power=mastermind-principle-hands-together-teamwork

Short Inspirational Quotes To Improve Teamwork

Does Teamwork Make The Dream Work? Yes it does! If you want to be successful at anything, you need a team. It’s just overwhelmingly difficult to make it to the top by yourself. As I have written in past blogs, your WHY needs to come from deep down inside you, it needs to be large and emotional. The goal that you are working towards accomplishing has to be worthwhile. It must be realistic, however large enough to scare you. That is to say, difficult to obtain. Life is gonna throw too many obstacles and challenges at you to accomplish the goal by yourself. I’ve included some short inspirational quotes to help you succeed.

We always went into the jungle as teams. I was part of a 10 man team that was deployed to South America and lived in the jungle. In the military, I was part of a unit that had a mission to accomplish and could only be done as a team. During my law enforcement career, I always had a partner but most importantly, we were part of a bigger team that worked the streets. Whenever we would conduct an enforcement operation, for example, we always went out with a minimum of six team members. You will see from reading these inspirational quotes of people from all walks of society that being a part of a team is important if you want to succeed.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” – Napoleon Hill

Teamwork Wins Championships

Inspirational Quotes From Sports

On sports teams, one player cannot win it all by himself or herself. Even in individual sports, for instance, golf, the player and the caddy make up a team. You cannot motivate yourself to perform to the same level a teammate will inspire you to. Teams win championships, not individuals. One of the greatest basketball players of all time, Michael Jordan, couldn’t win a championship by himself. He needed championship type players around him. The Chicago Bulls couldn’t win a championship until they formed a complete team around Jordan with players such as Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, then they won it all. Read inspirational quotes from champions on your journey .

In the NFL, the New England Patriots were not awarded all of their Super Bowl rings by relying only on Tom Brady. They continually brought on championship type players to surround Brady and let him work his magic. Their success has inspired other teams to do the same. In baseball, to win the World Series, teams must have great pitching, hitting, and fielding. The US women’s national soccer team is viewed as one of the greatest in the world because they have won several world cups. Mostly due to the depth of talent they have on that team. These great players all work together in harmony to achieve their goals. I love this inspirational quote below from Abby Wambach. It really sums up teamwork.

One Of The Best

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth 

 “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson 

The View Is Magnificent

The Teams That Motivated Me

I have been part of a team for most of my life. It started with youth sports, Little League, and high school sports. Next, I became part of a team when I joined the military, as well as afterward when I was hired by DEA. Wherever I worked we were always surrounded by inspirational quotes in the office.

Whenever that moment came that I moved on and left the team, I always missed the comradery the most. The hardest part of deciding to retire from DEA was knowing that I wasn’t going to be part of that team anymore.

I was on that team for almost 27 years and it was extremely hard for me to realize that that part of my life was over. The long hours, hardships we faced, and failures we endured were made easier by having my teammates around me. The successes were more joyous and memorable by sharing them with my teammates.

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie

There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.” – George Shinn 

Form Your Team For Inspiration

If you find yourself all alone on your journey, I encourage you to go form a team. Find people who will be inspirational to you. It is said that two horses pulling together should be able to pull twice as much weight as a single horse. The truth is that two horses, pulling as a team, can actually pull three times the weight. If those two horses trained together as a team, then they can pull as much as four times the weight.

According to “The Book Of Drafts Horses: The Gentle Giants That Built the World”, a pair of Shire horses pulled around 50 tons (100K pounds) of logs:

Shire breed horses pulling a heavy load of logs

By forming or joining a team it will make your journey to success easier, faster, and less frustrating. It’s a lot easier to quit on yourself than it is to quit on a team. When you’re looking for a team, Firstly, look for people who are like-minded as you and are always uplifting. Next, take a deep long look at the team that you’re currently on, mainly your coworkers, family, and friends. Evaluate your team to see if they are supportive and invested in your success or are they negative and insincere.

“None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.” – Mother Teresa

Who Inspires You The Most?

Look at the people in your life and you will see that you can fit them into one of two categories; wind or anchors. People that are in the wind category are always filling your sails and moving you forward. They are motivating and inspirational. People in the anchor category are the ones that stop your forward progress, keep you from moving anywhere, and if they wrap around you, can drag you to the bottom of the ocean and drown you. These anchors will have to be cut out of your life, at least temporarily, until you are not affected by them.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” – Henry Ford

As you continue on your journey you will build your confidence to a level where you are no longer affected by other people’s opinions of you. In a previous post titled, A Flying Rat’s Ass, I wrote about not letting other people’s opinions affect you. For instance, if someone else’s opinions or words negatively affect you and stop you from accomplishing your goals, then you value the other person’s opinion more than you do yourself.

Your Team Can Be Anywhere

Inspiration From Business Leaders

Whenever you see a successful person on TV always remember that there was a team behind that person that got them there. But, you rarely see the entire team, just the face of the business such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Jeff Bezos. But you can rest assured that there was a team of like-minded people with them. This team was focused on the mission and worked together to become successful. No one accomplishes anything worthwhile alone.

Even something so sequestered as writing a blog is made up of a team. While I sit here alone, hacking away at my keyboard, I have a whole team of people in the blogging community helping me out. I surround myself with quotes of inspirational and motivational sayings. You provide me inspiration to continue and tips to make me better. This community has shared my words and helped grow my following, for that I’m much appreciative. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Final Thoughts

 “Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” – Patrick Lencioni

The next step is to simply go find a mentor and form that championship team that will accelerate your road to success. I will provide many inspirational quotes in my posts that you can use and share with others. We are all here for you.

Do you have any favorite inspirational quotes? If so, I would love to here them. Send me your quotes, advice, tips, or links to helpful groups or sites in the comments section below. If you have any questions or requests for topics I would love to hear them. If you like this post, click on the little star and feel free to share it with others it might help. As always, my posts are based on lessons I’ve learned throughout my life. I don’t claim to be an expert or professional therapist, I just play one on TV (some of you might get that joke).

Climb Aboard

“This Train Is Moving on, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving on! We Are Going to the Top of the Mountain!”

Sharing

I believe in the power of sharing. If I read a good blog that speaks to me and I believe it will provide value to others, I will share it. I have linked four books that I believe have value. To change you, you first have to change the way you think. Leaders Are Readers!

I still enjoy sitting by the pool or on my sofa with a good book. It doesn’t matter the genre, fiction, history, biographies, and motivational. I enjoy the quiet time I get with just me and my book. But we live in a fast pace society today where sometimes we need to combine our tasks. Do you find yourself short on time? Are you constantly saying, where did the time go? You are not alone. I believe that we all feel like we don’t have enough time to get everything accomplished and what usually suffers is “me time.” “Me time” is especially important to all of us.

I Love A Good Shortcut

A shortcut that I have found helpful is my Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership. I listen to books on audible while I’m doing other things. I can listen while getting dressed, while I’m working out, and even while I’m preparing dinner for my family. It is a great way to get my reading in even when I have a full to-do list that I have received from the Mrs. She doesn’t take kindly to me ignoring her to-do list while I catch up on my reading.

With an Audible Membership, it’s a win-win for both of us. I can download great books on this and listen to them with my AirPods.   I use my AirPods every time I exercise. They don’t fall out and the sound is great. With Kindle, I can download books, magazines, and my daughters can even download their college textbooks. This is so much easier than carrying a heavy backpack full of textbooks around campus. The books can be downloaded to any device and read with the Kindle app.

Don’t Miss Out On This Deal

Both the Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership are currently offering a 30-day free trial. You can sign up by clicking on the links and give it a test drive for 30 days free. If you find it’s not for you, simply cancel your membership before your 30 days are up and you won’t be charged.

Do you know someone who is always in a hurry and can’t seem to take time for themselves? We all do. I would suggest checking out giving an Audible Membership as a gift. It is a great gift idea for someone who is always on the go.

Inspirational Books Full Of Quotes

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. A book that will change your life. It answers the question, Why do some people have everything and others struggle? The answer is simple, they know the secret. It has changed my life and can change yours.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This is an oldie but goodie that is full of relevant life lessons. It is a book that you hear speaker after speaker refer to. Successful people all have the same mentality and know you have to change the way you think to be successful. Only one percent of people set goals.

Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind And Defy The Odds by David Goggins. I enjoyed reading this book and I found it very relatable. If you want to become more than you are today, read this book. After you finish there will be no excuses. David is just an ordinary guy who made the decision to be extraordinary and was determined.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. A must-read for anyone wanting to change their habits. A great book for managers and leaders. Covey teaches you how to transform your thoughts to not only help you but also to help others. These are 7 principles to incorporate into your life.

I appreciate every like, follow, comment, and share. Keep’em coming.

The Beginning

I always enjoy the beginning. Where I live, here in South Florida, May 18th, was the day that we saw the lockdown and stay-at-home order brought on by COVID-19 begin to be lifted. Businesses were able to open including gyms (no gyms opened for some reason) and restaurants at 50 percent capacity. We haven’t been hit as hard as New York City or other parts of the world, so things will not change dramatically for us. We have been able to go outside, and exercise; most businesses have remained open.

I look forward to being able to resume my weekly Friday night date with my wife. It will be nice to return to our neighborhood Italian restaurant and actually be able to sit down and enjoy a meal. I wrote earlier about the anxiety caused by the pandemic and how the adversity of the situation also created opportunities.

The Beginning of Hope

As each day passes we seem to get closer to living the lives we lived at the beginning of the year. My offline businesses are beginning to come alive again and I’m seeing more work. This is good because these are what pay the bills and puts food on the table. I’m glad I took full advantage of the opportunities presented to me and started my online business. I love to commence a new project but it can be frightening. I know now that I will have to manage my time better in order to keep everything on track with my businesses and also provide time for myself and my family.

That First Step

I always enjoy the beginning. The beginning of a relationship, meeting a new person who you know will become a good friend, starting to read a good book. To me, the beginning of anything is always exciting. I’m filled with joy and anticipation when a new football season kicks off. It excites me to begin a new challenge. I love the feeling of nervousness and wonderment I get when I ask myself, “Can I really do this?”

I start a new business with the excitement of all the possibilities if it succeeds. I’m quickly filled with feelings of frustration and doubt as I have to learn so many new things. As I quickly overcome my fears, it just adds to the excitement of beginning something new. Starting projects are fine, but nothing compares with finding true love. I don’t know if I’ve ever found any better feeling than beginning a relationship with someone that you know will be there for the rest of your life.

That Beautiful Feeling

I wrote last week about The Fateful Day That Changed My Life and how I met my wife. I’ll never forget that euphoric feeling when I first realized I was in love with her. I was walking on clouds for months and wanted to be with her all the time. She was always in my mind when she wasn’t there and would smell her perfume constantly. I felt sad when I couldn’t be with her. When I would first see her after being apart for some time, I was intoxicated by her beauty. Over time those rapturous, exhilarating feelings weren’t there but the feeling of love has remained, even after 28 years.

True Love

The beginning of anything that we do is exciting. For me, it’s exciting because it’s a time filled with possibilities. These possibilities are endless and keep our minds from focusing on the nervousness, frustrations, and fear of beginning to learn anything new. Once you begin anything there are no guarantees of success. It’s going to take hard work and persistence. If you don’t feel happy and excited about your new venture, then you’ll never start it. The fear of failure will prevent you from ever taking that first step.

7 Habits

The excitement and the anticipation of the success you will have will help you to control that fear and choke out those little “Doubt Demons” that are hiding and waiting to come out. As Stephen R. Covey wrote in his best-selling book, The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind.” Begin your business, relationships, or projects with a vision of the outcome you will achieve. I didn’t begin my relationship with my wife thinking, “I hope this doesn’t end in divorce.” We would grow old together. I don’t start a business wondering if it’s going to work. Of course, it’s going to be a success and I can visualize all the people that I’m going to help with it.

How do we keep going after those initial feelings of excitement fade? How do we keep our relationships spontaneous and joyful once we settle into our daily routine? Here are a few tips I can offer:

  1. Don’t take your partner for granted. Appreciate every day because we are never promised another.
  2. Enjoy the journey. The view from the top of the mountain is magnificent, just don’t ignore all the beauty that you pass by on the way to the top.
  3. Be thankful. Openly express gratitude for what you’ve been given even when you’re facing some of life’s challenges.
  4. Follow the Golden rule. Treat your significant other as you would want them to treat you.
  5. Write down your goals together as a couple. Discuss your hopes and dreams and construct a plan to make it happen.
  6. Always begin and end each day with love and gratitude.
  7. Do something new that neither you nor your partner has done before. Get out of your comfort zone.
  8. Take long walks and enjoy each other’s company and conversation.
  9. Travel and make new memories. You will live tomorrow on the memories you make today.
  10. Always remember WHY you started in the first place. I’ll never forget the first time I ever saw my wife.

Even though excitement and euphoria fade, whether it be a new job, a new opportunity, or new relationship, you don’t quit on it. You don’t get rid of your car right after it loses that “new car smell.” You honor your commitment to it. Those feelings when you first start something are very thin and fragile. They fade away all too quickly. It’s the true feelings down deep inside you that give you the strength to weather the storms.

Final Thoughts

Do you have any tips or techniques that’s helped you maintain your relationship? How long has that initial euphoria lasted for you? For me, it’s lasted about two or three months. Please leave a comment below. If you have any questions or requests for topics I would love to hear them. If you like this post, click on the little star and feel free to share it with others it might help. As always, my posts are based on lessons I’ve learned throughout my life. I don’t claim to be an expert or professional therapist, I just play one on TV (some of you might actually get that joke).

“This Train Is Moving on, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving on! We Are Going to the Top of the Mountain!”

Sharing

I believe in the power of sharing. If I read a good blog that really speaks to me and I believe it will provide value to others, I will share it. I have linked four books that I believe have value. In order to change you, you first have to change the way you think. Leaders Are Readers!

Sitting by the pool or on my sofa with a good book is something I still enjoy. I read all kinds of books, fiction, history, biographies, and motivational. I enjoy the quiet time I get with just me and my book. But we live in a fast pace society today where sometimes we need to combine our tasks. Do you find yourself short on time? Are you constantly saying, where did the time go? You are not alone.

I believe that we all feel like we don’t have enough time to get everything accomplished and what usually suffers is “me time.” “Me time” is especially important to all of us. A shortcut that I have found helpful is my Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership.

I listen to books on audible while I’m doing other things. I can listen while getting dressed, while I’m working out, and even while I’m preparing dinner for my family. It is a great way to get my reading in even when I have a full to-do list that I have received from my wife. She doesn’t take kindly to me ignoring her to-do list while I catch up on my reading.

An Audible Membership, it’s a win-win for both of us. I can download great books on this and listen to them with my AirPods.   I use my AirPods every time I exercise. They don’t fall out and the sound is great. With Kindle, I can download books, magazines, and my daughters can even download their college textbooks. This is so much easier than carrying a heavy backpack full of textbooks around campus. The books can be downloaded to any device and read with the Kindle app.

Both the Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership are currently offering a 30 day free trial. You can sign up by clicking on the links and give it a test drive for 30 days free. If you find it’s not for you, simply cancel your membership before your 30 days are up and you won’t be charged.

Do you know someone who is always in a hurry and can’t seem to take time for themselves? We all do. I would suggest checking out giving an Audible Membership as a gift. It is a great gift idea for someone who is always on the go.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. A book that will change your life. It answers the question, Why do some people have everything and others struggle? The answer is simple, they know the secret. It has changed my life and can change yours.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This is an oldie but goodie that is full of relevant life lessons. It is a book that you hear speaker after speaker referred to. Successful people all have the same mentality and know you have to change the way you think to be successful. Only one percent of people set goals.

Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind And Defy The Odds by David Goggins. I really enjoyed reading this book and I found it very relatable. If you want to become more than you are today, read this book. After you finish there will be no excuses. David is just an ordinary guy who made the decision to be extraordinary and was determined.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. A must-read for anyone wanting to change their habits. A great book for managers and leaders. Covey teaches you how to transform your thoughts to not on help you, but also to help others. These are 7 principles to definitely incorporate into your life.

I appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.

Persistence

In my last post, Success Doesn’t Wear a Watch, I talked about the WHY, and how your WHY HAS to be big and emotional. You have to dig down deep to pull out your WHY. Why do we want to do anything? Why did I want to start a new business doing something I’d never done before? At my age, why would I tackle something that I had no experience doing, or, I thought, that I had no skills to be good at it? I had to keep asking myself WHY, over and over again, until I found the answer. My answer came from deep down, it was emotional. I felt that millions of people could use my knowledge, experiences, and lessons that I have learned while traveling around the sun 59 times. That is my WHY. I will help millions of people to be happier, lead better lives, and pull out those gifts from God that everyone is born with. In turn, every person that I help will help millions of others. When I take my last trip around the sun, I will do it with a smile on my face knowing that I played this game of life and I have left it all out on the field. Persistence will get me there.

I have gotten to where I am and will get to where I’m going all because of one word, persistence. I just kept moving forward. You see, the journey to accomplishing your goals and being successful is not linear. It doesn’t happen in a straight line. You move up, then you stumble. You get back up, brush yourself off, and start off again. Some days I get out of bed and I feel so energetic that I don’t think my feet touched the ground all day and I take great leaps forward. On other days I move forward in smaller steps and there are a few days where my journey gets blocked and they make no progress. My journey to where I got to today has followed this path: set a goal; make a plan; work the plan; fail; learn; redirect my efforts; succeed. This path repeats the failures become less frequent, my learning increases, my plan becomes better, and I succeed. You will face a similar path on your journey to success. I believe the number one attribute that you need to have in order to succeed is persistence. You just have to continue to work on your plan persistently until you see small victories. If you are persistent and you will rejoice in your failures instead of using them as reasons to quit. You will start to look at failures as opportunities and you will learn from each failure. Take the lessons you learn, look at your plan, and rework it if necessary. Look deep inside yourself and make sure you are doing everything you need to be doing to succeed.

“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 alone will not. The world is filled with educated derelicts. PERSISTENCE AND DETERMINATION ALONE ARE OMNIPOTENT.”

-Calvin Coolidge

Everyone who has ever accomplished anything has been persistent. Thomas Edison went through thousands of failed experiments before he invented the light bulb. Sir James Dyson went through over 5000 prototypes before he perfected his best-selling vacuum cleaner. Famous author, Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times before it was published. King actually quit writing and threw the manuscript in the garbage. Luckily, his wife retrieved it and he persisted until he became a published author. We look at successful people as they are after they become successful. What we don’t see is what it took for them to succeed. If we could meet them before they are famous, then we would see they are no different than you and me. They were just persistent. They believed in their dream and they worked at it every day. They went through failures, just like us, they learned from them and kept going. If you’re WHY is big enough you will be persistent. You will do something, fail, learn, get up and keep moving forward. Be persistent in your daily activities until you succeed.

We went on an operation in the jungle to destroy a cocaine lab that was in a very remote place. The jungle was so thick that the helicopters couldn’t drop us off close to the alleged location of the lab. They hovered several feet above a cocoa field on the top of a ridge. We jumped out and headed down a very steep embankment. The ground was soft and it was hard to stay on our feet. When we got to the bottom of the ridge, we entered the thickest, darkest jungle I had seen. Everything you touched was wet and covered in insects. As we walked in a small stream, I placed my hand on a fallen tree to steady myself as I ducked under it. I immediately felt the burning sensation of thousands of ant bites. We searched for the lab for over an hour to no avail and realized that the informant had lied to us. We were all exhausted but still had to make the climb to the top of the ridge where the helicopters could pick us up. I had carried a lot of explosives in my bag that day and had planned on getting rid of them by blowing up the lab. Since there was no lab to use the explosives on,  I had to carry all that weight back up the ridge. As I climbed the ridge got steeper and at one point I was on my belly grabbing anything I could to pull myself a little higher. At one point I grabbed what I thought was a plant and begin pulling myself up. It wasn’t a plant, but a root that came out of the ground and jabbed me in the eye puncturing a hole in my eyelid. On top of being exhausted, I now had blood in one of my eyes and couldn’t see out of it. It was only through persistence that I made it to the top of the ridge and into the helicopter where I could get patched up.

Peru 1989

Be persistent every day in your journey. Don’t let anything distract you from obtaining your goals and work on your plan every day. Remember the path to success is not a straight line in, there will be road bumps along the way. If you fail, smile, remember your WHY, learn from your failure, and know you are close to your success. BE PERSISTENT.

quotes-time-passing-watch -on-a-rock

Success Doesn’t Wear A Watch

Why do we do anything? Why did the colonists declare independence from Great Britain? Why do inventors invent things? Why did we want to send men to walk on the moon? If you are a follower of my blogs or follow me on social media then you know that the WHY is the most important thing to me when taking on any challenge. The WHY is what gets you out of bed in the morning, it gives you the courage to face even the greatest challenges, and it is the one thing that will keep you going when you want to quit. Everyone’s WHY is different. Your WHY has to be big, bigger than any reason you could think of to quit. Your WHY has to be emotional, it has to invoke a feeling deep inside of you. My WHY is that I want to help millions of people live better lives. I want to give them hope and spark a fire within them that anything is possible. It does not matter how long it will take, success doesn’t wear a watch.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

My youngest daughter was helping me set up my social media pages yesterday and we were talking about why I wanted to start an online business. I told her that I will help millions of people. She then replied with that age-old saying, “if you help only one, then it will be a success.” I told her that was a saying that people tell themselves when they want to feel good about failure. If I only help one person, then for me that isn’t good enough. I will be happy for that one person but I will know I didn’t do enough to make my dream of helping millions come true. Helping one person is not emotional, it doesn’t require hard work, it is not a big enough mountain to climb. Helping one person is a start, the first step on my journey to help millions.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Is your reason, your WHY, big enough? Are you where you want to be in life? If not, are you at least heading in the right direction? Do you have dreams, goals, or plans? I can give you all the tools to get you everything you want out of life. The one thing I cannot give you is a WHY. Your WHY is personal. My WHY won’t get you out of bed in the morning or keep you going when things get hard. Your WHY will. I was having this discussion with my daughters the other day, and I told them that I could give them everything they needed to be successful in whatever they wanted to do. I just couldn’t or wouldn’t do it for them. They would have to do that for themselves, whether they succeeded or failed was up to them. When I’m on my deathbed, I will look at my family and know I have done everything possible for them to succeed. I will have no regrets because I will know I have done everything I could do during my time on earth to help as many people as I could.

I was listening to a speech that Denzel Washington gave at a college graduation, which I provided a link to. In this speech, he talked about his life and his many failures. When you go from failure to failure to failure you can begin to think of yourself as a loser. He said, “you are not a loser, you just haven’t figured out how to win yet.” If things aren’t working out for you, it’s not you, because you have greatness inside. You just haven’t figured out how to pull that greatness out and win. Find somebody who has accomplished the same thing you want to accomplish and do what they do. Search through YouTube, take an online course, or hire someone with the knowledge to help you. Just don’t leave that greatness inside of you.

Like your greatness, 90% of the iceberg is not seen.

Success is like a radio dial and you have to tune it to the right frequency. Before cars were computerized and had a wide variety of entertainment options for us, all we had was the radio. You had to turn the dial on the radio to find the exact frequency of the station that played the music you wanted to listen to. In between the stations all you heard was static. To hear the station clear, you had to make very fine adjustments to dial it in. When we would drive across country, we could go hours without being able to dial into a station. It was only when we got close to a town with a radio tower that we could dial in the right frequency and listen. Sometimes you could only find one station and you had to listen to whatever genre of music they played. If you stopped turning the dial before you reached the right frequency, you never heard the music. If you stop what you’re doing right before you hit the right frequency for success, then you will never experience what it feels like to win. Take a good hard look at what you’re doing, if you’re not having success, you need to change something. It might be your mindset, your habits, or your plan. It might be that you’re almost on the right frequency and just need to tweak it a little. I heard a story once of a football coach who took over a losing team and he told the team that the reason they weren’t having success was because they didn’t know how to practice. Most players just go through the motions during practice and don’t give it their all. Players on championship teams practice like champions. Everything you do, do it like the champion you are. Don’t just go through the motions.

Dialing in Success
Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash

If you’ve read any of my past blogs you know that I’m not in my 20s, not particularly skilled at writing, and pretty much out of my comfort zone dealing with anything that has to do with computers or the Internet. This is new to me and I’ve taken it upon myself to educate myself. I read the blogs that I follow and they teach me something new every day. The terminology is different and I’m constantly having to look up words and phrases I’ve never used before. Computer code and analytics are foreign to me. I just keep hacking away until I get it right, it’s a slow process. Building any kind of business can take time and you can’t worry if things are not happening fast enough. As long as you don’t quit, eventually you will be successful. Just concentrate on your WHY and don’t worry about the time. Success does not wear a watch.

“This Train Is Moving ON, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving ON! We Are Going to the TOP of the Mountain!”

Sharing

I believe in the power of sharing. If I read a good blog that really speaks to me and I believe it will provide value to others, I will share it. I have linked four books that I believe have value. In order to change you, you first have to change the way you think. Leaders Are Readers!

I still enjoy sitting by the pool or on my sofa with a good book. I read all kinds of books, fiction, history, biographies, and motivational. I enjoy the quiet time I get with just me and my book. But we live in a fast pace society today where sometimes we need to combine our tasks. Do you find yourself short on time? Are you constantly saying, where did the time go? You are not alone. I believe that we all feel like we don’t have enough time to get everything accomplished and what usually suffers is me time. A shortcut that I have found helpful is my Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership. I listen to books on audible while I’m doing other things. I can listen while getting dressed, while I’m working out, and even while I’m preparing dinner for my family. It is a great way to get my reading in even when I have a full to do list that I have received from the Mrs. She doesn’t take kindly to me ignoring her to do list while I catch up on my reading. With an Audible Membership it’s a win-win for both of us. I can download great books on this and listen to them with my AirPods.   I use my AirPods every time I exercise. They don’t fall out and the sound is great. With Kindle I can download books, magazines, and my daughters can even download their college textbooks. This is so much easier than carrying a heavy backpack full of textbooks around campus. The books can be downloaded to any device and read with the Kindle app.

Both the Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership are currently offering a 30 day free trial. You can sign up by clicking on the links and give it a test drive for 30 days free. If you find it’s not for you, simply cancel your membership before your 30 days are up and you won’t be charged.

Do you know someone who is always in a hurry and can’t seem to take time for themselves? We all do. I would suggest checking out giving an Audible Membership as a gift. It is a great gift idea for someone who is always on the go.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. A book that will change your life. It answers the question, Why do some people have everything and others struggle? The answer is simple, they know the secret. It has changed my life and can change yours.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This is an oldie but goodie that is full of relevant life lessons. It is a book that you hear speaker after speaker refer to. Successful people all have the same mentality and know you have to change the way you think to be successful. Only one percent of people set goals.

Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind And Defy The Oddsby David Goggins. I really enjoyed read this book and I found it very relatable. If you want to become more than you are today, read this book. After you finish there will be no excuses. David is just an ordinary guy who made the decision to be extraordinary and was determined.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. A must read for anyone wanting to change their habits. A great book for managers and leaders. Covey teaches you how to transform your thoughts to not on help you but also to help others. These are 7 principles to definitely incorporate into your life.

I appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.

Daily Dose for The Soul — Be Inspired..!!

I’m sharing this post from Empress2inspire because I was touched when I read it this morning. She has a wonderful website filled with inspirational and informative content.

The Higher Soul & I am Jesus says in John 14:6, “I AM the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The Lord Jesus literally means that I AM or higher soul within you is the way, the truth and the life. “The Divine Father” here […]

Daily Dose for The Soul — Be Inspired..!!

The Art Of Moving Forward

How To Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

We all face challenges every day. In my post, A Flying Rat’s Ass, I talk about how life is constantly throwing obstacles at us that we must overcome. Why is it that so many people never overcome these challenges and remain the same? Others overcome great odds to change their life and live the life the Bible tells us is possible. It is a life of happiness and abundance. Why can’t we all do that? The answer is simple, comfort. Our current situation, no matter how bad it may be, is comfortable. Once it becomes so uncomfortable that we can’t stand it, only then do we take the steps to do something about it. There is a story about a man who walks into a store and sees a dog laying on the floor. The dog will moan and squirm just a little then lay still for a while. The dog keeps moaning and squirming the whole time the man is in the store. As the man is purchasing his goods, he asks the shopkeeper, “what’s wrong with your dog?” The shopkeeper replies, “nothing, he’s just laying on a nail.” The man says, “then why doesn’t he move?” The shopkeeper answers, “because he’s just not uncomfortable enough yet. When it becomes so uncomfortable he can’t stand it, he’ll go live someplace else.”

Photo by Александр Македонский on Pexels.com

As humans, we gravitate towards comfort, we like to be in situations that make us feel good. Sometimes, we will forget about the bad things going on in our life so that we can remain feeling comfortable. Those bad things, no matter what they are, must be locked in a closet so that we can pretend our lives are comfortable. It is called a comfort zone for a reason because it is a warm and fuzzy place that makes us feel good. When we have things such as mounting debt, are involved in a toxic relationship, or are fighting an addiction, those things can be painful for a short period of time. We then have to forget about them to get back to our comfort zone. Just like the dog in the story, it is only when it becomes so uncomfortable that we can’t stand it that we do something about it.

In order to move forward, we have to make the uncomfortable comfortable. That means we have to face the demons in our lives and defeat them. We have to make a decision to change the things in our lives that have got us to where we are now and accept that we are worthy and deserving of a better life. If you are doing the same daily routine, whether it’s working or not, it becomes your comfort zone. If you want to change your situation, you have to leave that comfort zone and venture out to places you’re not familiar with. The jungle is a place where the vegetation is so thick that you literally can’t see someone standing five feet away from you. When we were walking through the jungle it was comfortable to walk on a path. Many times though, the paths didn’t lead to our destination and we would have to cut our way through the jungle to get there. This was uncomfortable, slow, and painful but we eventually arrived. The more we had to do this, the more comfortable and routine it became. When you venture out of your comfort zone, at first it can be frightening, but eventually, your new routine becomes comfortable. You know your destination and you don’t care whether your new routine is showing results or not. If you believe in your heart that what you’re doing is the right thing for you then the results will come.

The art of moving forward is simple, you just can’t go backward. If you’re standing with your back to a wall, there’s no other place to go except forward. In the jungle, we always moved forward. If we turned around and tried to go back, we would’ve probably got lost. Yesterday I listened to the podcast, The Quote of the Day Show by Sean Croxton. He played a clip from a seminar given by Bob Proctor in which he talked about the story of “Burning the Ships.” This story has been told many times and has different versions. Bob researched the story and found out that in 711 A.D. a man named Tariq ibn Ziyad traveled from Arabia to Northwest Africa. When he arrived he recruited a group of Moors and Berbers and he had them build wooden ships. He then sailed across the small body of water that separates Northwest Africa from Spain. When they arrived, he ordered all the men off the ships and set fire to the ships. He then went ashore and told his people that they had a choice. They could go forward to victory or they could go back to the ocean and drown. He led his men to capture Spain against ridiculous odds and rule Spain for a little over 500 years.

We all have the same decision to make in our lives. Are we going to move forward to victory or are we going back to our old lives and drown? Once you make the decision to change your life, you will find yourself in an uncomfortable place. You will have to develop new routines and maybe even have to cut some people out of your life. People can pull you upwards to victory or they can be anchors and pull you down to drown in your same life. Cut yourself away from the anchor and rise up to the surface. If you’re going through challenges right now or not living the life you want to live, then make that decision to change your situation. Get off the path, take out your machete, and start cutting yourself a new path. A great life is promised to you and is awaiting you if you are willing to do what it takes to go get it. Get out of your comfort zone, be willing to take the hits, and never go backward.

You Gotta Be Willing To Take The Hits

Are you willing to burn your ships? The art of moving forward is simple, make it the only direction you can go. My train only moves forward, so if you get on, bring everything you have with you because we can’t go back and get it. If you are being challenged by life now or in the past, just keep moving forward. Every day, just keep making a little progress forward. Don’t worry about the results, genuinely believe they are coming into your heart and they will arrive. If you have overcome anything in your life or are needing encouragement, please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you. If you like this post please click the little star and if you think you could help someone feel free to share it. If you would like to support my blog, please click on the links or product icons. Even if you are looking for something different on Amazon, if you purchase anything within 24 hours of connecting through any of the links on my page I will get credit for the sale and make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

“This Train Is Moving on, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving on! We Are Going to the Top of the Mountain!”

Sharing

I believe in the power of sharing. If I read a good blog that really speaks to me and I believe it will provide value to others, I will share it. I have linked four books that I believe have value. In order to change you, you first have to change the way you think. Leaders Are Readers!

I still enjoy sitting by the pool or on my sofa with a good book. I read all kinds of books, fiction, history, biographies, and motivational. I enjoy the quiet time I get with just me and my book. But we live in a fast pace society today where sometimes we need to combine our tasks. Do you find yourself short on time? Are you constantly saying, where did the time go? You are not alone. I believe that we all feel like we don’t have enough time to get everything accomplished and what usually suffers is me time. A shortcut that I have found helpful is my Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership. I listen to books on audible while I’m doing other things. I can listen while getting dressed, while I’m working out, and even while I’m preparing dinner for my family. It is a great way to get my reading in even when I have a full to do list that I have received from the Mrs. She doesn’t take kindly to me ignoring her to do list while I catch up on my reading. With an Audible Membership it’s a win-win for both of us. I can download great books on this and listen to them with my AirPods.   I use my AirPods every time I exercise. They don’t fall out and the sound is great. With Kindle I can download books, magazines, and my daughters can even download their college textbooks. This is so much easier than carrying a heavy backpack full of textbooks around campus. The books can be downloaded to any device and read with the Kindle app.

Both the Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership are currently offering a 30 day free trial. You can sign up by clicking on the links and give it a test drive for 30 days free. If you find it’s not for you, simply cancel your membership before your 30 days are up and you won’t be charged.

Do you know someone who is always in a hurry and can’t seem to take time for themselves? We all do. I would suggest checking out giving an Audible Membership as a gift. It is a great gift idea for someone who is always on the go,

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. A book that will change your life. It answers the question, Why do some people have everything and others struggle? The answer is simple, they know the secret. It has changed my life and can change yours.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This is an oldie but goodie that is full of relevant life lessons. It is a book that you hear speaker after speaker refer to. Successful people all have the same mentality and know you have to change the way you think to be successful. Only one percent of people set goals.

Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind And Defy The Oddsby David Goggins. I really enjoyed read this book and I found it very relatable. If you want to become more than you are today, read this book. After you finish there will be no excuses. David is just an ordinary guy who made the decision to be extraordinary and was determined.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. A must read for anyone wanting to change their habits. A great book for managers and leaders. Covey teaches you how to transform your thoughts to not on help you but also to help others. These are 7 principles to definitely incorporate into your life.

I appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.

The Fateful Day That Changed My Life

The fateful day that changed my life. Almost 30 years ago I sat on my bunk inside our tent in the jungles of Peru. It was 10 o’clock in the morning and as the sweat rolled down my face, I looked at the thermometer and the temperature read 104 degrees. As I buttoned my shirt, I realized that this was the first time I had worn my civilian clothes in three weeks. I looked down at my laundry bag and rucksack which were both full. I was excited because today I was going to Lima for a much-needed three-day R & R (rest and relaxation). I picked up my bags and headed out of the tent into the intense heat of the Upper Huallaga Valley. As I passed the sandbag wall that protected our tent, I turned left and walked down the dirt road that circled inside our encampment. I could smell the food cooking in the mess hall and was thankful I would be eating in a restaurant that evening. I spoke with some of the Peruvian National Police officers while walking past their barracks. I realized and was thankful that the bags I was carrying were much lighter than all the ammunition and explosives I normally carried on an operation. Walking past the helicopters, I waved goodbye to the mechanics and pilots who were performing maintenance. I then turned and walked past the mortar positions and out the gate, which was covered in concertina wire, onto the airstrip. There I met up with my two buddies who were making the trip with me. We were all excited about eating good food, sleeping in a comfortable bed, and meeting beautiful Peruvian ladies. I didn’t know at the time but this trip would change my life forever.

Concertina Wire
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

I saw the aircraft approaching the runway and was thankful that it was a beautiful day, which meant the flight wouldn’t be canceled because of bad weather. The plane was a gray C-123 cargo plane. It had two propeller engines and was short and fat. We had nicknamed the plane “El Burro” because it kind of resembled a small donkey. I could smell the aviation fuel as the plane taxied to the end of the runway and turned around to prepare for takeoff. We helped unload supplies for the camp and load things that needed to be transported to Lima. By the time we were finished, our clothes were wet, and we were covered in sweat. It was something you just got used to, living in the jungle. I walked up the ramp at the tail of the plane and found a seat at the front of the cargo section. The seats were made out of cargo netting but were still comfortable. I found my oxygen mask which I would be needing later. The aircraft was not pressurized so once we climbed above 10,000 feet we would need to put on our masks and breathe oxygen, if not we would pass out. We called the trip from the jungle to Lima, “Over the Hump,” because we had to fly over the Andes Mountains. We were told that the pilots had to take the aircraft up as high as it could go to get over the mountains. I took a paperback out of my bag and turned to the dog-eared page where I’d left off. I read a lot in the jungle because when we weren’t on operations or preparing for the next operation, there was nothing else to do. I heard the propellers begin to crank up and the noise then turned into a deafening roar as they got up to full speed. El Burro launched forward and gained momentum as it traveled down the airstrip. We were all bouncing around the back of the aircraft, then everything got smooth as we lifted off. In a little over an hour, we would be in Lima and amongst their 5.8 million inhabitants.

The Burro

Later that evening, after a shower and change of clothes, my friends and I decided to go to a British Pub for a good meal and some beers. As I walked in the front door I saw her standing at the end of the bar. She might not have been the most beautiful girl in the room or the tallest, but she was the only person in the room that I saw. I’ll never forget it, she was wearing a white top, a short blue jean skirt, and blue pumps. She was leaning against the wall with her right leg bent and her foot against the wall. She was standing there talking to some other people, but I couldn’t even tell you who she was talking to because the only person I saw was her. There was an instant attraction. I was told that she was friends with the owner of the pub and that she was dating a German who worked for the airlines. I didn’t even talk to her that evening.

British Pub
Photo by Nikola Jovanovic on Unsplash

I went back to the jungle, finished my tour, and returned to the states. About a year later, I was on another tour and once again went to the pub. I was sitting at a table, eating, and drinking with my friends. The pub was packed that night and filled with laughter and rock music. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and say excuse me, when I turned around it was her. She said she needed to go to the restroom and asked if I could lean up so she could squeeze between my chair and the pole behind me. About a minute later, she came back and I leaned up to let her through. She came up to me, asking to get by, two more times within a half-hour. After the third time, I was thinking that this girl must have a tiny bladder. I remember her saying, in the sweetest voice, “you must hate me.” I just smiled and said it wasn’t a problem. I still thought she was in a relationship so I didn’t bother trying to talk to her, even though I was still very attracted to her. After a few beers, I saw a very pretty girl standing near the bathrooms and decided to take a shot. I went up to her and asked, “Do you speak English?” She replied, “No, but my friend does.” She then pointed to her friend; the girl I had been attracted to. That was all it took and I went up and introduced myself. She said her name was Sofia and we talked and had a wonderful night. I then went back to the jungle and back to the states without seeing her again.

What A Good Looking Couple!

Several months later, I was back in Lima and ran into Sofia. She gave me her phone number and I was off once again to the jungle. A few weeks later I made another trip, “Over the Hump,” to Lima. The Burro had been delayed because of the weather and we arrived close to 6 o’clock. I had debated on the flight whether to call Sofia or not. As we landed I rushed to our office at the airport and decided if it was still open that was a sign I should call Sofia. I found the office open even though everyone would’ve normally left around five. I gave her a call and asked her out on a date. She accepted and even though I didn’t know it at the time, that phone call was going to change my life forever.

Napa Valley

This week we will celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary. It has been 27 wonderful years and has produced two beautiful successful daughters. I want to wish Sofia a Happy Mother’s Day. She has been the best example to our two daughters, is the glue that holds our family together, and always keeps us laughing.

I also want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to my mother, in heaven. She always told me, “You can do anything you put your mind to. You can be anything you want to be.”

Yesterday

Yesterday was just that, yesterday. It is gone, finito, kaput, never to come back. It is in the past and considered history. There’s nothing I can do about what happened yesterday. Yesterday was not one of my better days. For whatever reason I didn’t have energy, my mind was not as sharp as it usually is, and I couldn’t focus on things I wanted to accomplish. No matter what I tried, caffeine, energy foods, and supplements, I just felt like I wanted to go back to sleep and my brain was in a fog. As I crawled into bed at the end of the day, feeling like I had not made any progress towards my goals, I gave thanks. I was thankful that I was given that day, thankful that I got to spend time with my family, and thankful for everything I did have. There was nothing I could do about that day except give thanks for being given that day and for what I had in my life. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was give thanks for all the things I have, and all the things I will have in the future.

I do the same things every morning which begins my day in a grateful mood. I get out of bed when my eyes open, which is somewhere between 3 AM and 5 AM. Once I’m awake, I swing my legs out of bed, sit up, and give thanks for everything that I have. I navigate my way in the dark to the kitchen, giving thanks as I walk. I drink 24 ounces of water and sit down in front of a writing pad and a pen. I then write down 10 things I am grateful for. After that, I send out love from my heart to three people whom, for whatever reason, I don’t particularly get along with. I then say a prayer to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a prayer of thankfulness for my past, present, and future. I then meditate and visualize my future. Afterward, I go for a walk enjoying the coolness of the air, the darkness, and the beautiful bright stars and planets in the sky. While I’m walking I’m thinking about positive ideas and how happy I am. I return home and begin my exercise regimen for the day. During my walk and workout, while I’m breathing heavy and feeling the sweat rolling down my face, I have thoughts and ideas that flood into my brain. These are the inspirations that I sit down and write about. I then pour myself a cup of coffee and begin my day.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The 10 things that I’m grateful for are whatever comes into my mind when I sit down in front of the pen and paper. I Am Thankful For:

  1. My relationship with God. My God provides me with everything from the past, present, and future.
  2. My country. The US gives me the freedom to accomplish anything I dream about.
  3. My relationship with my wife. She has provided happiness to our home for the last 28 years.
  4. My relationship with my son and daughters. They inspire me every day.
  5. My parents, brother, and sister. My parents, who are gone now, provided me with the solid foundation that I built my life on. My brother and sister show me the true meaning of family.
  6. My friends. All the people that have been placed in my life that I can count on for anything.
  7. My businesses. They challenge me every day and keep me learning.
  8. My unlimited income from multiple sources that arrives on a daily basis.
  9. My desire and ability to give. I have the desire to help as many people as I can financially, intellectually, and spiritually.
  10. My life and health. I am so thankful for everything that is happened in my life, both good and bad, and that I have overcome every obstacle with my health.

I have written in my blog titled, Draft Day, about the ability to be gracious and how important that is. I refer back to my blog titled, The Journey, where I wrote about how easy it is to become successful at anything. Success is different for every person, for some it’s wealth, for some it’s love, for others it’s happiness. It’s difficult to measure success. For me, the easiest way to measure success is in gratitude. Be thankful for what you do have. This is why I begin every day by listing the things that I’m grateful for. It begins my day in the right frame of mind to be successful and to face every challenge and obstacle that’s placed in front of me.

What is it that you are thankful for? I encourage everyone to sit down and list those things that you have in your life that make you feel grateful. If you have something in particular that you are thankful for and would like to share, please comment below. I would love to read them. Always remember that whatever happened yesterday you cannot change. Whether it was a good day, great day, bad day, or terrible day, it is gone, never to return. Today is a new day, be thankful for what you have.

Is Your Life Everything You Want It To Be? If not, change it in 3-steps with my free eBook. Only 2 Days Left!

If you like this post, please click the little star below. Feel free to share it if you like it can help someone. My success comes from helping others to be successful and happy.

I appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.

Is This It?

What if this is it? What if your life, right now, is as good as it’s going to get? How does that make you feel? For me, it would not make me feel particularly good. You see, I’m in my 60th year on this rock, retired, and what I would consider successful. So I could sit back and enjoy my remaining days in relative comfort. I could read some good books, fish more, and enjoy a glass of scotch every now and then. I can’t do that because I still have the drive. I love to be challenged, I love to be uncomfortable, and to push myself to be better. The song, Walk by the Foo Fighters sums it up for me. I’m always “learning to walk again.” When one chapter in my life closes, I have to open up another and start from scratch to learn something new. I have to learn how to live life over again. “I don’t ever want to die,” is a great line from the song. Life is about the journey and as long as you continue your journey, you’ll never die while you’re living.

Walk by the Foo Fighters

I have climbed many mountain peaks in my 60 years. I have listened to the crunch of the pebbles under my feet and felt the coolness of the rocks as I grabbed them to pull myself up. Every time I succeeded in something and reached that mountain peak, I have a tendency to sit back and enjoy the view for a while. There are times when I thought that I would never have to climb another mountain. I would think that this is it, that I don’t have to go through any more pain or hardships. That I had finally arrived. Then I would look up and there it was, another mountain peak calling my name. That drive would kick in and the pain and hardships would become a distant memory like the heartbreaks of youthful love. Off I would go to tackle another challenge. When I conquered that challenge, I would look up and there would be another mountain peak. Some people would say that I’m just a glutton for punishment, but I would say it’s just part of the journey of life. I was never happy sitting on the sideline, I always wanted to get into the game. I never wanted to look up at the mountain from the ground, but rather look down at the ground from the peak.

Photo by Andrea Ledda on Unsplash

When I wrote my post titled, The Journey,” the majority of my memories were about the process, not the completion. I have fond memories of going through different training and schools in the military and with DEA. Several of the schools involved a lot of physical hardships and painful experiences, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. It makes me happy to relive those times in my mind. That was my journey and I enjoyed it. We are all on a different journey and I encourage you to enjoy every moment of it. Challenge yourself and become better than you are right now.

Do You Want More Out Of Life? Only 4 Days Left!

When I began with the question, “What if this is it,” I hope it brought out a little fear in you. I want you to feel that tight, nauseous, nerve-racking feeling in the pit of your stomach. I want you to say, “NO! I want something better.” No matter where you are in life, you should always want something better. You should always be striving to achieve more. Put yourself in uncomfortable positions, positions that suck. Make those uncomfortable positions comfortable and then go out and find something else that is uncomfortable. There is so much out there for each and every one of you and you can have whatever you want as long as you’re willing to go through uncomfortable times.

There isn’t anything special about me, I can’t play a musical instrument or build a house. I can do just about anything as long as I have instructions. I can follow instructions or a good YouTube video that shows me how. I’m pretty much just like the majority of the people on the planet, and you probably would not look twice at me if I sat down at the table next to you in a coffee shop. I’m just me. It is said that God gives us our gifts at birth. One of the gifts that God gave me was patience. I don’t have to have something right away. I’ve sat on the runway in the middle of nowhere for three days waiting for a plane full of drugs to arrive. I could sit in my car on surveillance for 8 to 12 hours and it never bothered me, others would start complaining after an hour. My patience allows me to set a goal and work towards that goal without expecting results immediately. A lot of people give up on their goals because they don’t have the patience to let their goals grow and give their plan time to work. We have become a “Drive-Thru” society where people want to order something, pull up to the window, and have it already prepared for them. I would rather eat at a restaurant where the chef takes his time preparing the meal. It might take longer, but in the end, it tastes so much better. When I set a goal to accomplish something I always put an end date on the goal. If for whatever reason I don’t accomplish my goal by that end date, I just reset the date. I don’t change the goal.

Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash

Do you want more out of life or is this it for you? Are you satisfied with where you are today in life or do you want to make a change? Are you willing to take on something outside of your comfort zone? Is putting up with some physical or mental discomfort too much for you? When you see successful people, do you think that they are different than you and that’s why they are successful? They’re not. They’re just people like you and me. They had a dream, set a goal, made a plan, and worked on their plan. Whenever they would run into roadblocks, they just adjusted their plan, they didn’t change the dream. If you’re not happy with your life as it is today then, change it.

This Is Not It!!

Share your comments below. I would love to hear about some of the obstacles you have overcome to achieve your goals. If you liked this post then click on the little star.

I appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.

Choices

We have choices to make every day. Do we get out of bed now or do we roll over and go back to sleep? Do we pick up our phone as soon as we wake up or look at it later? What are we going to wear? What are we going to have for breakfast? We are inundated with choices that we have to make every day. In my blog titled, Anxiety (COVID-19), I wrote about the current situation that we are facing today and how that has created choices. We have a choice between faith and fear. I will always choose faith over fear. I see and hear people every day that have chosen fear. I can understand given the information that we are being fed why they chose fear. A lot of choices that we make in life are based on the information that we have been fed. If you are being told that wealthy people are just lucky and if you are not wealthy, then it is because you are not lucky. You do not believe that you can change because you believe luck is something you either have or do not have.

The truth is that wealth has nothing to do with luck and has everything to do with a willingness to change as well as the choices that you make. The Internet has created incredible opportunities for people to make money. There are people that make a lot of money posting videos of themselves. They made a choice to make a business out of posting videos. They found a niche and they spend hours shooting, editing, and uploading their videos. The vast majority of people have chosen just to watch videos of other people and spend hours doing so. One of the things that I tell people is; that you can make money online or you can watch other people make money online. It’s simply a choice that you make, but it also requires you to change.

The first step to making a decision to change is simple, you have to look inside yourself. Write down everything that you do during a normal day. The next day, read what you have written down. These are the habits that have gotten you to where you are now in life. If that’s where you want to be and you are happy then continue doing these things. If you are not where you want to be in life and want more out of it, then you have to change these habits. My advice, if you’re looking for a place to start, is to read or listen to books about the habits of people you would consider successful. Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a great book to start with. Successful people become successful not out of luck, but through their daily habits. If you want more out of life, ask yourself if you are willing to change. If the answer is yes, then there is no better time to start than now.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

  • Albert Einstein

Take your list of daily habits and review it to see which ones are holding you back. Compare them with the habits of your chosen successful people and write down your list of new habits that you are going to start developing today. Remember that it took you years to develop the habits that you have now and will take some time to develop new habits. If you stick to your new habits on a daily basis, before long, they will become your everyday life. Get ready for a new you. You might find that you are dressing better, eating better, sleeping better, and overall accomplishing everything you want to do.

I write about this in almost every one of my blogs and particularly in my last post titled The Power of Words, but for me, it’s so important that it needs to be said again and again. The number one thing I teach people is to always remember WHY you started something. WHY did you start that business, begin that relationship, want to lose weight, etc. Changing old habits is not easy. You might have been doing some of these habits for decades. We as humans tend to do things that are comfortable. Old habits are like a warm blanket, wonderfully comfortable. We are constantly pulled back to that warm blanket. New habits can be uncomfortable to tackle at first. When you feel yourself being pulled back to that warm blanket, you must think of WHY you wanted to make that change. By continually working on your new habits daily, they will then become your new warm blanket.

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The big question that you have to ask yourself is, “Am I willing to change in order to succeed?” Success just like faith and fear is a choice. If you choose to be successful and are willing to change your habits to do what successful people do, then you can live as successful people live. There is an unlimited amount of wealth but only a small percentage of people tap into it. The reason most people are not wealthy is that only a small percentage make the choice. They change their habits and are willing to do everything necessary to become wealthy. The universe will supply abundance for everyone. It’s not for just a select few, it’s for all of us, but you have to be willing to change in order to receive it.

What are your daily habits? Are you willing to change those habits? What is your WHY? Are you willing to take what life throws at you, shrug it off, and keep moving forward? Do you want to make money online or watch other people make money online? Don’t stand on the sidelines, put on the pads, buckle up your chinstrap, and get in the game. You are a winner, now go win.

Do you make good choices? I would love to hear your comments on habits that have made you successful. What are some habits that might be holding you back? If you like this post, click the little star below.

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