Happy Belated Labor Day to everyone, this year my labor day came with a big gift from me to well…me.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big fan of making “to do” lists for everything I need to get done in a day (some how I instantly become 4 times more productive).

Well, I’ve done the same with my life goals.

I’ve made a list of all the things I want, materialistic, spiritual - everything.

I’m very happy to say that as of 3 years ago, I had started checking things off of the list! I checked off…

- Graduate college
- Start a business
- Find a great mentor
- Buy a REALLY nice car!

…and others too.

However, as of recent (and officially on Friday night), I checked off:

“Buy my own place…”

I just moved into my own condo this weekend and it’s everything I wanted it to be and more! I’ll make a video soon, but it’s definitely the “pad” I was dreaming about for years.

So in a moment of completely vain moment, congratulations to me!

Lesson of the story for you: Go make a list, for now, at least 10 things that you want. Yes, they can be materialistic.

My list has cars, houses, watches, clothes, vacations, boats among other things such as non-profit organization to support education, family - etc…

Let the list point the way! 

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I was watching some more videos on YouTube last night, can’t remember which one I heard this on, but it stuck out. I meant to blog it last night but got too tired

One of the things I’ve been working on doing lately is breaking my goals into “mini-goals.” The video I watched, the speaker mentioned the same thing. It’s much easier to meet smaller goals than it is to sit there and say you want to make a BIG goal.

For example, let’s say you want to be able to run 10 miles. Starting off with that goal is very scary and also seems rather impossible. However, if you make MINI-goals that lead up to that goal, it seems all the more possible.

So, in this case, I’d say I want to run 1 mile. Once I meet that goal, I want to run 3 miles, then 5, then 7, then 10!

This way, I’m never thinking about 10 miles, just thinking about that 1 mile goal. Slowly but surely you hit your big goal anyways!

So, here’s a challenge for you. Look at your big goal in your life right now, can you break it down? Feel free to comment it below!

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I’m watching an interview with Dave Lakhani, a world renown sales trainer and he just mentioned something that made me run to the blog…

“Not enough people take time to rewards themselves…”

Man, that statement hit me like a BRICK, I’m not saying I don’t buy nice things or treat myself well all the time. HOWEVER, I never specifically take time after a success or a goal met to just thank and reward “myself” for the great work I did.

I think he makes an excellent point and you should listen!

He makes it specifically at 10:50 into the video…

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Now days there are lots of “complicated” strategies for keeping track of what you need to do. There are “time management” software and even entire books written on the subject.

I’ve read many of them.

I’m not saying they’re bad, a few strategies have actually helped a lot in the past. However, no matter what, I always come back to the “simpler” method - a to-do list.

Even more so, I don’t like having my to-do list on the computer - I prefer just writing down everything in a big list on paper. Then, as I finish something I cross it off.

There’s something in the feeling you get for crossing off something - that small feeling of achievement makes it work better.

When it’s on the computer, you don’t have the satisfaction of crossing it off!

Here’s what I do:

Step 1: Every morning I write down everything I can think of.

Step 2: I put an asterisk next to the top 5 more urgent/important things.

Step 3: As things come up during the day, I add them to the list (rather than getting distracted and doing them right away).

Step 4: I vigorously cross something off as I finish it and pat myself on the back!

I do carry my lists over from day to day, but I prefer not to (sometimes you can’t help it)!

Try it out - I’ve noticed that I’m 10 times more productive when I do this…

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So I was talking to one of my friends the other night. He started to talk about how he’s not happy with his current job and he just doesn’t know what he wants to do.

He said he knows TWO things:

1. He wants to be in business.

2. He likes cars…

“So, Why Aren’t You Working On Cars?”

Of course I oversimplified the entire problem and asked a simple question - mostly because I wanted to see his response. I mean, I get it, the guy has a very nice and comfy job with Hewlett Packard that allows him to travel the entire country on THEIR dime.

But, either way, I wanted to see what he said - he said exactly what I thought he would…

“It would be crazy for me to leave such a great job to go ‘work on cars’ - people will call me crazy!”

Let’s dissect what he said, there are two different parts to it.

1. He called it a great job (however, he just got done saying that he could never see himself doing it and that it was not challenging and boring, hmmm).

2. “People will call me crazy” - AH HA! That’s what I was waiting to hear…what PEOPLE will think.

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See, my point was that “I want to have a business in cars” is not narrow enough - what does that even mean. He needs to take some time and get hands-on time to learn just WHAT about cars he wants a business in.

This means he’ll  have to do some “internships” or “jobs” in the industry and see whether he even likes it.

(This is exactly what I did when I started online, I was a financial planner, copywriter, internet marketing consultant and other things before I really figured out where my calling was).

I wasn’t saying for him to quit his job, I was saying for him to take his free time on weekends and find a way to do some work (even for free) at local car related businesses.

“And, Now Begin The Excuses…”

Here’s how I know that someone just is NOT ready; yhey start making lame excuses of “being too busy.” GIVE ME A BREAK. There is no such thing as “being too busy.”

What he’s missing is the HUSTLE - without hustle, life is not going to change.

But everything he said kept coming back to “well my parents gave me this advice…my sisters gave me this advice…my uncle gave me this advice…”

“I Remember The Days I Used To Ask Advice…”

5 years ago I was at a copywriting workshop and I got a chance to hang out with Michael Masterson, he’s one of the most world-renown copywriters. I was telling him about how I loved business and wanted to start one, but my parents were saying I couldn’t do it, I’d fail.

Here’s how the conversation went…

Michael: “Are your parents doing what you want to do 10 years from now?”

Me: No

Michael: Then why are you taking advice from them?

Me: Because they’re my parents…and even my friends say that I’m crazy…

Michael: Are your friends doing what you want to do 10 years from now?

Me: No way!

Michael: Then why are you taking advice from them?

Me: But, they just want what’s best for me…

Michael: Very true, but how can they give you advice on something they don’t know about. YOU want to be a young entrepreneur, YOU want a business - why aren’t you taking advice from other successful young entrepreneurs?

BINGO!

The moral of the story for you and for my friend today: Don’t waste your time taking advice for everyone and anyone. Any time someone gives you advice, ask yourself just one question:

“Is This Person Doing What I Want To Do 10 Years From Now?”

Thank you Michael. Since that day, I’ve had many mentors, I’ve actually out-grown a few. I no longer take advice from someone that does not know the topic better than me and/or is not living the dream I dream every night…

So, my friend, please, please, do two things:

1. Get your hustle (or else it’s a no go).

2. Start taking advice from other people…when I got started, NO ONE thought I could do it. Well, I showed them didn’t I?

Now, go forth and FIGHT!

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So, I’ve been listening to “Good To Great,” which is all about dissecting what made the most successful companies in the world who they are today.

In addition, I had one of those long chats with a close friend last night over a couple of drinks.

Combine the two and it’s exactly why I’m up right now at 1:15 AM on a Saturday night writing this post for you. I couldn’t sleep thinking more and more about it, figured I’d share.

My friend and I were talking about what’s going on with the world today and how things are falling apart left and right. Well, HIS view on the situation is quite more cynic than mine is, I understand there are two sides.

No matter how much evil we see, there is just as much great around us as well (it’s just that the media chooses not to talk about the good).

Anyways, he posed a question that concerned me and also led into a long heated (yet friendly) debate:

“Is it too late to change things? Is there no more hope? Look at everything around us, how did we let it get to this?”

As we talked about it, only one word came to mind…

Leadership

That’s right. I explained to him firstly that absolutely not, it’s not too late. Also, “how did we let things get to this point?” It’s all about leadership.

I’m a big believer that everything, every organization, family, business, government - all of it is shaped by a leader. We all look to follow someone who can INSPIRE and MOVE us. We believe in his/her dreams and we pledge our loyalty.

A great leader stays TRUE to his commitments and does ANYTHING to make them happen. I mean EVERYTHING, that includes the toughest decisions anyone can imagine making.

“Much of The Leadership Is Absent Or Has Gone Astray…”

That was my only answer for him. I oversimplified the matter by saying that really if we want to see things fixed, we need new leadership. But, if you really think about it, it really is THAT simple.

Any and all successful organizations have had leaders that were fearless, brilliant and made tough decisions like you wouldn’t believe. If you have not yet, I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy of “Good To Great” - it really drives home this point.

A Great Leader Inspires

Without going into a great big rant, I want to leave everyone with just one thought - if you want to succeed in life, you need to first master the art of inspiring and motivating those around you.

You have to begin to lead and get away from following (believe me, it sounds great, but it’s tough).

Every great leader in our world has been the role model for what it means to be a “fighter.”

Creating Impact…

One of my good friends and probably one of the nicest guys I know, Kenneth McArthur, recently wrote a book called “IMPACT.” I just got done listening to the free audio and I loved it.

Kenneth’s book is the next one on my list, I’ve only heard great things about it.

The subtitle explains my entire point:

“How To Get Noticed, Motivate Millions and Make a Difference in a Noisy World…”

Fighting for your goals and dreams involves building a coalition around you and gaining support. If you ever plan on doing that, you have to inspire, motivate and create impact…

Kenneth is giving away MANY of his materials for FREE, including the amazing interview I listened to, just visit his site and sign-up. I highly recommend getting the book as well (I’ll give you a full review when I finish it).

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I was at a graduation a couple of months ago and the president of the university used a story that really hit home with me, something happened today to remind me again of the story so I thought I’d share…

Here’s the story:

A professor calls an early study group for his students, when they all get there he offers them coffee to get the morning started. He lays out a series of cups (all different kinds), some very nice and others pretty ugly.

As the students start going to get coffee, they grab a cup and make their way to the coffee.

What the professor noticed right away was that each student was choosing the nicest glass currently available at their time of selection. The last student even seemed a bit dissapointed to be “stuck” drinking from the simple styrofoam cup.

As the students sipped their coffees, the professor asked them WHY they had chosen the best cup available even the coffee was exactly the same for everyone.

None of the students could answer the question, as a matter of fact, they seemed to get confused themselves!

They hadn’t “conciously” looked for the nicest cup, it was innately built into them!

The point of the story is that we should all take a step back and think about what it is that we’re REALLY going after (the coffee) and not waste time worrying about the other things around it that are just helping you get there (the cup).

Afterall, in the end, the coffee is the same, right?

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I was recently at a graduation and the president of the university used a story that really hit home with me.

A professor calls an early study group for his students, when they all get there he offers them coffee to get the morning started. He lays out a series of cups (all different kids), some very nice and others pretty ugly.

As the students start going to get coffee they have to choose a cup first. The professor notes how each student is picking the nicest cup available at time of selection.

The styrofoam cups are the last to go.

As the last student gets his coffee, the professor brings his “research” to the student’s attention saying:

“Why is it that everyone went for the nicest cup first? It’s really the coffee you were after right? The cup was simply a tool you needed. The look/shape of the cup makes absolutely no impact on the cup, so why did it matter?

This is a very small example, but it purely illustrates how we spend too much time and energy on things that are irrelevant to our end-goal.

Focus on your end goal, all the things along the way are just tools, as long as they serve the purpose, spending too much thought on them is extra stress that gets in the way of your end goal.

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