Sometimes the issue is not the problem. Sometimes it is our “thinking” about the issue that is the problem.

What do I mean by that?  Our thinking is a result of the way we were brought up, our life experiences, our habits and our DNA.  When we encounter a problem , we come at it from our own unique perspective.  In many cases that is a good thing. We have learned much over our lifetimes that have served us well.  However, in some cases we may have gotten better results if we had sought out advice from people who think differently than we do before we acted.

If you want to try an experiment, the next time you have a problem, run it by someone whose opinion you trust and respect. See how they would attack the same problem. Whenever I have done that,  I was usually surprised by their reply.  Many times the other person brought up options I hadn’t thought of. Another way to approach it is to ask yourself, what would so and so do in this instance?

This is not about second guessing yourself.  It is about learning to seek advice BEFORE making important decisions.  That way you can look at the same issue from different perspectives and then make your decision.

Let’s look at an example:

You have 2 job offers.  You’re trying to decide which one to take.  You feel pretty good about which one you are leaning towards.  However, before pulling the trigger you decide to seek out a few successful business people you admire and get their take on your choices. You run it by them and they make you aware of a few things you wouldn’t have thought of in a million years.  The decision is still up to you.  But now you have added other peoples thoughts to your decision.  You may still go with your original choice. But that little pause gave you an opportunity to think it out from a few different perspectives.

I am not suggesting that do that with every choice or decision you encounter. That would make you very insecure and drive you crazy.  What I have found is that when it comes to certain issues, it had been a plus to seek out some other people’s thoughts before I proceed. However, a word of caution.  Only seek out opinions from people who are successful at what you are looking to do, or have demonstrated good judgement in their own lives.  They should be people you admire and respect.

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Does Luck Exist?

Over the years I have heard many people, including some very smart and successful people, say there is no such thing as luck – good or bad, while others say there is luck. Who are we to believe?

Recently I was watching a seminar given by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, two of the richest and most successful people in the United States. In that seminar, Warren Buffet said he luckily stumbled into the thing he does best, was extraordinarily lucky that not one of his heroes let him down, was lucky to have been born in the USA, considered himself unbelievably lucky, and lucky enough to have two terrific parents. If Warren Buffett believes in luck, and he is considered one of the smartest and most successful people on the planet, who am I to disagree?

Having said that, I think what most people mean when they say they have been lucky is that luck may have played a role in their life but, and this is a big but, they also worked the hand they were dealt very well. Some people can start out lucky but also make many bad choices and mistakes over the course of their lives just like unlucky people. Buffett didn’t depend on whatever luck he acknowledged to get where he is. He consistently worked very hard and made a number of good choices too! If you want to know more about him there is a wonderful book by Alice Schroeder titled, “The Snowball:Warren Buffett and the Business Of Life”.

Do some people have bad luck? I would have to say if we acknowledge there is such a thing as good luck, then because of the Law Of Polarity, there has to be the opposite which would be bad luck. What is an example of bad luck? Well, imagine you are Jewish and were born in Germany in 1934 to parents who didn’t flee the country before the end of the decade. Through no fault of your own, a few years after you were born, you wound up in a concentration camp and were killed. Look at today. Same situation but now you were born in Syria a few years ago. In both of those cases, I would consider those legitimate examples of bad luck. We all know people who had terrible diets, never exercised plus smoked and drank to excess all their lives and still lived to be very old. Then you see people who have done all the right things and die early. I am sure you can come up with many examples of people who have had bad or good luck.

Some people are born into better circumstances than others, are better looking, have greater talent, get certain breaks, etc. What I think most successful people are getting at is that regardless of where you were born, what you look like, what talents you possess, or what breaks you get, do not expect or depend on luck alone. No matter how good or bad life has been to you, make sure you consistently work hard to give yourself every advantage and think positive thoughts so you don’t attract bad things to yourself.

As I watch the news, I see many individuals and groups of people constantly blaming other people for their situation. They are always looking for someone or something to fix the problem or save them. That is a recipe for failure. I don’t discount that other people and environmental circumstances can play a big role in what happens to us. However, what I don’t hear from them or their leaders is what part they are responsible for their current situation. What role have they played in contributing to their own current situation. Maybe some else is at fault for raising them in their neighborhood, not being a good parent or spouse, causing them to not have a job, etc. The problem is they choose to do nothing positive to change the situation. Someone else may be responsible for your current circumstances. On the other hand, you are responsible for changing it today, tomorrow and the rest of your life.

In his book “Start Where You Are: Life Lessons In Getting From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be”, Chris Gardner says, “The cavalry isn’t coming.” If you’re not happy with your circumstances, then it’s up to you to change it. If you keep blaming other people and looking outward for your solutions, life will keep giving you lemons instead of lemonade. Why? Because it is an inside job. We achieve our goals by the thoughts we choose every day and by working on what we can control. What do you spend each day consistently thinking about? Are your thoughts more positive or negative? Are you focused on the situation or the solution?  If you are constantly focused on the negative or your current situation then nothing is going to change. The situation is the past. If you want things to get better, then it is very important that you think more positive and focus on the solution. The solution is your future.

Whatever your circumstances, start each day being grateful for what you do have, even if it is just one thing. It puts you in a more positive frame of mind to start your day. If life has knocked you down hard then don’t stay down get back up. Sometimes getting back up is extremely tough. So tough we think we can’t do it. You can do it! If not for yourself them maybe do it for someone else. Don’t quit. Get back up. Then pick a worthy goal that means something important to you. Concentrate on it. Commit to it. Picture it in your mind already accomplished. Then let go of the past for that day and don’t think about the future for that day. Don’t worry if you can do it or about how it will happen.

I know all of this is difficult to do. That’s why so few do it. It is hard, but you can do it. Today you will start a new habit. Remember, your past got you were you are right now. However, the past is over. If you have hurt people or have regrets there is nothing you can do about it. You can’t change the past so forget about it….just for today. You can do that for one day. Changing the past is out of your control. So for today focus on what you can accomplish today. Stick with today. Think about what you can control today. Work on that. Really work on it. Think about what you can do today that will move you forward in the direction of your goal. Even if it is just one small thing. Small things add up. They build momentum. You’re planting seeds. Be patient, give them time to grow. Eventually if you nurture those seeds consistently and long enough they will begin to grow. If you follow these steps you will find that you will begin to attract what we all call luck….good luck.

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Why Is it Important To Understand The Terms People Use?

There are times when people say things to us.  We think we know what they mean and we act or reply.  When they react negatively, we don’t understand what just happened.  Sound familiar?

Here are a few examples:

Your wife/girlfriend tells you to pick up some “biscuits” from the store on your way home. You come back with what you thought she wanted and find out you bought the wrong biscuits.

You go for a haircut. You tell the stylist/barber you want a “trim.” When it is over you feel like they cut off all your hair.

A friend/relative is describing a recipe to you. She says use a “small” amount of something that is very important to the “flavor.” Later you follow the recipe but it doesn’t have any where close to the flavor of the original recipe.

Your friend asks you to go for a “short” drive to pick up something. 60 minutes later you are still in the car.  Ever hear of the term “a New York minute?”

The list of examples can go on and on. The point is there will be times when people say something to us and we act or react based on our interpretation of what they just said. When it comes out wrong we are perplexed.  There will also be times when we say something to someone and they get it wrong. We think they just aren’t listening.  Sometimes that is the case.  However, many times it is not.  While we said something that to us was very clear, the other party heard something completely different.

The next time someone uses a certain term, before you jump the gun, ask them what they mean by that term. Many times you will find that they meant something completely different than what you thought it was. When you say something to another person, you may just want to have them reiterate back what you just told them to make sure you are both on the same wavelength.

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Why Haven’t You Reached Your Goal?

Have you read and/or listened to a great deal of self-help, motivational and success books? Have you also attended numerous seminars related to your goal? After all that time and study, have you hit your goal, are close to hitting your goal, or are you stuck and feeling very frustrated and discouraged? If the answers to the last question is yes then let’s talk about it and see if we can figure out a way to get you unstuck.

The first thing to examine is the goal itself. Is it something that you really must have or do? If you say yes, then is the goal pulling you towards it, or are you finding that you have to force yourself each day to work on it? If it is the latter then there may be a problem with the goal. Something is not right. Maybe the goal is not in harmony with your soul. If you find you have to force yourself to work on it, that is your spirit telling you something is not right with that goal for you. When you really want something usually wild horses couldn’t stop you. On the other hand, when you really don’t want something then no one can force you. Examine your choice of the goal and see if maybe you need to make some adjustment to your goal or change it completely.

Now if you really do want your goal, have been working hard to achieve it and it just isn’t happening, then there may be a disconnect between what you want and what you expect or believe. There are times when we want something very much but in our hearts we don’t expect it to happen. We don’t really believe we can achieve it. If that sounds like you then you know you can’t attain your goal until you expect and believe you will achieve it. It won’t matter how much you think you want it. Your subconscious will sabotage you every chance it gets and you won’t even be aware that it is happening.

What can you do to get unstuck? Here are a couple of suggestions to start with:

1. Examine your goal and make sure you really want it. If you don’t, then don’t kid yourself. You’re going to have to fight really hard for it. If you are not fighting for it then you don’t really want it. Once you decide to go for it that decision should make you feel excited but also uncomfortable. If you are not a little scared then the goal is not big enough. There is no inspiration in a goal that is easy to reach. If you are not inspired then you will quit when the going gets tough and it will get tough.
2. Do you have a crystal clear picture of your goal in your mind? If not, then you need to get one. You can’t hit a target you can’t see. When I say crystal clear I mean with all the details in it. Imagine if the picture in your mind was like the picture of a car in a magazine. You can see that picture and know what it is. It isn’t fuzzy. If you had to build that car, you may not know how to build it but you do know what it should look like. Your subconscious cannot work with a vague picture. It must be crystal clear. If it is not crystal clear then your subconscious will not work on it.

3. Do you have too many goals in mind at the same time? Pick the 1 you must have and stay focused on that one goal until you have achieved it. That is why you have to pick the most important goal. The key here is focus!
4. If you are obsessed with your goal but are lacking faith in yourself then somehow you will have to find a way to develop faith in yourself and believe you can achieve your goal. We hear people tell us all the time to have faith but no one tells us how to have faith.Keep this in mind. You wouldn’t have thought up your goal if you didn’t have the necessary tools to get the job done. You must believe that. It’s how we are built. Also, you don’t need faith when things are going your way. It can be tough to have faith when every part of your being is fighting against you. How do you develop faith? Start to use affirmations. Tell yourself to proceed and stop worrying HOW it will happen. Just believe it will happen. Tell yourself you will make it happen no matter what! Every day you must reprogram yourself. Repetition is the key.
5. Be patient. If you planted a seed, are you digging it up every chance you get? What do I mean? You get an idea in your mind of a goal you want. You start working on it then get impatient when it doesn’t happen in your time frame. Ideas are like seeds. A farmer doesn’t plant a seed then dig it up every day to see if it is ready to harvest. The farmer nurtures it. They also know for each seed there is a certain period of time for that seed to reach its potential. Instinctively you know this. So I repeat, BE PATIENT. Understand this. The purpose of a goal is to help you grow as a person. You won’t reach your goal until YOU are ready. Think about that. What do you have to do to grow as a person?
6. Answer this question. Who is the problem? You, or is it someone or something outside of yourself? If you didn’t answer you then that is the problem. The solution will always be you. You make things happen. You also can sabotage yourself. Other people can mess with you but you choose your goal. You choose your daily schedule and make the decision to continue on or quit quit. It’s not easy to accept responsibility for our actions. We would rather blame someone or something else for our situation or lack of results or achievement. But as I said previously, the purpose of our goal is to make us grow as a person. What kind of person will you be when you achieve your goal? Learn more about yourself. It will pay big dividends in the long run. That is why I say, the greatest investment you will ever make is in yourself.

If you are still having a hard time trying to hit your goal and have some questions, feel free to email me at jim@jimdiaferio.com.

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How To Get A Raise At Your Job

Are you looking to get a raise at your job? If your answer is yes, then all you have to do is follow this piece of wisdom from the ages: GO THE EXTRA MILE.

I touched upon this topic a few years ago. Like many things in life, it is simple to understand just not easy to do. With regard to working, what it means is that right now you are being paid what your employer thinks you are worth. You may agree with that assessment or not.  However, that is the reality of your situation.  Most people go to work each day and only do what they need to do to get by. If you ask them to do more they say I am not being paid to do that.  When I get paid more I will do more. My answer to that is: If you want to get some heat, you have to first put some wood into the stove.  Doesn’t that make sense?  Well if you want to get a raise, you will first have to find a way to become more valuable to your employer. How? By GOING THE EXTRA MILE!. What does that mean in business?  Let me run an example by you.

You work in a retail store in a mall – On any normal day you may have inventory on display inside your store.  You find out that your regional manager is coming for a visit at the end of the week.  Your boss is a little anxious that their boss is coming to inspect things.  So what can you do to help out? Normally you do what you usually do each day and let your boss worry about his own stuff. However, in this case you ask yourself a question: “What could I do to help my boss look good to the regional manager?”  You start to brainstorm.  How about if you come in early or stayed late a few days without being asked to learn your inventory better, or make sure your inventory was completely accounted for and displayed perfectly each day? You could also check in front of the store to make sure from a distance the place looked clean, your inventory on display was not dusty and the shelves holding them were clean too.  That way when the regional manager showed up at least everything looked great. It would make a good first impression not only to the regional manager but to your boss and your customers.

What’s the key here?  The key is that you asked yourself an important question: “What could you do to help your boss look good to the regional manager?”  Whether you like your boss or not is immaterial.  Let me repeat that.  Whether you like your boss or not is immaterial.  This is where some people get hung up.  I am not going to do anything positive for that S.O.B.  If you have any negative feelings towards your boss I want you to put them aside for your own good. What I want you to think about is creating a new good habit for yourself.  When you create a new good habit that habit belongs to you regardless if you stay where you are or go to another employer.  You own that good habit and no one can take that away form you.

By making your boss look better you become more valuable to your boss and your company.  You may not see any benefit immediately. Have some patience.  Seeds take time to grow.  Every day if you keep asking yourself how you can make things better for your boss and how can you improve your own results you will eventually see things you don’t see now. Have you ever bough a new car and then start noticing that they are all over the place? It works like that. You have expanded your awareness of something and now it is on your radar.

Every boss has plenty of problems to deal with each day.  If you find a problem, don’t bring it to their attention without presenting a well thought out solution.  This is very important.  They have enough problems without solutions.  Don’t add to the pile.  They usually don’t like that.  If they deal with people then they also have enough people problems to deal with each day.  Don’t become another problem person for your boss to deal with. Anyone who can help them solve or at least deal with their business problems and make them look better eventually will reach a point where the boss comes to depend on that person.  That is how people get ahead.

One bit of warning.  When you start to do this, don’t be surprised if your fellow associates do not react favorably towards you.  Why?  Some will think you are brown nosing and make fun of you.  Some will get jealous that the boss is paying more attention to you or favoring you in certain situations.  There are a number of ways your associates may react negatively to your new habit. Just keep this in mind.  How they react is their problem.  Their reaction will display what is inside of them. You’re making them uncomfortable.  Don’t let that deter you from wanting to improve.  At least if you are aware that it may occur, if it does happen you won’t be completely blindsided.

Having said that, try to spend a portion of your day developing the habit of asking yourself how you can make your own performance better and how you can become more valuable to your boss.  I believe you will be pleasantly surprised at the benefits your new habit will generate within a reasonable amount of time.

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Fighting Negativity

It has been said that people are not born negative.  They learn it from their families and environment.  Many of the things that make up our personalities, our ways of thinking, and our beliefs are both inherited and environmental.  You can blame your families and ancestors for helping make you who you are up to age 21.  After age 21, you are considered an adult and from that point on who you become is up to YOU.  You could, but shouldn’t continue blaming your family after age 21.  You would be surprised how often I hear healthy people in their 30’s to 60’s still letting their parents support and take care of them, or blame their parents for the way they are, or their current situation. If this sounds like you then it is time to let it go. Once you reach the age of adulthood you make your own decisions. If you are not happy with the way things are going, then it is up to you to do something positive about it.

Let’s start with the downside to remaining negative.  Having a consistent negative attitude is like climbing a mountain with a backpack on your back loaded with heavy rocks.  You may finally reach the top, but it will take greater effort and chances are you won’t enjoy the summit IF you get there.  It’s time to put the rocks down.  If you can’t let it go, then at least take some of the weight out of the backpack.

In my experience, people who are negative very rarely consider themselves negative.  As a matter of fact, if you ask them do you consider yourself a positive person or a negative person they will usually respond by saying positive.  If anyone suggests otherwise, they are completely taken by surprise.  Self awareness about this subject doesn’t come to a negative person unless it is pointed out by someone who’s opinion they truly respect, or a situation arises that has a permanent deep emotional impact on them.  If you want to try an experiment, ask a few of your co workers, friends and family members if they consider you a positive or negative person.  The answers may surprise you.

So what do you do if one day you realize that maybe you are prone to being negative and that maybe your negativity has been making your life harder?  Here is an example to think about.  You’re not in the best physical condition.  One day you’re sitting home watching tv flipping channels and happen to stop on a station showing a 26 mile marathon being run.  The runners look great.  You would love to be in that kind of shape.  For some time you have been thinking of doing something to make yourself look and feel better.  Watching this marathon is giving you some incentive to get started. You think it would be a great accomplishment if you could become fit enough to run a 26 mile marathon.

As you think about actually getting started, common sense tells you that it will take many months or years to accomplish your goal.  You wouldn’t expect to be able to run a 26 mile marathon within a few weeks if you haven’t run more than 5 minutes at a time in years.  You would start by making a committed decision to finish a 26 mile marathon.  Then you would set a future date you believed was reasonable in order to train and develop enough physically to complete the marathon.  Doesn’t that make sense?  Without realizing it you began making a plan to accomplish your goal.  You could visualize yourself crossing the finish line.

Use the same thought pattern when it comes to improving your negative attitude. Start by making a committed decision to improve your attitude.  Define the finish line.  Next, do something small each day that will move you in the direction of your goal until you get up to speed and feel you can handle more and more.  What can you start with?  Pick up a book that has a positive subject.  Decide how much time each day you will spend reading it.  As a suggestion. If you read 15 minutes per day you can read approximately 20 books per year.  If you don’t like to read, then spend that time watching a video online or a positive tv show.  Another thing you can do is seek out someone you think is positive and make it a priority to spend more time with that person.  If you are hanging around with negative people, work on spending less time with them.  Keep this in mind.  You take on the qualities of the people you spend the majority of your time with.  Spend it with people who are more positive and it will rub off on you.

You have to get out of your comfort zone.  Fighting the impulse to spend more time staying in what I call the “dark side” will depend on how strong the negativity is in you.  On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being not much and 10 being very strong, where are you on that scale?  Regardless of how strong it is in you, if you make a committed decision then you have taken the first step.  When I say committed decision I mean the kind of decision that is emotional.  You WILL complete what you set out to do.  NO excuses.  That is a committed decision.  It’s not easy to make a committed decision.  As a matter of fact, don’t be surprised if after you make one you instantly feel terror!  That is pretty normal.  Sometimes it can be very scary to make that kind of commitment.  Especially if you haven’t been good at making or keeping commitments in the past.  Fight off the fear and press on.  Successful people also feel fear.  What they do different is keep on keeping on.  For most of us it is a daily battle to overcome negative attitudes.  In some ways, it’s like battling an addiction.  There will be days when you may slip off the wagon.  Start over again.  Don’t give up.  Don’t quit.  The negative attitude may never completely disappear from your life, but if you can keep moving forward and stick with it the rewards will be worth the effort.

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“Think and Grow Rich”

“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill has influenced the lives of many people ever since it was first published in 1937.  This weekend marks the 130th anniversary of his birth.  If you haven’t had an opportunity to read it, I would recommend you do.

In summary, the book dicusses the common denominators of 500 of the most successful people during his lifetime. People like Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller.

The philosophies in “Think and Grow Rich” are as valid today as they were when the book was first published.  Imagine being able to sit at a table with people like Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Paul MacCartney, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Ralph Lauren, David Geffen and the Dalai Lama to name just a few of today’s most successful people.  What do you think you could learn from them by asking questions and listening to their way of thinking?  Do you think your time spent with them would be valuable?

One thing I want to stress.  Regardless of the title, “Think and Grow Rich” is not meant to be thought of only in terms of making money. Not everyone is interested in becoming financially rich as their main goal in life. “Think and Grow Rich” can serve as a blueprint for how to achieve any goal.

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Why Can’t I Find Or Keep Good Employees?

I often hear that question from a number of managers and business owners. They seem very perplexed as to why they can’t attract good people to work for them or keep them once they find them.  The answer I give them is pretty simple but it is not what they expect or want to hear.

If a business owner or manager wants to attract and keep good employees then the manager or business owner must be the one to change. Good people don’t want to work for a bad boss.  A bad boss will never build a great team.  Anyone can be a boss.  Not many people become leaders.  Becoming a leader requires more than just being the person in charge.

The key lies in the manager or business owner realizing that the solution will not come from the outside only from within.  As the manager or business owner grows in awareness, they will see their employee situation improve.

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Let It Be You

Today, I want to share with you an article from author and speaker Jim Rohn. I think you will find it very informative and motivating.

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Each and every day, there are people all around the country and world who are living their dreams. Millionaires are made every day. Families are experiencing tremendous relationships. People are becoming more and more healthy. Lifelong learners are growing intellectually and improving their chances for success.

The fact is that living the life of your dreams is possible. People prove that every day. Someone somewhere is going to get rich, get healthy and improve their life. My recommendation is this: Let it be you!

Have you ever wanted to make more money? Have you ever looked at someone who has money and wished that it could be you? People think about getting wealthy all of the time, when only a small percentage actually does. But any of the masses could. Someone is going to start a business. Someone is going to make a great investment. Someone is going to begin the journey to great wealth. So why not let it be you?

Someone is going to decide to improve their relationships. Someone is going to enjoy love with their family. Someone is going to schedule some meaningful time with their friends. So why not let it be you?

Someone is going to go back to school to improve their life. Someone is going to become a lifelong learner. Someone is going to set a goal to read a book or listen to a CD each week for the next year. So why not let it be you?

Someone is going to look in the mirror and see that they need to lose a little weight and they will make the decision to become healthy. Someone will run their first marathon. Someone will join an aerobics class and improve their health. Why not let it be you?

I think that by now you get the point: Every day people are improving their lives. Whether you do or not doesn´t matter to those who do. They are going to do it, regardless. It is simply a matter of a decision being made. Let that person be you!

You may be asking, “Okay, but how?” Well, let´s cover the very simple actions.

The first and most important is to make a commitment to work on yourself. Are you going to improve or stay the same? No matter what you have achieved, you are at a certain point right now. What you have achieved in the past is fine, but it doesn´t make a difference for the future. The decision about what you will become is made each day and every day. Each day someone is making the decision to better him or herself. Let that person be you!

The second is to make a plan. Once you have decided to become better you will have to have a plan. It doesn´t have to be a long, intricate plan. It can be simple. Save a dollar a day. Walk a mile a day. Read an article a day. That is a simple plan with achievable goals. Someone is going to develop a plan that will take them into the future of their dreams. Let it be you!

The third is to begin to act. All of the great ideas, without action, become stale and useless. The key to turning dreams into reality is action. People who have great ideas are a dime a dozen. People who act on their dreams and ideas are the select few, but they are the ones who gain the wealth and wisdom that is available. Someone will act today. Let it be you.

My encouragement to you is to stop looking at others who live the good life, wishing that you were as well, and instead begin to commit to your improvement, develop a plan and act on it. Someone is going to. Let it be you!

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Staying Focused During The Summer

There are certain times of the year when it becomes easier for us to lose our focus. The beginning of summer is one of them. We get sidetracked with wanting to cut out early from work, go to the beach or lake, take vacations, daily or weekend activities for the kids now that they are out of school, holidays like The 4th Of July, BBQ’s, etc. I am already hearing people coming up with some wonderful excuses for not prospecting, or getting their paperwork in on time, lightening up on their networking or marketing activities, or laying off their exercise routines. If that is starting to happen to you then I have a few suggestions.

Start by asking yourself this question. What goal do I want to accomplish over the next 6-12-18 months? If you haven’t got a goal then maybe this is a good time to start seriously thinking about one. You don’t want to drift through life. Drifting is a bad habit. No matter what goal you decide upon keep a few things in mind. First, your goal should be big enough to make you uncomfortable. You grow when you are uncomfortable and goals are meant to make you grow. Second, make sure you are crystal clear about your goal. It is hard to hit a target you can’t see clearly.

If you have a worthy goal, then take another look at it and ask yourself why did I pick that particular goal? It is important to answer that question because if your why is not strong enough, it won’t take much to get you off track. Weak whys produce weak results.

Even during the summer, try to do something each day that will move you in the direction of your goal.

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