Get Your Priorities In Order.....Before It's Too Late

What are your Personal and Most-Important Priorities? 

Have you considered this question lately?  What are you focusing your time and energy on every day?  Are you achieving success and are you achieving the Goals that you have set for yourself?  Might you be in need of a Priority Re-Alignment to get you back on track and heading in the direction you want to go in?

Only you can answer this deeply personal question.  Only you know what your most important Goals and Objectives are!  Only you know whether or not you are succeeding in life and moving successfully closer to all you want to achieve every single day.

One thing is for sure: time is flying by.  We are not getting any younger.  If your daily efforts and activity is not in sync with your most important life goals and objectives - you will most likely not achieve them. 

Achieving Success

 If that is currently the case, immediate correction action is required.  Success will not happen by accident or default. 

Our Dreams and Most Important Personal Goals will not become reality unless we strategically make them happen; one step and one decision at a time. 

Consider the following:

1. Have you had deep in the recesses of your mind a strongly-held Personal Dream that you have never acted on?  Can you not get this Dream and Desire out of your head?  Is this a Dream that uplifts you, fills you with passion and energy, and you believe if pursued and achieved would make you more happy and fulfilled?  We only live once.  The majority of people fail to muster up the courage and personal initiative to make the decision to Pursue Their Dreams.  Are you merely one of the many who fail to act, take the risk, and pursue your dreams?  Or.....
2. Are your days worked according to a flexible and well-though-out Plan that is in alignment with the Goals you want to achieve?  Or are you not working according to any plan, always in reactive mode allowing others to dictate how you spend your time and on what you focus your finite energy?  No one plans to fail; they just fail to plan.  Sit down with a sheet of paper; clarify and write down what are the most important Goals and Objectives you want to achieve; and then translate those into a series of steps and actions you need to take every day.  Live and Work according to a Plan.  Make it Flexible; but make it strategically effective. 
3. Are you, by habit, doing things that drain you of your limited energy?  Things that bring you and increase your stress-levels?  Things that are harming your body and mind?  Life is Not Easy.  Managing Stress is Not Easy.  But, succumbing to the lure of bad habits that drain us physically, emotionally, and spiritually is a sure-fire way of loosing sight of our priorities and failing to achieve greatness.  Address these habits now; before it's too late.  Be honest; reach out and get help; and begin turning your life around.
4. Have you fallen into the me-first, only-me, strictly self-centered trap that many fall prey to?  Are you solely concerned with you?  Your needs and wants?  One of the Secrets of Successful People is that they make it their life-mission to help others; to help other People, Companies, and Organizations achieve greater Success and Happiness.  We are all part of Community.  We are not an island.  Alone we are limited; working together we can achieve great success.  We all need a Support Team.
5. Are you taking life and the positive aspects of that life for granted?  Do you not fully appreciate the following Blessings:

• Your Relative Health
• Your Family and Loved Ones
• Your ability to make a living and put Food on the Table for your and your Family
• The fact that you have Sufficient Shelter for you and your Family

How would your Life and Your Priorities Change tomorrow morning if today, as is always a possibility every day for every one of us, that:

You have just been diagnosed with Stage-Four Lung Cancer.  The Doctor says you will unfortunately most likely not live beyond six months.  How would this impact you and your Priorities?  What would you do?

Your Spouse or one of your Children has just been diagnosed with Stage-Four Lung Cancer. The Doctor says they will unfortunately most likely not live beyond six months. How would this impact you and your Priorities?  What would you do?

You have either just been fired from you job, or, in an accident, you been rendered incapable of continuing making a living doing what you have been trained to do and what you have been doing your entire adult life.  You are suddenly faced with the need to provide for you and your Family in the future but now with severely limited capacity to work.  How would this impact you and your Priorities?  What would you do?

These thoughts and considerations immediately put our lives in focus.  Give us the Clarity we have lacked.  They force us to suddenly cut through the fat.  The largess.  The unnecessary.  Then focus on only that which is important.  Live with Purpose.  Do not fail to appreciate all you have while at the same time striving to increase your success.  Live so that you have no regrets.

Again.....after have considered the above thoughts and considerations:

What are your Priorities?  What are your Goals?  What are you doing, every day, to make sure you Achieve Success?  What do you need to start, tomorrow, doing differently to increase the likelihood that your Dreams will be Fulfilled?

Succeeding By Getting Mad

I'm Mad

Sometimes.....we just have to get mad.  Angry.  Fired up. 

For those of us who are facing the greatest challenges of our lives - in whatever form that great challenge may exist - we need to, somehow, someway, find a way to overcome the obstacles that stand between us and that which we desire; to focus only on the keys to success while not letting significant life distractions derail us; to muster up personal improvement in the areas that our greatest personal challenges lay. 

I'm Focused

Succeeding is not going to come easy.  In fact, is not going to come at all without our giving 110%. 

Achieving difficult Personal Goals may just never happen.  Starting to go after and pursue our Personal Dreams, Goals, and Desires is really easy.  Sticking to the task at hand though, once the going gets touch and the Obstacles arise, is not easy.  Being tenacious, steadfast, and absolutely never giving up until that Personal Goal is achieved is challenging, difficult, and exhausting. 

But The Prize Awaits.

Success is Possible.

Goals Can Be Achieved.

Obstacles Can Be Overcome And Destroyed With A Sledge-Hammer.

We can take our negative traits and characteristics and, over time, with a well-though-out game plan of attack, lessen their impact.  Even turn negatives into positives.  Turn life-long weaknesses
into strengths. 

Paying It Forward

I loved the Movie "Pay It Forward."  If you've never seen it - you have to see it. 

I think it should be required viewing for High-School Students.  The Philosophy espoused in the Movie is very much in need these days as we walk into the New Year of 2012. 

If you want to start to see good things happen in your life.....start to help others achieve good things in their lives.

We cannot be truly successful until we realize it is not just about us and our accumulation of personal success and material possessions. 

We have to, we should, we must, the world will be a much better place to live in if we all, take it upon ourselves to help other people.  Help other people in need.  Help other people who are sick.  Help other people who, as we are, are trying to achieve success and improve their lives in the face of great challenge and difficulty.

We cannot succeed alone.  They cannot succeed alone.

Generously Help Others......and Success Will Follow!

Let Passion Prevail

Great Passion is what we need.  Getting Mad Without Showing It.  Keep a Smile On Your Face while a fire burns within you that drives you forward and propels you closer to, and then unites you with, your Goals. 





The Greatest Poem Ever

The following Classic Poem, entitled "If" was written by Rudyard Kipling in 1895.  Just about 117 years ago.  This Poem will always hold special meaning to me because of the manner in which I was introduced to it.  When I was 17 years old and leaving our home for the first time to go away to College my Father handed me a white envelope; he gave it to me at the very last minute, said to hold on to it and open it when I arrived at my destination.  My Father was not always the most expressive of Men.  When I finally opened the envelope, opened the letter which was a reproduction of this Poem, and then read this Poem, I was quite moved.  I think on that very day back in 1987 I must have read this Poem at least ten times.  I thought the Poem was great and moving way back then; and as the years passed, and I, with each passing year, learned more about life and what it takes to succeed in life and as a Man, I learned to appreciate "If" even more.  So much timeless wisdom in one Poem written over 100 years ago:

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

-Rudyard Kipling

Father > Son > Son

I'm sure everyone has one favorite Poem that holds great and special meaning for them.  This is mine.  It still speaks to me and provides me with wisdom and guidance. 

I see my Father so clearly in this great, timeless Poem.  Raising eight children.  An unyielding work-ethic.  Always positive; never complaining.  An infinite thirst and hunger for learning and the acquisition of knowledge. 

Someday, many years from now when my Son is ready to go out on his own to make his mark on the world, I plan to also share this Poem with him.  In a simple white envelope; to be opened when he arrives at College.  Along with, besides the Poem itself, knowledge of how and why it became and remains my favorite Poem. 

.........................................."And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!"

Change: Fear or Embrace?

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) English Naturalist

Fearing Change

Why do so many fear change? 

Because:

1. It is much easier to continue on with the status quo and to keep doing that which we have already mastered and does not require a great deal of conscious thought and effort.  Embracing and successfully navigating change is hard and requires that we renew our commitment to learning and growing; that we be comfortable with ambiguity and imperfection. 
2. Change, and any new challenge or endeavor which we embrace, brings with it the possibility of failure.  A likelihood that we will be less than perfect.  This fact makes people nervous and uneasy; they avoid potential change like the plague.  The fear of failure, sadly, holds many people back.  Keeps them stuck where they stand; firmly planted in their present situation and personal circumstances.  Unable to break free, move forward into unknown territory, and grow.  This is a sad fact. 
3. Some people lack the self-esteem and personal confidence required to succeed when making a life-change. 

Without positive change....we cannot grow.

Embracing Change

Why should we not fear change?

1. Because life is short.  Why not, instead of limiting ourselves, try to embrace change and a variety of life experience so that we can expand our horizons and grow?  Why be complacent and continue doing that which does not stretch our mind and broaden our experience?  That is how we grow.  That is how we gain perspective.  With infinite places to go, things to do, people to meet, experiences to be had, and unique moments to incorporate into our lives, we should embrace change.  Conquer our fear.  Overcome our reluctance and hesitancy to branch out and challenge ourselves.
2. New experiences are what gives us perspective, knowledge, and wisdom.  Sheepishly avoiding change and doing the same thing, in rote fashion, over and over again, keeps us where we are.  Prevents us from great and diverse possibilities that are available to those bold enough to pursue them.
3. Change keeps us young.  Keeps us sharp.  Forces us to stay on top of our game.  Keep learning.  Never stop acquiring new skills. 
4. Meeting new people.  Usually inherent in change is meeting new people; forging and building new positive relationships with diverse people.  That is what life is all about.  The media just reported that the population of Earth has surpassed 7 Billion People.  7 Billion!  Hard to fathom.  Why limit ourselves to the same people in the same circle of friends and family that we have always had?  Change always us to meet great new people and to be gain access to new knowledge, ideas, and experience. 

Three Indisputable Facts

1. We are getting older every day (if you deem a potential change to be a positive one which will help you grow and improve your circumstances, life, and happiness.....then muster up the courage to make that change; the opportunity will not always be there!)
2. If you do as you have always done.....you will keep getting the same result.  If you have a Dream or a Goal which you believe in passionately with all your heart - then find the courage to commence pursuit of that Dream or Goal.  If you don't, you will never know what might have been. 
3. Opportunities abound.  Listen, research, read, network, and never stop communicating with positive people that you trust.  Life can always change for the better if you so desire.  Be open-minded to recognizing great opportunities and then be confident and courageous is seizing them. 

As Michael Jackson stated in one of his most famous Songs: "If you want to make a change, take a look at yourself, and make that change."