There is a difference between interest and commitment and what I’ve discovered is that being interested isn’t enough.  When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you’re committed to something you make no excuses and do whatever it takes to achieve your goal.  In other words, what separates someone who is interested in something from someone who is committed to something, is action.  Commitment implies making a decision, setting your sights on your destination, and stepping on the gas.  When you’re committed to producing a certain result, you begin at the end.  You see the goal and then make a plan that will achieve the desired outcome.  You eliminate from your mind any possibility of not getting what you want.  Instead of asking, “is this possible?” you ask, “what must I do to make this happen?”

Commitment requires being all in.  If you are committed to your goal, you make it a priority and allocate the time and energy it will take to reach that goal.  Commitment requires you to do whatever it takes where as being interested means you’ll do just enough but no more.  Being committed is being all in even if you are not yet sure how to achieve the goal.  Committed people think outside of the box to find answers and resources.  Committed people do not fear when they run into roadblocks.  Obstacles don’t take a committed person out of the game.  They simply use them as a learning opportunity so that they get better at their game.  Committed people seek advice on how to solve problems and get right back to business.  Committed people focus on achieving their goal instead of concentrating on how hard it might be to achieve their dream.  A committed person creates his own source of energy thus inspiring others around them.  Committed people are willing to be uncomfortable to achieve their goal.

Refuse to let excuses be bigger than your commitment.  Keep your goal in the front of your mind.  Make action towards the goal a part of your daily routine.  Commit to being the person with the right mindset that will achieve your goals.  Commitment is an act not a word.  Most people fail not because of a lack of desire but because of a lack of commitment.  Be a person who makes a commitment, puts his strength in making it happen and then let nothing stop you short of your goal.  “The only thing you have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Set a goal, be committed to that goal and then teach someone else how to do it.

Two Zen monks were on a journey when they came to a riverbed. At the edge of the river was an elderly woman who was unable to cross the river by herself.  The older monk put her on his shoulders and across the river they all went.  On the other side, the monk put her down and she went on her way and the monks their way.  Several miles later the older monk noticed that the younger monk was obviously troubled by something and so he asked him about it. The younger monk stated that according to the tenets of their beliefs, they were not permitted to touch women and yet the elder monk had carried the old woman across the river.  The younger monk could not let it go and was angry and upset for several hours.  To this, the elder monk replied. “I left the woman at the riverside. Why are you still carrying her with you?”

Don’t stumble over something behind you.  In other words, don’t keep thinking about your past.  What happened, happened. Learn from mistakes and obstacles and move on.  As long as we put our failures behind us, it’s possible to overcome anything.  We all tend to carry lessons from the past (if we’re smart), which is a good thing. That’s how we learn and grow but if past mistakes or hurts weigh us down, we lose the opportunity to live our best life. Remember when you first learned to ride a bike?  What if you failed to try again after your first fall?  Our struggles are part of our story but they are never to be used as excuses to not try again.  Moving on is crucial but some people remain stuck and lose a lot of time and life because they over-think their past.  That time has gone and it will never return. It won’t be easy but forgetting what lies behind is one of the best things we can ever do for ourselves.  It won’t be easy – not at all, but it will be well worth it.  Every failure and success is an opportunity to learn something new and to not repeat the old mistakes.  Use the good things you learned to make you feel better and you can use the bad memories as a lesson in case you ever have the urge to commit the same mistake again in life.

Don’t look back you are not going that way.  Life is meant to be understood backwards but lived forward.  Everyone has a past that was probably unmanageable at some point in their life.  Regret is the worst human emotion since there is absolutely nothing we can do to change history.  Let bygones be bygones.  It’s time to focus on the present and commit to a brighter future.  It’s time to release the burden of the past and seize today’s opportunity.  Stumbling over what’s behind you is not productive.  The road that lies ahead of you leads to your future that is full of possibilities.  There will always be missteps, times we wish we could go back and start over or change what happened but when we can’t, we must face forward and skip over the stones that appear in our path.  Learn from the past but embrace your future.  Courage means that you won’t let fear stop you. If you don’t leave your past in the past, it will destroy your future.  Live for what today has to offer and not what yesterday took away.  There is far too much life yet to be lived.

Isn’t it crazy how we can look back a year ago and realize how much everything has changed?  The amount of people that have left your life, entered, and stayed.  The memories you won’t forget and the moments you wish you could.  It’s crazy how all that happened in just one year.  As you know, time waits for no one and it is my wish that you make it a point to take advantage of the time you have now. This time next year can be a time of reflecting on the many goals you achieved during 2018.  A lot of good can happen for you if you make a plan and work hard at it.  What did you leave out that you should have done last year?  How many good opportunities did you fail to take advantage of?  You probably took advantage of some and missed some but being able to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible is important.  Sometimes just one opportunity can mean the difference between an extraordinary life and a mediocre one.

Unfortunately, opportunities don’t last forever but the good news is that great opportunities often come from your own great ideas so don’t say no to them.  If you’re negative about yourself, you’ll just limit your own options.  This is not a good state of mind to be in. Don’t be afraid to take a risk.  See risks as an opportunity to get what you want out of life.  However, you must have a plan if you are to make the most of the opportunities in your life.  Anything that you plan to succeed in must start with a plan.  A dream without a plan is just a wish.  People don’t plan to fail – they fail to plan. If you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there.  A plan will keep you focused so focus on the plan.  If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you will fall into someone else’s plan and guess what they have planned for you? Not much!  No one ever wrote down a plan to fail, to be broke, lazy or stupid.  Those things happen when you don’t have a plan.  You must have some vision for your life. Even if you don’t know the plan, you have to have a direction in which to go.  You want to be in the driver’s seat of your life because if you don’t life will drive you.

We all have dreams but in order to make a dream reality it will take a lot of determination, commitment, motivation and self-discipline. Discipline is the bridge that connects goals with reality.  To stay motivated, take it one day at a time.  Surround yourself with positive people.  Reward yourself after each small victory.  Believe in yourself.  Visualize the day you will accomplish your dream.  Where you are today is the perfect starting point.  No dream is too big if you have the right attitude.  Work hard.  Most people can dream but few are willing to work hard at making their dream happen.  Don’t be one of those people.  Make a plan and work the plan.  If necessary, change the plan but not the dream.  Keep moving forward. You won’t regret it.  Don’t dig up in doubt what you have planted in faith. The moment you are ready to quit is usually the moment right before the miracle happens.

You may have fallen down and don’t want to get up but don’t look at it as a choice.  Get up!  Others are depending on you and most importantly, you need to know that you can accomplish something. You already know what it feels like to give up.  It’s time you learn what it feels like if you don’t.  So, get up.  Show others what you are made of.  Show them what you are capable of doing.  Remember, when you do get up you will be much stronger than when you fell. Life is about getting back up.  Don’t wish it were easier – work hard to be better.   When the world says ‘give up’, hope says ‘try it one more time.’ Remember, the oak tree was once a nut that stuck to its roots.

Many of us would like to have a fresh start.  All of us have made mistakes and bad decisions throughout our lives that have hindered us from truly being happy.  We have experienced setback after setback but sometimes we allow these mistakes, these setbacks and failures to enslave us to the point that we never enjoy our lives because we are stuck in the past.  The good news is we are about to usher in 2018 – a brand new year full of new opportunities, experiences and challenges.  Grab a hold of the new year; forget about what’s happened before.  It’s over.  The book’s closed on it. You are starting a new chapter in your life. Say goodbye to the old and hello to the new.  Yesterday is past.  Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift and that is why it is called the present.  Enter 2018 with a courageous spirit and believe that you can do whatever you set your mind to do.

Many people make resolutions that they never keep.  Sound familiar? Why?  Because resolutions reflect the desire people have to make a change.  People are actually hoping for a new start, a new beginning and new possibilities for their lives.  Life is a journey and you should enjoy every day that is given to you. So far you have survived 100% of your worst days.  You are doing great and should be proud of yourself.  You have much to be thankful for. You have people who truly love you.  The most important people in your life love you.  No matter how bad you are feeling, remember that you are not alone.  Be thankful that you are still alive and well.  Many people would have wished to be in your shoes, but they are not.  No matter how unhappy, sick, tired or sad you are, remember you have one of the most precious gifts – your unique life!  Instead of worrying about everything you should start to notice and enjoy the present moment.  Be happy that you are breathing and you are alive. You are unique and you need to remind yourself of all the love you have in your life.

Life is about enjoying your journey. We tend to forget that  happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. It’s better to be thankful for what we have than to complain about what we don’t have.  Many of us forget about the role we play in the lives of others.  There is someone who has been inspired by your life. They have seen you struggle and survive.  They have seen life knock you down and watched how you have bounced back.  Someone is happy just because you exist.   When you realize how happy you are making someone else, it should make you happy. You deserve to be happy.  You deserve to have your dreams come true.

As we celebrate the New Year, I want to thank each of you for allowing me to speak into your life.  Your prayers, encouragement and love has enabled me to hold steady on my journey.  I believe that many good things await us as we welcome 2018.  I wish each of you happiness, success and a healthy long life.  2018 is a new beginning. 2018 is a fresh new start.  Live every minute with grace, happiness and gratitude.   Happy New Year to my family and friends!

This is the most wonderful and yet difficult time of the year.   We are celebrating new births, anniversaries, family, friendships while others are grieving the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, a home and are living in the midst of depression.   If you are at a good place in life and experiencing joy and happiness today, you are truly blessed and have much to be grateful for.   If you are trying to survive each day or if you are fighting to cope with loss of any kind or you can’t raise your head above water, I have nothing but compassion for your pain and you have my prayers.   So, as you are busy buying gifts for your family and friends, don’t forget to remember those going through a difficult time in their lives.

Christmas is not so much about opening presents as it is opening our hearts.  An open heart will propel you to think of others. An open heart will cause you to be kind.  A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.  An open heart will allow you to be patient in every circumstance and stop you from judging others based on their outward appearance.  An open heart will force you to go out of your way to help another person.  After all, we don’t remember days – we remember moments.  We will remember the moment someone noticed that you had a need and they did something about it.  The best Christmas gifts are not material things but gifts of listening, of showing kindness, of remembering, of visiting, of forgiving and giving of your time.  A man’s true wealth is the good he does in this world.  You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.  The happiest people are not those getting more, but those who give more.

As we give presents at Christmas, we need to recognize that sharing our time and ourselves is such an important part of giving.  Money can be given but people need you to love them.  So spread your love everywhere you go. Mother Teresa said “it’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”  Give this Christmas without a thought of getting something in return.  Enjoy the happiness you will see on the faces of people who receive a gift from you.  This is the true Christmas spirit.  Christmas is a time for forgetting about self and finding time for others.  When you give of yourself, that’s when you will feel the true spirit of Christmas.  Don’t wait for other people to be loving, giving, compassionate, grateful, forgiving, generous, or friendly – you lead the way.   This Christmas be the best giver you can be and make this world a better place than it was before.  May you receive all the love and happiness you deserve and may your future be filled with joy, peace and love.

Merry Christmas

Do you want to be happy?  Let go of what’s gone and be grateful for what remains. Look forward to what lies ahead.  Many people live in the past and ignore the important people, places and things that are right in front of them.  It’s like they are walking forward but their head is looking backward.  Their focus is all wrong.  They are looking in the past and are not open to new experiences and opportunities. To be happy learn to focus on where you are going instead of where you have been. Focus on what you have and not what you don’t have.  Focus on what’s right in the world instead of what’s wrong. Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases. When you focus on the things you need, you’ll find those needs increasing.  If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don’t have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don’t have and feel worse.  If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose but a grateful attitude brings happiness and abundance into a person’s life.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but building the new.  Stay focused on your goals, your peace and your happiness.  Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t contribute to your growth. Stop worrying about what you have to lose and start focusing on what you have to gain. Be happy with the little you have.  There are some people with nothing who still manage to smile.  Every second you spend thinking about what you don’t have in your life is keeping you from focusing on what you do have.  Every hour you spend thinking about the past is an hour stolen from seeing the possibilities that your future does hold.  So, ask yourself, “do I want more of THAT” before you give it any of your attention.

You can’t reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday’s junk.   Do not let your past rob you of your future.  Each new day is a chance to make a new beginning.  Whatever you focus on only grows stronger. If you want to change anything, focus on what needs to be done to change things for the better.  Don’t focus on what is not working in your life.  When you focus on problems you will have more problems.  When you focus on possibilities you will have more opportunities.  Don’t think about what could happen in a month or in a year.  Just focus on the 24 hours in front of you, and do what you can to get where you want to be.  Even if the path is a little blurry, keep walking until your goal is visible once again.  Just never quit and never stop walking.  Focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.  Results happen over time not overnight.  Work hard, stay consistent and be patient.   Stay focused on what lies ahead and not on what lies behind.

Have you ever had an experience where things didn’t turn out as you had expected?  We want to make things work as per our plans but life is not always the way you expected it to be.  No one knows what is going to happen in the future.  We wish for only good to happen but we all know that isn’t reality and it will take patience to get us through everything that does and doesn’t happen according to our plans.  As virtues go, patience is a quiet one.  It’s often displayed behind closed doors, not on a public stage. In public, it’s the impatient ones who grab all of our attention: drivers honking in traffic, grumbling customers in slow-moving lines.  Having patience means being able to wait calmly in the face of frustration or adversity. So, anywhere there is frustration or adversity, and that is nearly everywhere, we have the opportunity to practice patience. Patience isn’t always easy and that’s why it must be practiced.

Sometimes, no matter how much you want things to happen, all you can do is be patient and wait.  Good things come to those who wait. It might take a year, it might take a day but what’s meant to be will always find its way into your life.  Sometimes God will give you exactly what you wanted just to show you it’s not at all what you need.  Sometimes you just have to stop worrying and doubting.  Have faith that things will work out maybe not how you planned but how they were meant to be. You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are still thinking about yesterday.  Life is not about living in the future or in the past.  Life is about accepting the present moment. Sometimes what we want doesn’t happen when or how we want it to but that doesn’t mean the answer is ‘no’.  It just means ‘not right now’.  Be patient because the best things happen unexpectedly. Some things take time.  Stay patient and stay positive, things will get better.

Patience is a form of wisdom.  It demonstrates that you understand the fact that sometimes things must unfold in their own time.  You will get there when you are meant to get there and not one moment sooner so be patient and wait.  When what you want doesn’t happen, learn to want what does happen.  Just because the past didn’t turn out like you wanted it to doesn’t mean your future can’t be better than you imagined.  You know great things are coming when everything seems to be going wrong.  Great faith is the product of great fights.  Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests.  Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.  The secret to being patient is focusing on the hope and not the doubt.  The longer you wait for something the more you appreciate it when you get it.  Everything worth having is definitely worth waiting for.

Two things define you – your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything.  Patience is an important tool in overcoming frustration.  Patience allows us to suspend judgment long enough to make informed decisions, thus paving the path to a happy and peaceful life.  Practicing patience in everyday situations—like with our punctuality, our driving or just standing in line at the grocery store will not only make life more pleasant in the present, but might also help pave the way for a more satisfying and successful future.  Anger and stress are two things that are enough to ruin a person’s health and patience is the antidote to both these illnesses.  Being patient, you can overcome any challenging situation in a better way.  Remember, patience is more than having the ability to wait.  Patience is having a good attitude while you wait.  Purpose to practice patience daily especially during this time of the year. Patience – use it before you ‘lose’ it!

Some of us are afraid of flying.  Some of us are afraid of mice. Some of us are afraid of public speaking.  Many of us fear cancer or some other debilitating disease.  There’s also the fear of failure or insignificance.  On and on it goes, the list of fears and phobias like anxiety and worry, which tend to come from the inside and mostly never happen but they’re still fears, nonetheless.  Fear is one of the most basic problems we all have to face and overcome . The goal is to not allow fear to hold you back from experiencing life because the fears we don’t face become our limitations.

Don’t be afraid to dream, live or love.  Don’t let a hard lesson harden your heart.  Life’s best lessons are often learned at the worst times and from the worst mistakes.  There will be times when everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong.  You may feel like you will be stuck in this rut forever, but you won’t.  Sometimes things have to go very wrong before you arrive at the life you were meant to live.  Therefore, you might have to go through your worst to get to your best you.  Opportunities wait for no one.  You must not be afraid to grab one as it passes by.  If you don’t take the risk, you will never know how great it could have been.

Don’t be afraid to change.  You will lose something but you just might gain something better.  See your life as a photo; touch up the edges, adjust your tone, blur out the background, cut out the people who no longer play a role in this season of your life.  Thank the people who walked into your life and made it better, and be thankful for those who walked out but played a part in making you wiser.  It’s ok to fail.  If you are not failing you are not trying.  You gain strength, courage and confidence by standing up to fear, looking it straight in the face and saying “I can do this!”

Courage doesn’t mean that you never get afraid.  Courage means that you don’t let fear stop you.  Don’t focus on what you are up against . Focus on your goals.  Every day is a new day and you will never find happiness if you refuse to move on.  Learn from the past but focus on the opportunities you have today.  How will you ever know if you made the right decision if you never make it?  Don’t try to understand everything.  Some things happen that you will never understand and are meant only to be accepted.  When was the last time you did something for the first time.  There is no substitute for experience.  To get it you must try it.  It doesn’t matter what others are doing.  It only matters what you are doing.

Find balance in your life.  Work hard but don’t let work over take you.  Know that you are worthy to having your dreams.  Don’t be afraid to dream.  You may not know what will happen, when it will happen or how but it will never come to pass if you don’t first believe.  Don’t compare yourself to others.  You are unique and here for a purpose.  You are irreplaceable.  Embrace change.  Embrace life.  Happiness is achieved when you stopped waiting for it and make the most of the moment you are now in.  Don’t be afraid to fail. Instead be afraid of not trying.  There is even some good in failure because the feedback you get will help you to succeed the next time. Your new life is going to cost you your old one! It doesn’t matter how many times you don’t succeed.  Listen to that small voice inside of you that says ‘you are not done yet; get back up and try again,’

The day before Thanksgiving, a guy in Phoenix calls his son in New York and tells him, “Son, I’m really sorry but I have to tell you that your mother and I are splitting up. We can’t live with each other anymore.”  The son is distraught and shouts at his father, “Pop, what are you talking about?”  The father replies, “It’s just that we can’t stand the sight of each other anymore and I’m sick of talking about this, so will you call your sister in Chicago and tell her?”

The father than hangs up, and the son frantically calls his sister, who’s equally distraught and exclaims, “Like heck they’re getting divorced! Leave it to me. I’ll take care of this.”  So she calls her father and shouts at him, “You are NOT getting divorced! Don’t you dare to do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t you dare do a thing about this. Do you hear me?”  She then hangs up, at which point the father hangs up his phone, turns to his wife and says, “Okay dear, they’re both coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.”

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Don’t forget what Thanksgiving is all about. Reflect and be thankful for all that you have in your life. Today you didn’t wake up cold and hungry but someone else did. Never forget that no matter how hard your life is it’s still harder for someone else out there. Be thankful for the things you do have instead of complaining about the things you don’t have. Life is a gift. Wake up every day and realize it. Happiness isn’t about getting what you want all of the time. Happiness is about loving what you have and being grateful for it.

Don’t start your day with the broken pieces of yesterday. Every morning you wake up is the first day of the rest of your life. Be grateful for whatever your circumstances might be. What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday? Life is a series of tiny miracles. Notice them. Choose to be grateful. Even the worst day is better than no day at all. Don’t get so busy adding up your troubles that you forget to count your blessings. Don’t be negative when you have so much to be positive about. It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s the thankful people who are happy.

Your life may not be perfect but be thankful for everything you do have. You have too many blessings to be ungrateful. Never let the things you want make you forget the things you already have. Appreciate the people in your life. Tell them why you adore them and how grateful you are for what they add to your life. The best way to keep amazing people in your life is to show them your gratitude and let them know that they are appreciated. Don’t assume that they know. Tell them.  Appreciate those who love you. Help those who need you and forgive those who have hurt you.

Be thankful for what you are now and keep fighting for what you want to be tomorrow. Be thankful for your struggles. It is because of them that you stumbled into the wisdom and strength that you now possess. Gratitude is one of the most important human virtues but it is not developed without practice. You have a choice every single day to be grateful. Be thankful for those protecting your freedom who have given up their freedom and will miss being with their families this holiday season. You may not know them but you benefit from their sacrifices.

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to? Be thankful when you don’t know something for it gives you the opportunity to learn. Be grateful for the difficult times for it is in those times that you grow. Be thankful for your limitations because they give you opportunities to improve. Be thankful for your mistakes because they will teach you valuable life lessons. Be thankful for your troubles because sometimes they have a way of becoming amazing blessings. Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present but not giving it to the one it is for. Gratitude is a shortcut to finding peace of mind. No matter what is going on in our lives there is always something to be grateful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The road to your dreams will not be easy.  Progress isn’t always a result of a straight line nor is it a smooth path.  The road to success is filled with mountains to climb, obstacles to overcome and such hard times that it will make you feel like quitting.  Success is a slow process but quitting won’t speed it up.  Just remember that anything worth having doesn’t come easily.  There is no elevator to success – you have to take the stairs.  Persist.  You will not feel motivated every day so you must learn to be disciplined.  If you want to be successful, the fire inside of you must burn brighter than the fire around you.  Babe Ruth said ‘it’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. ’ Every accomplishment starts with the decision to never give up.  If you already know what giving up feels like, begin again and see what it feels like to not give up.

The best project you will ever work on is yourself. You must push yourself because no one else will.  Stop saying ‘tomorrow.’ Tomorrow won’t make any difference if you are not motivated today.  You future is created by what you do today.  Do you have a vision?  If it doesn’t challenge you it won’t motivate you.  Seek to inspire people and then get ready for the day when someone tells you “because of you I didn’t give up!”  Every “pro” was once an amateur.  Every ‘expert’ was once a beginner. It takes a dream to get started, a desire to keep going, and determination to finish.  Don’t be left regretting the chances you didn’t take.

Great things never come from comfort zones.  Doing your best is more important than being the best.  The greatest fear we have is the opinion of others.  Once you become fearless, life becomes limitless.  You are far too smart to let you be the only thing standing in your way.  Losers quit when they fail.  Winners keep failing until they succeed.  Don’t stop just because you are tired.  Stop only when you have succeeded.  The one who falls and gets back up is stronger than the one who never fell.

Did you know that one year = 365 opportunities!  If you want to be happy attach yourself to a goal and not to people or things.  Never think that you are insignificant.  This world needs what only you have to offer.  Get ready to start living your best life ever. The story of your best life starts now no matter what your circumstance are in life.  You’re in the right place at the right time to start living your most amazing life. Where there is a will there is a way.  Don’t put
off until tomorrow what you can do today.  There will never be a perfect time nor will things ever be just right.  Start where you are and do what you can.  Get up every morning and tell yourself “I can do this!”  You can’t change yesterday but you can change today.

It takes 21 days to break or form a new habit.   If you don’t go after what you want you will never have it.  If you never take the next step forward you will always remain where you are today.  The secret to success is to put your energy into creating your dream and letting go of the past.  Some may ask why you are doing what you are doing but with after perseverance they will ask you how you did it.  Imagine yourself standing on top of the hardest mountain you have had to climb.  The view doesn’t get any better than that!