you may have, remember the example set by Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez. When he landed in Mexico, he gave his men the orders to burn the ships. He cut off their escape route. There would be no retreat. They would succeed in their mission or they would die trying.

“Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”
~ Mario Andretti

Commit yourself to your goals and your dreams at every step of the process. Re-commit every morning when you wake up no matter how poor your results may have been from the day before. Throw out your excuses and press on through your trials.

Amazing things lie within your reach if you commit yourself to achieving them!

The Treasure

The Treasure
by Alice Grey

The cheerful girl with bouncy curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

“Oh, please, mommy, can I have them? Can I have them? Please, Please, mommy?”

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face.

“A dollar and ninety-five cents. That’s almost two dollars. If you really want them, in no time, you can save enough to buy them for yourself. Your birthday is only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma.”

As soon as Jenny got home, the little girl emptied her penny box and counted out seventeen pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and went to the neighbors and asked Mrs McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she was swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother had said that if they got wet, they might turn the back of her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she went to bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he had finished the story, he asked Jenny.

“Do you love me?”


“Oh, yes, Daddy, you know I love you.”


“Then give me your pearls.”


“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls, but you can have Princess, the white horse, from my collection. The one with the pink tail, remember daddy? The one you gave me. She is my favorite.”


“That’s ok, honey.”

He brushed her cheek with a kiss. About a week later, after the story, Jenny’s daddy asked again.

“Do you love me?”


“Daddy, you know I love you.”


“Then give me the pearls.”


“Oh, daddy, not my pearls, but you can have my baby doll and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.”


“That’s ok, sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you.”

And as always he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss. A few nights later when Daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed in Indian style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear ran down her cheek.

“What is it?”

Jenny did not say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy and when she opened it, there was her pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, “Here, Daddy, it’s for you.”

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace and with the other hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had them all the time. He was waiting for her to give up the dime store stuff so he could give her a genuine treasure.

-------------------------------------

What are you holding on to that is preventing God from giving you the genuine treasure? What are you hanging on to? What beliefs are holding you back?

There is so much more in store for you in this life than you currently have, but you must make room for it. You must be willing to give up the good in order to receive the great.

Will you give up your pearls?

Are You Asking for It?

"Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it."

~ Jules Renard

Do you know what you want in life?

Do you have a vision of the kind of lifestyle you want to enjoy?

It is out there waiting for you. And it wants you as much as you want it! All you have to do is ask for it.

But the only true way to ask is to act ... and not just act once ... but act in a repeated, consistent manner until life has no other option than to give you what you have asked for.

Children are great examples of this. When our boys want my attention it's "Dad! ... Dad! ... Dad! ... Dad! ... Dad! ... Dad! ... Dad!" until I'm thinking, "Boy, you're really asking for it!"

What just happened there?

They got my attention even when I didn't particularly want to give it to them in that moment. And it was all because they acted and persisted in their actions until they got what they were asking for.

So, let me ask you again...

Do you know what you want in life?

Are you asking for it?

Out with the Old, In with the New

As 2009 is drawing to a close, it's time to look back on what we've accomplished this year and what we still wish to do. Personally, my dreams were far grander than what I actually was able to get done. However, some of that was a conscious choice to set aside my personal goals and dedicate my time, talents and energy to supporting my wife as she accomplished some incredible goals this year that have blessed our family in a huge way. I don't regret that one bit because she experienced some major breakthroughs this year in her business and her personal life and the person she desires to be is coming more and more into focus every day.

With 2010 just days away, I am gearing up to make some major changes to my life this year as well. I believe that this year will be the year where I will be able to accomplish some dreams that I have had sitting on the shelf waiting for some time for me to pick them up, dust them off and put them into play. I hope you, too, are ready to change your life in the coming year as well and are just as excited for your own future as I am for mine.

In an effort to assemble a community of dreamers that really want to accomplish something that will be significant to them in the new year, I have issued The 10 for 2010 Challenge. Click here to get more details on how I plan to accomplish 10 significant goals in the coming year that will change and improve my life. I hope that you, too, will take up the challenge and be a participant in our community of dream achievers where your successes will become a resource for people that want to get where you are going as well.

Visit the 10 for 2010 Challenge blog today!

Expanding the Boundaries of Your Life

"The 'self-image' sets the boundaries of individual accomplishment. It defines what you can and cannot do. Expand the self-image and you expand the 'area of the possible'."
~Dr Maxwell Maltz, Psycho-Cybernetics

You will never be more successful than how you see yourself being. If you see yourself as fat, you will struggle to lose weight. If you see yourself as shy, you will struggle in your interactions with others. If you see yourself as poor, you will struggle financially. If you see yourself as a harried individual living a highly stressful life, that will be your experience day in and day out.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the areas of your life where you struggle. How do you see yourself in those areas? Then compare that to the areas of your life where you are more successful and how you see yourself in those areas. Do you see a difference? I am willing to bet that you don't have a negative view of yourself in those areas that you consistently do well in.

Now, some of you may argue that you see yourself more positively in those areas because you have done well. I propose that you have done well because you saw yourself more positively in those areas. If you don't believe me, give it the following 90 day test:

• Take an area of your life that you struggle and evaluate how you see yourself in this area.


• Create a better image for yourself in that area. The best way of doing this is to look at someone who is already successful in that area and transfer their characteristics to your self-image. (After all, if they did it, so can you!)


• Every morning when you get up and every night when you go to bed, visualize and see yourself as being successful in that area. Really experience the emotion and gratitude of being the success you've always dreamed of. Do this every morning and every night for 90 days!


• Then throughout the day, walk the walk and talk the talk of the success you are becoming!

Compare your life at the end of the 90 days to how it was when it started. I guarantee it will be vastly better!

The Master Skill of Success

"All successful people are intensely goal-oriented. They know what they want and they are focused single-mindedly on achieving it, every single day. Your ability to set goals is the master skill of success. Goals unlock your positive mind and release ideas and energy for goal attainment. Without goals, you simply drift and flow on the curents of life. With goals, you fly like an arrow, straight and true to your target."
~ Brian Tracy

I have a goal of becoming a successful, published writer. The first step to accomplishing that is to get my first book written. To that end, I have elected to participate in a month of mania known as National Novel Writers Month (NaNoWriMo) where I have accepted the challenge to write a novel of 50,000+ words in 30 days. Please visit my NiceGuyBlogging blog and read the 10/2/2009 post to see how your taking a quick poll will help me get started.

A Cheerful Thought...

"Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles."
~ Helen Keller

Today...

"Today will never happen again. Don't waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail."
~ Og mandino

How to Cash It In for Success

I was reading the second chapter of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich when I came across a profound truth that reminded me of a financial lesson I learned years ago. Before I reveal the truth, let me share with you the lesson of Realized Gains and Losses:

If you were to take $3,000 and invest it in the stock market at a price of $10 per share, you would have 300 shares of stock. As it sometimes does, the stock price drops to $7 per share. Emotional investors start to panic at this point. After all, they bought the stock at $10 because it had already dropped to this low price and they expected it to shoot back up. But now it dropped even lower and they think they just lost $900 in the transaction.

But what have they really lost? They bought 300 shares and, even though the price dropped, they still have 300 shares. It isn't until they sell those shares that they REALIZE a gain or a loss. And those panicky people that are dumping their shares at $7 a share are kicking themselves at the end of the week when the price rockets back up to $15 a share.

What does all this have to do with Think and Grow Rich?

In the second chapter, Hill writes of the power of Desire. He lists a number of people who have passed through difficulties and disappointment before they achieved anything of consequence. At the end of the short paragraph on Helen Keller, Hill writes:

"...no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality."
Much like the investor in the example above, you have only lost when you accept that reality and decide to cash it in. Nobody ever becomes great or successful without having to experience setbacks, frustrations and adversity. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying to you. It is only those who continue to believe in their personal value and capability for success that refuse to accept that failure and push on until they reach their success.

What would have happened to Thomas Edison if he had believed the teacher that told him he was too stupid to learn anything and that he should seek a profession where he might succeed by virtue of his pleasant personality?

What would have happened to Oprah Winfrey if she had accepted the judgment that she "had no business anchoring the news in a major market" when she was fired as a TV news anchor?

What would have happened to Walt Disney if he had accepted the assessment that he lacked imagination and had no original ideas" when he was fired by a newspaper editor?

What would have happened to Michael Jordan if he had hung up his basketball shoes when he was cut from his high school team?

What will happen to you if you accept defeat at any stage of your journey? Then nobody will know the real you and the greatness you have to share with the world. Don't let that happen! Do not cash it in until you stand in the winner's circle, triumphant!

Tips for Overcoming Temporary Defeat:

1. Keep your dream firmly fixed in your mind at all times. Create visual reminders like a dream board. Spend a few minutes every morning and every evening visualizing you accomplishing your dream and the benefits that will bring. Really live it!

2. Trust in the value of your dream. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen were rejected by 144 different publishers that didn't believe a book of short stories would sell when they tried to get Chicken Soup for the Soul published. But they persisted because they knew people wanted what was in that book. People were asking them all the time where they could read the stories they shared in their presentations. When someone rejects you and your dream, trust that there are people waiting for you to succeed; if for no other reason than to believe that it is possible for them, too.

3. Treat each setback as a learning opportunity. Napoleon Hill said that "every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." Find the lesson in each in every failure and learn from it. It is these lessons that teach you how to become successful.

4. Trust in the power of numbers. Athletes are great examples of the fact that those who are persistent enough to endure failure will succeed. The year that Babe Ruth set the major league record of 714 home runs, he also set another record by striking out 1,330 times. You have to be willing to fail and fail again in order to be successful. This is true in sports, business or any other area of life you are seeking success in. The only people who never fail are those who never try to begin with.

5. Believe and reaffirm your capability of success. I love the quote by Michael Jordan where he says: "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is precisely why I succeed." This quote may seem to be more in line with the last point, but I use it here because it illustrates the confidence he had in his ability to win. Our egos, our self-esteem can be so fragile at times and they can take a major hit with every setback or failure. When this happens, be like Mike and just keep shooting with full confidence that your shots are going in. Because when you start hitting your shots, you achieve a mind-body-spirit connection that makes you unstoppable!

The Success of Any Day Begins...

In order to build a successful life, you must have a series of successful days. There is a secret to having a successful day that most people don't know. The secret is knowing when a successful day begins. It isn't at 6 a.m. Nor is it at 5 a.m. or even 4 a.m. The success of any given day begins the night before!

The truth of this statement is illustrated in the following true story:

Around 100 years ago, Charles Schwab, president of Bethlehem Steel, wanted to increase his own efficiency, and of the management team at the steel company. Ivy Lee, a well-known efficiency expert of the time, approached Mr. Schwab, and made a proposition Charles Schwab could not refuse:

Ivy Lee: "I can increase your people's efficiency – and your sales – if you will allow me to spend fifteen minutes with each of your executives."

Charles Schwab: "How much will it cost me?"

Ivy Lee: "Nothing, unless it works. After three months, you can send me a check for whatever you feel it's worth to you."

Charles Schwab: "It's a deal."

The following day, Ivy Lee met with Charles Schwab's management executives, spending only ten minutes with each in order to tell them:

Ivy Lee: "I want you to promise me that for the next ninety days, before leaving your office at the end of the day, you will make a list of the six most important things you have to do the next day and number them in their order of importance."

Astonished Executives: "That it?"

Ivy Lee: "That's it. Scratch off each item after finishing it, and go on to the next one on your list. If something doesn't get done, put it on the following day's list."

Mary Kay Ash writes in her book (Mary Kay: You Can Have It All : Lifetime Wisdom from America's Foremost Woman Entrepreneur):

"Each Bethlehem executive consented to follow Lee's instructions. Three months later, Schwab studied the results and was so pleased that he sent Lee a check for US$35,000. At the time, the average worker in the US was being paid $2 per day.

If Schwab, one of the smartest businessmen of his day, was willing to pay so much money for this advice, I decided I would follow it, too.

Each night, I put together my list for the following day. If I don't get something on my list accomplished, it goes on the next day's list. I put the hardest or most unappealing task at the top of the list. This way, I tackle the most difficult item first, and once it's out of the way, I feel my day is off to a good start."

An Exciting Journey

People who are rich in every sense of the word understand that life is a learning experience. It never stops. Learn to constantly refine your habits. There’s always another level to reach for, no matter how good you are right now. When you constantly strive to improve, you build character. You become more as a person, and you have more to offer. It’s an exciting journey that ultimately leads to fulfillment and prosperity.

Excerpt from The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt

If there is one thing that has really been brought to my attention, it is that the majority of the people I meet live in the land of Good Enough. The job they currently have is good enough to pay the bills. Their weight is good enough that they don't need to exercise regularly. Their level of commitment to living their spiritual beliefs is good enough for now.

The truth is, although they may not admit it, is that they secretly long for something better; something more fulfilling; something more rewarding and worthwhile. They look at the Michael Jordans and the Oprah Winfreys and the other superstars in life and they think "Wouldn't that be nice." No. It wouldn't be nice. It would be AWESOME!!!

You have to understand, though, that the people who live the life that you can only dream about right now are those who have evicted themselves from the land of Good Enough. You can't be the best until you do.

Good, Better, Best!

Never let it rest

Until your Good is Better

And your Better is Best!

You can have the life you dream about if you apply the simple principle of making your good better and your better your best. Someone very close to me just recently did that and is reaping huge rewards from it.

My wife just submitted for Director in Qualification (D.I.Q.) in Mary Kay last month along with 844 other women across the U.S. She has four months to officially qualify as a Director by having 30 active consultants on her team and $16,000 or more in production. In her first month of D.I.Q., she added 11 women to her team and had just over $13,000 in production. Because of this, she placed 7th in the nation out of the 845! The only women who placed higher than her were two who achieved Directorship in their first month and the rest edged her by $200 or less in production.

Do you think she is living in Good Enough any longer? Not a chance!

Way to go, babe!

The White Glove Test of Success

I learned a little nugget of wisdom from one of the wise guys that direct the company I currently work for shortly after I was hired on that I have found has great application in every aspect of my life. We were discussing how we can improve our operations when he made the point that "we can only expect that which we inspect." He was basically saying that by implementing a system and method of monitoring and evaluating performance and giving feedback on what you observe, the performance of the job will improve.

This is the very same reason that athletes and coaches will review recordings of the games they have already played. They are looking at how they or their players acted and reacted in different situations. By identifying their strengths and their weaknesses, they can build on their strengths and improve the areas where they are weak until it, too, is strong.

I have used this same strategy to improve certain areas in my personal life. I created a Personal Accountability Spreadsheet where I have listed a number of daily, weekly and monthly actions that I would like to take on a regular basis. This spreadsheet tracks personal goals such as how often I exercise, pray, read inspirational and motivational materials, plan my days, etc. It also tracks family goals such as reading scriptures and praying together, keeping each other informed of our scheduled activities and spending time together. For my financial goals I track how well I maintain our newly established bill payment system and how often I balance our accounts. I am also tracking how often I engage in fulfilling hobbies such as practicing the piano, writing for recreation and my blogs or practicing my artistic skills.

By doing this I have been able to identify where I am doing well and where I am weak. This includes what times of the day I am most productive, what activities and situations distract me from making progress and what support systems I need to put into place.

All of this enables me to expect better performance on my personal goals because I am inspecting the performance of the daily tasks that will bring me the results I want.

What areas of your life would you like to expect better results in?

Would you like to lose more weight? Inspect the frequency and intensity of your exercise as well as your food choices you make. What situations drive you to make poor eating choices and to skip workouts? Put plans into place to improve these and inspect on a regular basis and you can expect to lose more weight.

Would you like to have more time to work on your goals or to spend in more enjoyable pursuits? Inspect where you are currently spending your time during the week. Identify the people and/or situations that are wasting your time and minimize or eliminate these. Set goals to steadily free up more and more of your time and inspect your progress on a regular basis and you can expect to have more time to do the things you want to do.

I could go on and on, but I am sure you have at least some idea of how important this concept is by now. Setting goals are essential to your success and taking action on them is crucial. But not checking your progress is like taking off in a plane headed from California to Hawaii and never checking to see if you are on course - you could very well run out of gas before you ever see land again!

So, whatever your expectations you have of life, you better start inspecting the daily steps that will bring them to you and make small corrections to make sure you are on target!

An Important Resolution Most People Don't Make

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."
~ Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln knew what he was talking about on the topic of resolving to succeed. Just take a look at his résumé:
· Lost job, 1832
· Defeated for legislature, 1832
· Failed in business, 1833
· Elected to legislature, 1834
· Sweetheart (Ann Rutledge) died, 1835
· Had nervous breakdown, 1836
· Defeated for Speaker, 1838
· Defeated for nomination for Congress, 1843
· Elected to Congress, 1846
· Lost renomination, 1848
· Rejected for Land Officer, 1849
· Defeated for Senate, 1854
· Defeated for nomination for Vice-President, 1856
· Again defeated for Senate, 1858
· Elected President, 1860

He could have given up at any one of those failures. I am sure that most of us would have. But he resolved to succeed in his goals and he stuck with it until he did. That resolution carried him all the way to the White House and into the history books.

What will people write about you when you are gone from this earth?

Define your dreams, set your goals and resolve to succeed at them no matter what happens. Failures are not brick walls that stop you. They are merely tests of your resolution to succeed; tests of how badly you want it. And if your resolution is strong enough, those brick walls will be mere speed bumps that can never stop you.

Can You Afford to Quit?

Hello, everyone! I know it has been a while since I have posted and I would apologize for my absence ... but I am not really sorry because I have been very busy in the pursuit of a major goal.

Shortly after my last post, I started a telecommunications business with ACN and I have been working hard this past month and a half introducing the business and the services we offer to everybody I know. It is an amazing opportunity and I am having a blast as I change people's lives and create a bright future for me and my family.

About a week after I started my business, I went to a conference in Idaho where I heard an amazing truth that has really stuck with me and I have been dying to share with all of you.

Marlene Brehm was the guest speaker from California and shared a lot of awesome information on the importance of having a proper mindset, the power of belief and a lot of other topics to help us succeed in this business. She shared one story of when she introduced the business to a well-to-do gentleman that she had become acquainted with. The gentleman saw the potential of the business and asked how much it would cost him to get involved.

"499," Marlene replied.

To Marlene's surprise the gentleman hesitated and was thoughtful for a few moments after which he replied, "Well, it will probably take me a few months to get that kind of money together. Check back with me here in a couple of months and I think I will have it all by then and we can get going."

Marlene was completely confused. This man was very well off and yet he was saying that it would take a couple of months to get $499 together. Then it dawned on her. He thought she meant $499,000! And in spite of that misconception, he was still committed to joining the business!

The point that I want to make with this story is how much more committed do you think that gentleman was to succeeding in ACN when he was ready to sign up with a $499,000 investment than someone who is only investing $499? Even those of us who are living paycheck to paycheck can stand to lose $499. But what if it was, $4,990? Or $49,900? Or finally the $499,000? At what point would the pain of loss become great enough to raise your determination to succeed to the "Do or Die!" level?

This is true of any goal or resolution we set. People who set the goal of losing weight and treat it as being only 20 pounds fail. It is those who realize it is 20 more years of their life that they will have due to healthy eating habits and regular exercise that win. People who set the goal of getting out of debt and treat the $50 that they could add to their monthly payment as insignificant stay in debt much longer or get deeper in debt. Those who think of that $50 as the key to getting out of debt months earlier and saving them thousands of dollars in interest (which it does) succeed and are out of debt sooner.

You have to accept the fact that quitting on your goals has a much higher cost than you think. It is the Opportunity Cost! Everyone who has ever taken an economics course will recognize this term as the cost of an alternative that must be foregone in order to pursue a certain action. When you quit on your goals and dreams (you can never fail - you either succeed or you quit), you automatically incur the cost of whatever benefits you would have realized if you had stuck with it until you succeed.

My initial cost when I started a business with ACN was only $499, but it is not a $499 business to me. I could quit a $499 business and not feel too bad about it. It is a $499,000,000 business to me because that is the amount of money that I leave on the table over my lifetime if I quit. And that is only a fraction of the value of the time and the adventures that I will have with my wife and my kids, the value of the friends that I will make as I work with others, and the value of the joy that I will receive watching other people's lives change for the better because I had the courage and the tenacity to keep going on my goals and to never quit!

Many of us are beginning to consider what resolutions we are going to set for the coming year. If you are not a resolution maker, I hope you have some goals that you are working on that will change your life and the lives of others for the better. As you set your goals and your resolutions, write down the Opportunity Cost of everything you give up if you quit. Keep that and your "Why" in the forefront of your mind whenever the going gets tough to remind yourself that you cannot afford to quit!

If the cost isn't great enough to keep you from quitting, you either aren't thinking hard enough or perhaps you have set some goals that really don't mean that much to you at all. If it is the latter, it may be time to set more worthwhile goals.

So go for your goals and be determined to never incur the cost that comes with quitting. Because if you keep going long enough and are willing to overcome any obstacle that gets in your way, you will succeed!

"Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit."
~ Napoleon Hill

A Secret of Success

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There is no such thing as an overnight success. Even the people who explode into seemingly instant popularity on the stage and screen put in their time and efforts hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year to hone their talents to the point that they were recognized as a success. Even the American Idol contestants sang their hearts out in front of their bathroom mirrors dreaming of one day being a star.

What dream do you have? Are you willing to work harder, longer and later than the next person to achieve it? If you are, your chances of success are awesome!

Inspiration Found in an Unusual Place

On my NiceGuyBlogging blog, I like to post various movie quotes that I find entertaining or interesting. While looking for a good Halloween quote for today, I actually found a good inspirational quote from an unlikely movie. Here is the quote:

Madame Leota: What are you doing?

Jim: Hey, you leave me alone. Just get out of here and leave me alone.

Madame Leota: Oh, I see. You're just going to sit there, feeling sorry for yourself.

Jim: Tell me why not. This whole thing was my fault. We should've never been here in the first place. Supposed to be at the lake. We'd be sitting by a warm fire right now. And I made us come here. And now it's too late.

Madame Leota: No. It's never to late.

Jim: Hey, look, I tried to get in there, and I can't, all right? I tried! I failed!

Madame Leota: You try. You fail. You try. You fail. But the only true failure is when you stop trying.

Jim: What do you want me to do? Huh?

Madame Leota: Try again.

The Haunted Mansion

It is easy to fall into the trap of feeling sorry for ourselves when things don't work out. We feel like a failure and so we sit down and wallow in our misery. But what many of us don't know is that we may be sitting right on the one yard line with victory just ahead of us.

I have been telling my wife and kids this for years and I am going to share it with you as well. Nothing can defeat you! Nothing can cause you to fail! You only fail if you choose to stop trying! The only thing that can stop you is you!!!

So, when you feel thwarted, discouraged or down, remember the words of Tim Allen's character in the movie Galaxy Quest:

NEVER GIVE UP!

NEVER SURRENDER!

Success Statistics

As some of you know, I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month for the first time this year. Of the 101,510 people who signed up to do it in 2007, only 15,333 actually reached the 50,000 word mark. That is only 15% of all those who set the goal actually completed it. That isn't a very encouraging statistic, especially for first-timers. So I started researching the NaNoWriMO forums to see what pitfalls people have fallen into the past the frustrated them and what tactics people have used to succeed. In my research, I came across a link to the following chart:

While this was done for the 2003 participants, I don't believe that the percentages have changed much based on the comparable completion statistics between the years.

What do you notice that is interesting about these percentages?

I found it interesting that of the 27,483 people who set the goal to write 50,000 words in 30 days that year, 58% never even got started!!! That is nearly 2/3 of the whole group.

I think this statistic holds true for many people who set goals - if the number isn't even larger.

How many times have you set a goal to do something new or different and then never started on it. I know I am guilty of that ... far too many times than I care to admit. But there is one statistic that I have learned that I guarantee holds true for each and every person regardless of what their goals is. That statistic is that 100% of the people that never start a goal will never accomplish it!

So, if you want something to change, if you want something better in your life, you have to take the first step. Just look at the graphic again. Those that got started on their goal in 2003 improved their chances of completing it by 31%.

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."
~ Mark Twain

Notice that only 31% of those that get started actually reach their goal and how that number jumps significantly at each 10,000 word milestone. I guarantee that the reason why 69% of those that got started never achieved their goal is because at some point in the process (probably very early on in the process) they decided that if they didn't work on their goal one day it wouldn't hurt their chances of success. They were wrong.

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."
~ Jim Rohn

I know I have said it time and time again, but once you get going you have to keep going by working on your goal every single day. Establish early on the habit of doing something daily, anything at all, that is related to your goal. It harnesses the power of momentum, which will keep you rolling through the challenging times. And once you have done that for 17-30 days straight, it will suddenly become more uncomfortable to not take action than it is to take action!

Improve your chances of success by getting started and then establish good daily action habits early on so that you, too, can be an unstoppable force of achievement and success!

The Difference Between Winning and Losing

Over the years, I have read many stories and articles about successful people and listened to many different stories of people who have failed. In each of those stories, those who succeeded are not that different from those who failed. They each had a dream. They each took steps to achieve their dream. They each had moments of doubt. They each faced obstacles. They each had critics in abundance. They each struggled, strived and suffered. So why was there a difference in their outcome?

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."
~ Thomas Edison

When I played basketball in high school, we were given a basketball "handbook" that was filled with information on drills designed to improve areas of your game, team and school rules, and inspirational and motivational quotes and stories interspersed throughout the book. One quote that has stuck with me through the years was by Vince Lombardi who said: "Winners never quit and quitters never win." I've applied that quote in sports, in relationships, in every area of my life and have learned that it isn't always the strongest, smartest or even most talented that wins. It is the one that lasts the longest.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
~ Calvin Coolidge

When we start on a goal - be it building a business, getting out of debt, writing a novel, whatever it may be - we never anticipate that there will ever be a point where we will want to quit. We start off excited and focused on achieving our end result and we just go to work fully expecting that we will be victorious. But then we start to struggle. The results don't come fast enough or it is more difficult than we thought it would be (let me share with you a little secret about human nature - it is always more difficult than we think it will be because we never plan on it being that difficult) or some other excuse and we quit on our dream. We become so focused on the pain of that small moment of time that we completely forget or ignore how painful the rest of our life is going to be because we gave up and quit trying to achieve our goal.

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."
~ Lance Armstrong

Can you imagine what would happen if a mother quit right when giving childbirth got painful? Can you imagine the results if a weightlifter quit right when it started to burn? Can you imagine the life of the student that decides to quit the first time they did not get an "A" on a test? Where has quitting ever done anybody any good?

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
~ Thomas Edison

You never know when your big break is going to come in the process. You never know just at what point things are going to click into place and it is all going to start to flow. You just have to trust that, when you are pedaling up the side of a mountain, at some point you are going to reach the peak and then you can coast down the other side picking up speed as you go. You just have to last longer than the upward slope does.

"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Whatever goal you are pursuing, check your determination level. Are you content with trying to achieve it? (Remember, "trying" is simply failing with honor.) Or are you at the REFUSE TO LOSE! level where it doesn't matter what comes your way - you triumph no matter what? The only person that can keep you from succeeding is you. If others have done what you dream of doing, you can do it, too! If nobody has ever done it, then be the first!!! But never, never, never quit on your dreams.

Don't You Quit!
~ Unknown

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.