Life is a series of challenges. How you deal with these challenges will determine how great, or how not-so great your life is.

You are born into this world and everything is basically done for you. You mother and father take care of you, feed you, clean you, etc…….. They try and instill the best qualities and teach you everything that they know so you will grow up to be  a productive adult.

Unfortunetly, some things that we learn are not useful and are detrimental as adults. Some people blame their parents for not getting to where they want to get. Others blame teachers, others blame their environment, others blame money, others blame others, others blame tragic events that happened from their past.

You need to forget about the past. Especially the past that serves you only a huge plate of negativity. That is the past and it cannot be changed. The sooner you grasp this idea the sooner you can start living and enjoying life.

You must live in the present. Living and being in the present and making the best of it, is the only way you can make YOUR future the best possible it can be. It is also the only way you can truly be happy. Let the past be the past; plan for your future, but live in the NOW!

And even when you do that, bad things will come up. These are tests. Tests of life. Everybody has Tests of Life. But how will you deal with these Tests of Life? If you give in and feel sorry for yourself and it knocks you off course, then the Tests of Life are going to create your circumstances. But if you rise up, step up, man up, woman up, cowboy up, cowgirl up….. whatever UP you want to call it– then you will be the creator of your circumstances and experiences.

All people experience different things differently. What makes one person happy might bore another person. What makes one person sad might make another person fearful.

I graduated high school with a 2.23 grade point average, and .6 in my final semester in my senior year. Do I let that affect me now? Does it mean I’m not a smart person? Maybe. Or does it mean that I just didn’t work hard? Maybe as well. Or does it mean that the stuff I was doing and learning in high school wasn’t very important to me? Another maybe– well definitely. Because now today, I’m helping to change lives. I’m a fitness business owner and devote much of my time to educating people about fitness and nutrition and mindset, and designing workouts that people can do.

What motivates me is helping people get better. Making their life better, and in return my life becomes better because of it. I work hard everyday to accomplish this mission. But things come up. Some things are bigger then others, some smaller. Either way, it doesn’t knock me off course, because I know where I am going. I have goals written out, and I review daily.

Without something to shoot for you are just wandering around aimlessly hoping everything goes right. This is how people have bad days, or bad weeks, or bad months, or bad years.

I don’t have any of that. I have bad moments. But everyday is awesome! Because moments don’t last very long. They are here and then they are gone. I’m on to the next moment. What do I have to do in the next moment to move my business forward…..my life forward?

What do you have to do to move your business or career forward? Your life forward?

There is no failure until you stop doing it. Everything and everybody is a beginner at something. Very rarely is anybody a phenom. It takes work. Hard work. Consistent work to become great.

This happens to a lot of trial members who come in for their trial with us in our fitness programs. They come in for their first workout, and it’s hard! Then they quit. Because it is easier to not work out and stay un-healthy then it is to start the process of getting healthy and working out. It’s easier to stay inside their comfort zone then change themselves, because that takes sacrifice. And sacrifice they are not willing to make at this moment. I hope, for their sake, they eventually find the way and do change. Because once you do get healthy and strong– everything in life gets better.

I’ve stumbled along the way, as I’m sure you have as well. Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before perfecting electricity. Michael Jordan was cut from his middle school basketball team. Henry Ford lost all his money 5 times before Ford Motor Company. Steve Jobs was fired from Apple. Abraham Lincoln was dropped from the rank of Captain to Private before becoming President. Elvis was fired as a performer for the Grand Ole Opry.

If you stumble or fall, get back up. Use each stumble or fall as a learning point. Get better, get stronger from it. People often quit when they are on the brink of success, it’s just around the corner.

Everything great requires sacrifice. You can be average at anything. Average is the majority of the world. I choose to be in the minority. I choose greatness!