Treasure Your Dreams

It’s SO tempting to give up when the going gets tough — no matter what area of life you might be dealing with. It’s important to remember though that those who push through the hard times are the same ones who get to experience the great times!

Nothing great every comes easily… you must be willing to persevere and stick with it until you see the success you’ve been shooting for!

If you don’t have the motivation to work through the hard times, then your “Why” obviously isn’t big enough — if your WHY (your reason for doing whatever it is you’re doing) is big enough, then you won’t be able to quit… you will want that success too bad to give up!

So whatever you’re tackling in life, make sure your reason for doing it is clearly defined, then remind yourself of that reason every day and get busy working towards your goal! And whatever you do… if you want to win, don’t quit!

The quote I leave you with is this, by one of my mentors and friends, Michael S. Clouse,

“Always move towards your dreams!”

One of my favorite books of all time is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. I was first introduced to this book by Michael Clouse at our Vegas convention in March of 09… and in the past year I have read it so many times the pages are already falling apart!

Love, love love that book!

The main concept in it is that your whole life is based on the little things you do (or don’t do) every day — it’s the little things that make all the difference. You are always moving either up the Slight Edge curve, or down it. You are never static.

For example, working out. Wow, do I hate to do it. I’ve ridden horses several days a week my whole life, up until a few years ago. Until I quit riding I never had a reason to do any other type of workout, but now… well, anyway.

I finally found a program that seems to be working for me… and by working I mean I actually will do it (most) days. I tried creating my own schedule, tried attending classes at a gym, tried sticking an elliptical in front of my TV… but so far P90X seems to be the only thing I’ve stuck with for any period of time.

Yesterday, I goofed. I did not do my P90X workout. Why not? Well, I wasn’t sick… I wasn’t injured… I wasn’t being held prisoner anywhere… I was just being lazy. I put it off all day, went to a church thing last night and got home late. Could of done it then, but I opted for bed instead.

So, yesterday, I travelled down the Slight Edge curve just a bit.

Can I tell any difference today? No. Can I suddenly not touch my toes because I failed one time to do the Yoga workout? No. But what if I skip today? Will I tell a difference tomorrow? Probably not.

If I skip the rest of this week though… then I might notice a small difference next week. If I skip the rest of the month… that difference will be a little bigger. If I skip the rest of this year… then I might as well have not ever started at all.

And what if I never workout again for the next 30 years?
And what if I do the opposite… what if I workout 6 days a week for the next 30 years.

A small daily decision doesn’t seem to make much difference. So what if you opt for the pizza instead of the salad? Who cares if don’t put a percentage of this week’s paycheck into your savings account? Does it really matter that much?

It might not matter much today… but those small decisions (or indecisions), compounded over time, make all the difference in your life.

If you think about it, the Slight Edge can be put to work in any area of your life — your finances, your career, your health, your family, your relationship with God, etc, etc, etc.

So my challenge to myself… and you too if you’re up for it… is to make it habit to have the Slight Edge work FOR you rather than against you. Start with one area, then add another, then another.

Before you know it you’ll be moving up, up, up! You might not notice it today… or tomorrow… or even next week. But I guarantee you that 30 years from now, you’ll be sitting up high on that mountain very happy that you’ve been climbing instead of digging!

The quote I leave you with is this, from the Slight Edge written by Jeff Olson (of course)…

“Time will either promote you or expose you”

Hands down, one of my favorite things about my chosen profession is that you can incorporate your work into your already busy lifestyle.

I’ve always known this was possible, but it took a long time for me to actually “get it” — once I did though, my life and my business changed incredibly!

Admittedly, before I “got it” my day-to-day schedule was pretty boring. Like most people, I lived for the weekends and for vacations. One of the few advantages I had over the typical 9-5 person was that I was in charge of my schedule — but I was looking for more benefits than that.

I can’t pinpoint an exact moment when I began to make the shift… from living with two separate schedules (life and work) to blending my day into a fun mix of the two… I don’t believe there really was such a moment; more of a gradual change as my mind began to truly wrap around what was possible.

I have always read about lifestyling your business — it’s something I’ve heard about from many different trainers, and even taught on myself. It took several years though for me to finally begin living it!

Yesterday I spent less than 3 hours in the “office” — I was gone from 11:30 – 4:30 eating lunch, shopping and going to a movie with my Nana and my little sister. Talk about a rough Monday

While I was gone though, I met 4 prospective business partners… the man who processed my order at Kinkos; the waiter at Cheddars; and the two people behind the counter at KKs Craft Mall. If you’re a Network Marketer who is actively building a team, then you know prospecting is the lifeblood of your business. Without people to talk to, your business can’t grow, and your team cannot develop. I would have never met 4 people yesterday had I chosen to sit at home and “work” instead of to go out and “play” !

Sometimes I look at the giant calendar on my desk and wonder how on earth I ever get any work done…  appointments like shopping with my Mom, attending church functions and volunteering are scribbled all over it. Then I think back though and remember all the conversations that have come out of those activities. I think about all the presentations that have come out of those conversations, and all the new business partners (and friends) I will have the privilege of working with all because I chose to meld my work time with my play time.

I think back to the time, not too terribly long ago, when I would spend my work day making 50+ phone calls to prospects who had answered an ad online. This worked. I built a good business doing it. But it wasn’t NEAR as much fun as lifestyling! 

So my question to you is this — when you’re playing are you working, and when you’re working are you playing? If you’re not, then you haven’t truly discovered the joys of this industry! You shouldn’t stop living your life because you’re too busy working, but then neither should you stop working because you’re too busy living your life. If you will learn how to combine the two though, your life (and your business) will never be the same!

The quote I leave you with is this, by Arnold Glasgow:

“Make your life a mission — not an intermission.”

“So you’re really trying to tell me that your willingness to hear the word no made everything you’re enjoying in life right now possible?” I asked

“No, Eric, I’m not saying that at all. My willingness to hear no got me on the right track in my career, but it was my wantingness to fail that catapulted me to the top.”
~~ Go for No!, by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz

I was re-reading one my favorite business books yesterday, called Go for No!  The book is about a salesperson who gets the opportunity to travel forward in time to meet his future self, and to learn from his own experiences in advance. While the alter-egos are talking, they discover one event that changed the life of one of them forever, and didn’t alter the other’s thinking at all. During his visit, Eric learns important lessons about failing that he is then able to take back in time with him and implement in order to achieve the future he’s always dreamed of.

Here are some things I learned from the book –

#1 — Stop being scared of “failure”
What’s the big deal anyway? Why are we all so terrified of failing — and I’m not talking about just in business, I’m talking about in life. How many times have you not gone after something you wanted, not pushed something hard enough, not even attempted to do something all because you were afraid that you would try, and fail.
I have a newsflash for you… you can only fail if you QUIT trying!

#2 — Get out of your comfort zone… or it will shrink!
Your comfort zone is never static. It is always either expanding or retracting. You should do something every day that takes you out of your comfort zone!

#3 — Almost everyone who is a major success… is also a major failure!
Abe Lincoln — lost 8 out of 10 elections he was in before becoming president in 1860.
R.H. Macy — failed seven times to get his department store chain going before he was actually successful.
Harland Sanders — spent 2 years on the road before he finally finally found a restaurant that would carry his fried chicken recipe.
Thomas Edison — found 10,000 ways NOT to invent the lightbulb before find the 1 way that actually worked.

#4 — In order to become a success, you must not be WILLING to fail… you have to WANT to fail.
If you want to fail, then you can view your failures as setbacks rather than deal breakers… you can use them to catapult you towards success.

#5 — Develop a high failure quotient.
Everyone has their own personal failure quotient — in other words, the number of times they are willing to fail before reaching success without giving up. The higher your quotient, the greater your chances of succeeding at whatever it is you are attempting to do.

The simple fact is, you must be willing to experience failure if you ever want to experience success!

The quote I leave you with is this, an old Japanese proverb:
“Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

When was the last time you had a dream come true? I mean really, something you wanted very very badly — something you had hoped for, longed for, even maybe worked for. When was the last time you allowed yourself to dream so big that when that dream DID happen, you couldn’t wipe the smile off your face for days?

I had an experience like that recently

I’ve always been a big fan of dreaming… ask me what I want out of life and you will probably feel sorry for me by the time I’ve finished answering you because, well, I expect a lot of things!

One of those happens to be owning a horse again, competing in horse shows again, and having a state-of-the-art equestrian facility of my own.

Another facet of that dream is being able to donate a portion of my time and resources to therapeutic riding. It’s something I have ALWAYS had an interest in, and when the word “charity” comes up that’s instantly the first thing I think of!

Well, as of yesterday, I am one step closer to achieving that dream. I was lucky enough to find a friend who’s son is enrolled in hippotherapy at a local equestrian center. I went with her to one of his lessons, spoke to the person in charge and am attending my first orientation tonight.

Finally, after 2 years of not setting foot in a stirrup, I will be riding several days a week and helping to train and school some horses the center uses for their therapeutic riding program. On top of that, I will also be able to help out with the lessons the kids participate in, and even get involved in some Special Olympics events!

WOW — talk about not being able to wipe a smile off your face. That’s what is SO cool about dreaming… about putting things down on paper, setting a goal and then doing “whatever it takes” to make that goal a reality.

I had tried multiple times in the past to get in touch with this therapeutic riding program, but was unsuccessful. Then, when I was least expecting it, I found a connection and was able to jump in and achieve my goal!

So… what are your dreams? And even more importantly… what are you doing to move yourself closer to them?

The best part of dreaming big, is achieving big. So committ yourself to setting a goal and then doing whatever it takes to see it through — I can promise you, once it’s achieved, it will be worth it!

The quote I leave you with is this, by Walt Disney:

“If you can dream it, you can do it!”

How well rounded is your life? I know for me personally, there have been many times where it was pretty oddly shaped! One of the most valuable concepts I ever learned from Michael Clouse was that you should look at your life like a wheel with 7 spokes — or in other words, the 7 areas of your life.

Each spoke needs to be even (or relatively so) in order for your wheel to roll smoothly across the ground. Otherwise, it will stutter and stop completely.

The Family/Relationship Side:

Reality is, we were created to have relationships — we were created to have friends! How is this side of your life looking?

Do you have a good relationship with your family? Do you have friends in your life that you can count on? If you can answer YES to those questions, then chances are you doing quite well in this department.

Personally, this has been an area I have struggled with in the past. Over the past several months though, I can say without a doubt that my relationship with my family has never been better, and God has blessed me with some pretty awesome friends in my life.

That brings me to the second part…

The Spiritual Side:

How’s yours looking? If you’re wondering “What is this?” then chances are you don’t have it. Whatever your personal beliefs are, you should be living them out fully!

Again, this has been something I have struggled with in the past. About a year ago though, I found this awesome church and as a result have gotten plugged into a couple of study groups. Something I am still actively working on is setting aside time each day to read my Bible — so while this spoke of my wheel may not be perfectly round (and really, are any of them ever perfect?) I have to say I am feeling pretty good about this area.

Moving on…

The Career Side:

Here’s a big one! In fact, you are probably spending about 40 hours a week on your career. How do you like it? Do you feel happy with where you’re at? Is it what you’ve always seen yourself doing? Are you moving forward?

No one likes to be stalled out in their careers. So do a check on yours and see how you feel about it! You don’t need to be living on your dream job in order to be completely happy in this area, but you should probably at least feel like you are moving that direction.

Personally, I love my career. I know that there is not another out there that would be better for me!

The Social/Cultural Side:

What are you doing to move yourself forward in this area? Maybe you don’t even know what this area is… I know I didn’t, until I learned it from Michael Clouse a couple of years ago.

Think of it this way… let’s say you are doing GREAT on the career side of your life. You’ve gotten a couple of promotions, a pretty hefty raise, and during this time you’ve married a great person.

Because of your new status within the company, you are asked to attend a formal dinner, hosted by the CEO. You don your fancy clothes, get into your brand new BMW (hefty raise, remember?) and head out.

Then, during dinner, you proceed to: put your elbows on the table, talk with your mouth full, forget to use your napkin and *gasp* eat your salad with the wrong fork.

See what I’m getting at? As you move forward in your life, you should be doing and learning things that bring you forward culturally as well! Read a few books, go to some plays, maybe study a foreign language! Consider this area to be self education.

Personally, I do read quite a few books — other than that though, there’s not much I do in this area. Something I’ve been wanting to do is brush up on my French (haven’t studied it since high school) — but I just haven’t done it yet. While I don’t feel too terribly out of the loop yet, I know that I need to get on the ball or else I will fall behind in this area.

Something to work at

The Health Side:

Basically there are 3 things in this area: Are you working out? Are you eating healthy? Are you getting enough sleep?

A good exercise program is essential to good health. So go buy you a couple of dumbbells, maybe a pull up bar, and go for a walk a few days a week. One program I recently started and highly recommend (if you’re up to it) is P90X — you can read all about it at http://www.beachbody.com

You also have to eat healthy! Drink those 8 glasses of water a day! Lay off the junk food (I may possibly be the world’s worst in this category) and eat a few more veggies and fruits!

Finally, are you getting enough sleep? Many people don’t realize how important sleep is to your overall health. So do your best to turn off the TV and get in bet a little earlier. Make sure you’re getting as close to those 8 hours as possible!

(almost done now…)

The Financial Side:

How are you doing here? Are you in debt? That’s okay if you are, but you should be working on getting out of it. Is your salary where you want it to be (this part links into your career)? Are you putting money in a savings account each time you get paid?

After all, what good would it do you to earn a large income, and then get ruined one day due to an emergency because you had failed to save any of it? Something we should all be working on is earning, saving and investing.

A good book on this topic is The Richest Man in Babylon — I highly recommend it!!

And finally…

The Fun Side!

Are you having fun? Are you a fun person to be around? What good is it to have everything going for you in life, but to not be having fun while you’re at it?

So many people set financial goals, career goals, health goals… but they forget to set FUN goals! All I can say here is make sure you are setting aside time each week to have a little fun in your life

That’s about it! This formula, since I started actively working on it, has made my life infinitely better! There is just something to be said about living a well rounded life. After all, like Michael Clouse has said — What good would it be to have all the money in the world, and not be healthy enough to spend it? What good would it be to have the career of your dreams, but to see your life falling apart at home?

Check your spokes — work on the ones that need some help, cut back on the ones that are demanding too much time, and watch your life transform before your eyes!

The quote I leave you with today is this, by Jim Rohn:

“To have more, we must first become more.”

Yesterday I was asked to drop everything on my schedule for the next 3 days to attend a “workshop” with two other leaders where we would learn a new method to test in building our businesses.

You read that right… I was asked. As in, I had a choice.

That’s probably one of my favorite things about being a Network Marketer — having choices, to do or not to do things when, where and how I want to. I’m all about choices!

I had a regular J-O-B for a couple of years, and I bet you can guess what my least favorite thing about it was. The work was pretty fun, the people were enjoyable (most of the time), and pay was even pretty good. What I absolutely hated though, was knowing that I HAD to be there at the office when they told me to be. I had no choices!

If I wanted to take the weekend off, I had to plan it weeks in advance. If I wanted to sleep in an extra hour, or leave a little early, I had to plan that too. Everything was dictated by someone’s schedule… and it wasn’t mine!

There’s another cool thing though –

When I was asked to drop everything to attend this workshop, it would have taken some pretty pressing engagements for me to say “no”. Why? Because attending this workshop means that I get to spend 3 days with two of my friends, gathered around the kitchen table having lots of fun and learning some pretty cool things too.

When you love the people you work with, and when you love the work you do, you will really never work a day in your life.

We had so much FUN yesterday — drinking our Life Shotz together between breakfast and lunch, pausing the CD every few minutes because one of us had a “great idea” and laughing almost nonstop for the majority of the day.

I know today and tomorrow will be full of the same activities — and better yet, I know that next week will be a powerful week in my business because when we leaders get together, we ALWAYS come up with something great!

The quote I leave you with today is this, by Peter Drucker:

“The best way to predict the future is to create it!”

Well, this post has been a long time coming. I looked back and noticed I haven’t posted since OCTOBER — wow, it’s definitely been a while!

A lot has happened in the past 5 months… well, actually just the last 3. It’s been an interesting year, to say the least! I feel like I’ve reached the point of a new beginning, and finally feel like I’m back in enough of a normal routine to begin writing again

I toyed with the idea of changing all of my old posts over to “private” (or even deleting them all together) as a symbol of this new beginning, but in reviewing them this morning I decided I just couldn’t do that… they’re just too good! *smile*

All kidding aside though, there really is some great content in those posts, so I have decided (for now at least) to leave them be.

To kick off this new chapter in life, and to extend the personal nature of this particular post, I want to share something that I found on my friend Saul Jacobson’s website. I noticed he actually discovered this on our friend Cathy Mahady’s blog, so Cathy, thank you!

7 Things About Me:

1. Why I Get Out of Bed Everyday … The future! Sometimes I sit and marvel at how blessed my life is. I get to help people rediscover their dreams for a living — it doesn’t get much better than that! When I look at my own dreams though, I can’t help but to come flying out of bed every morning because I am so excited to get busy making them come true!

My "Dream Board" in my office!

2. What I Love … Dressage. I miss it SO much! I grew up riding horses, and that’s really the reason I chose the profession I did — to be able to have not only the MONEY to pursue my favorite hobby, but the TIME as well! Taking a mini-break for another year or so until I get my business fully built up… but then I know I will be able to enjoy it for the rest of my life

Aaron and Me

3. Where I Have Been … London, Paris, New York and Alaska. Some of my favorite memories are of the trips my Nana took my cousin Jayci and I on. We’ve had the opportunity to travel to 4 incredible places and spend time travelling together making memories of a lifetime. If there’s one thing I love almost as much as riding, it’s definitely travelling!

Nana, Jayci and I on our balcony during our Alaskan cruise!

4. Where I Want to Go … Germany. Not only is it one of the Dressage capitals of the world, but it was also my Grandpa’s favorite country to visit. I can’t wait for the day that I get to go there and explore everything! 

Castle in Germany

5. What I Know … you’ve got to truly enjoy what you do every day, or you’ll never be truly happy. There is nothing better than waking up on a Monday morning and being truly excited about your week!

6. What Motivates Me … my mentors. I love meeting and spending time with successful people and taking in everything I can from them so I can create that success in my own life.

Michael Clouse and my Mom, Kathy Schneider

7. What I Learned … just when you think you have it all figured out, you don’t. Life is a series of curve balls. You never know when something is going to change, whether it be for the worse or for the better. Sometimes, things that seem like the worst at the time, actually end up being the best in the end. You can’t control change, but you CAN control how you react to it. By keeping a positive mindset in all circumstances, you can create something magical.

One of my favorite quotes!

Wow, there’s just something about listening to a call by Michael Clouse that gets my head spinning. Whether it be a live call, his recorded material or (my personal favorite) at a live event, the information he has to share is always relevant and applicable no matter how many times you’ve heard it before.

Tonight he did a short 30 minute call as a gear-up for our upcoming Texas Event in January. On a side note — man, I can’t WAIT to see everyone again! I guess I will never understand those who grumble and complain about attending live events because  they are one of my FAVORITE things about this business! It was just a little over 2 months ago that I saw everyone last, and already I can’t wait until the next time we meet… just 88 more days!

But back to Michael Clouse… tonight he shared 5 Steps you should take if you are wanting to propel your business forward. While yes, these steps are fabulous for your Network Marketing business, they can be applied to any one’s life in a general sense as well — so here they are:

#1: Decide What You Want

Surprisingly, this one is tougher than it may initially seem. What do YOU want out of your life? What do you want? If you could create your perfect future, what would it look like? Start with something easy… start with 12 months from today. What do you want your life to look like 12 months from now? To make it even easier, don’t even worry about your WHOLE life (yet), focus on one area — if you have your own business (or are in an industry where your income is directly proportional to something you do, rather than a fixed salary) then I suggest you use your income. If you’re not, focus on something that IS in your control.

For me, what came to mind is “What number do I want to see on my check in November of 2010, and what title do I want to have in front of my name?”

#2: WHY do you want it?

Behind every good goal, there is a strong why. Why, you ask? Well, because without the WHY it becomes much to easy to say “Why not.”

As in… “Why not put this off for another day, another week, another month, another…” Yeah, you get the idea.

So — WHY do you want what you said you wanted in #1? Think about it, be honest with yourself… but here’s the trick — as Michael Clouse shared with us on tonight’s call, life WILL get in the way of your goals. If you want to achieve those goals, your WHY must be bigger than anything that could get in the way!

I have a few “whys”…
The first, I have always promised myself that I would start riding again once I reached a certain title. I’m going with the “work hard now, play hard later” mentality and I know that if I dedicate these few years to my business, then I will reach a point where I can ride every day for the rest of my life if I so choose. A little hint… if I reach the title goal I set for next November — I WILL start riding again. After a 4 year hiatus from a passion I pursued everyday for 12 years, I will finally be “back in the saddle” (quite literally, really).
My other whys are more generic… financial security, time freedom, the usual. And then one other that is very personal and close to my heart — a newly developed “why” that just might prove to be the strongest of them all.

SO — what’s your WHY?

#3: Make a Game Plan

Michael Clouse suggests something that I have found to be a gold mine in my life — break your 12 months down into 4, 90 Day chunks. Mother Nature has this one pretty well figured out with the whole seasons thing… reality is, people need “something new” every 3 months or so.

If you focus on an entire 12 months with nothing in between, chances are you will not reach your goal. You will (more than likely) procrastinate, letting the 12-month-mark sneak up on you until all of a sudden BAM! there it is and, well, you’re not much further along than you were a year ago!

3 months though… that’s not very long! So — make a game plan! Set “mini-goals” for how far you want to be along the path to your 12-month goal. For example… where do you want to be on February 1st, May 1st, August 1st, and November 1st (your 12 months)

Get it? Great! Moving on…

#4: Commit!!

Michael Clouse made an interesting point tonight… commitment has become a lost art. I love the definition of commitment he shares — “Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do, long after the feeling you said it in has passed.”

Think about that for a moment — have you ever got really excited about something, promised to do a lot of things and then, 1-2 weeks later realize you over-extended yourself and maybe you just don’t feel up to doing all the things you said you would do anymore?

Of course you have, but unfortunately, that’s too bad. You committed, you must do it anyway! Your ability to stay committed to something long after you have promised to do it says a lot about your integrity and who you are as a person. This is something that I struggle in daily — I’m really good at steps 1-3… but when it comes to sticking with the game plans I set, well… that’s something I work on daily!

This is a good example of why it’s important to have a strong WHY for your goal. A strong why will help keep you motivated and help the “feeling you said it in” to stay with you for longer.

So… BE COMMITTED!

#5: Take Action, Get Better!

Once you’ve decided exactly what it is that you want, figured out why it is that you want it, created a game plan for how to get it and committed yourself to following through (no matter what), the only thing left to do is simply DO IT!

So, what is it that you have to do to reach your goals? If you will apply these 5 steps to any area of your life you wish to improve upon, you will be amazed at what your life will look like 12-months from the time you start. What’s holding you back? Make a goal for yourself today… whether it be a business goal, a financial goal, a fitness goal, a fun goal, a spiritual goal, a relationship goal or a social/cultural goal — set ONE! And then go through the 5 steps and get started achieving it today!

The quote I leave you with is this:
“A goal without a deadline is nothing but a wish.”

Consistency: Steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.

Prioritize: To put things in order of importance.

 I have a very hard time consistently prioritizing. By this, I mean consistently doing the things I KNOW will have the most impact on my day. Sometimes, I wish I could just wind myself up and I would automatically go through the day’s actions without having to constantly motivate myself to do the things I know need to be done.

Now, don’t get me wrong — I don’t spend my day lounging around on the couch with a TV remote in my hand, or sleeping in until noon, or shopping online. No — I truly do feel as if I am busy for most of the day, every day.

My only question is, busy doing what?

In this business, it is SO easy to get busy doing busy work. In other words, doing things that make you “feel” busy but don’t ever really accomplish much.

This goes back to the 80/20 rule — that 80% of the work we do accounts for 20% of our results, while 20% of the work we do accounts for 80% of our results.

My next question is; if we KNOW this, then why do we continue to waste our time on the 80%?

I know from talking with team members (downline, crossline AND upline), that I am not the only one who suffers from this “disease” — the 80% disease, I mean. Knowing this makes me all the more insistent that we find a vaccine of some kind.

Surely, there must be something.

My advice, is this (and believe me, when I say advice I mean advice to myself as much as to anyone else!):

Look at each day, as a new day; completely separate from the day before, or the day after. It’s so easy to say to ourselves “Well, I made 60 calls yesterday, so today I can take it easy.” — this kind of thinking will only hold you back.

If you look at every day individually, you won’t have the success (or in some cases, the failure) of the day before to hold you back. You become responsible for achieving success THAT day, and that day only. Then, when that day is at an end, you can ask yourself that all-important question that any of us who listen to Michael Clouse have heard over and over — “Did I keep the main thing, the main thing?”

In truth, everyone has a “main thing” — whether you are an entrepreneur, a student, an employee, a stay-at-home mom… everyone has a “main thing” that they need to do, every day, in order to be successful.

Take each day, and focus that day on keeping your main thing, the main thing.

Tonight, I had the privilege of listening to a great call by Michael Clouse — he talked about hearing something at a Brian Tracy event that completely shifted his focus, and had an immense impact on his life.

Tonight, I heard something from Michael that I believe will have an immense impact on mine; he said that if you get up every day, and do the #1 most important thing you could possibly do that day, you will look up at the end of the year and be able to say to yourself “This year, I did the 365 most important things I could have done.”

Wow — in all the books I’ve read, and the tapes I’ve listened to on prioritizing, time management, etc, that one sentence put things more into perspective for me than anything else has.

I want to be able to look back at the end of 2009 and say to myself “Yes, I did the 365 most important things I could have done this year.”

He went on to say that those things don’t necessarily have to be related to work– they can be something with your family, something with your friends, something for yourself. But the bottom line is it has to be something that, on that particular day, is the most important thing you could possibly do.

So, my challenge to you (and to myself) is this: Go out tomorrow, and do the most important thing. Keep your main thing the main thing. Then, go out the next day and do it again, and again, and again and again. Before you know it, you will have an entire year to look back on and say, “I did the 365 most important things I could have done.” — and that, is all you can do!

 The quote I leave you with is this — by none other than Michael Clouse:

“Keep the main thing, the main thing!”