Ahhhh, smell that?

That is the smell of rarified air.

Welcome to the top 3 percent!

By choosing to participate in this program and go through this process, you have separated yourself from almost everyone else—or at least from the remaining 97 percent of the population that doesn’t give thoughtful contemplation to their life’s desires and chart a proper course to take their life in that direction.

Just finding this course? No problem, register in the upper right and the previous installments will be sent with the next update. Welcome!

Is it that easy to step away from the herd and step ahead of everyone you work with, compete against, live around, associate with and meet on the street? The answer is yes!

Most people are more diligent about making their grocery list and spend more time planning their summer vacation than they do designing their life. That is why it is so easy to get ahead in life, stand out and move ahead. Most people—97 percent of them—can’t be bothered.

Sad, but true. But not you. Here you are! Congratulations!

Now, as my mentor Jim Rohn said, “What is easy to do is also easy not to do.” You have shown up, and I commend you for that. But you also need to stay committed and PLAY FULL OUT!

I am going to take you through a self-examination process that will have you taking long looks in the mirror of assessment. This process will reawaken dreams, desires and ambitions you might have abandoned long ago. You will fight, kick and scratch to not open up those old toy boxes, for fear that doing so will require you to leave behind your cozy and comfortable rut…. I mean routine.

If you are going to take this journey with me, you will need to be serious. Serious about radically changing the trajectory of your life. Serious about wanting to truly access your great, but maybe mostly dormant, potential inside you and willingness to set it free. Serious about committing to the process of examination; challenging old thought and behavior patterns and declaring new choices; establishing new behaviors; building new skills; and taking bold, new actions to realize your great goals.

If you are not serious about doing the above and will not seriously commit to the process, I recommend not even starting. Slip back into the herd; no one will even notice.

If you are serious and ready to commit to this process, I promise you it will be one of the most important decisions you will ever make for your life’s success. I can personally testify to this.

Please sign the COMMITMENT PLEDGE provided in the first download and post it somewhere so you can see it as you work each day and go through this process. I know that might sound hokey, but even if it is just ceremonial, something magical is evoked when you sign your name to a document that you then see each and every day. Do it. It will help. Feel childish? Do it anyway! Remember, PLAY FULL OUT.

Also know this: You are not on this journey alone. There are thousands of people from all over the world who will be going through this process with you. You are now a part of a global community of like-minded people dedicated to a common purpose: living a life of excellence. And I will be your guide every step of the way. You are welcome to leave comments, ask questions and participate in the discussions that will take place on the comments below each installment.

If you missed pre-launch material you can review it here: INTRO, HOW, WHY

Review
“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” —George Santayana

Before marching blindly into the next year and the next decade, the first, and most important, activity is to take a look back at the year and the decade just finished. Take an inventory, add it all up and see how you did.

What happened as you planned? Where did you come up short? What worked? What didn’t? What were some of your good decisions? Which were bad? What behaviors, habits and disciplines are working for you? Which are not?

I’ve observed in life that if I don’t learn from the hard lessons, they get more severe. The smack gets harder until I finally wake up and get the hint. The process of Plan, Do, Review helps ensure that I get the intended lesson and schedule the necessary improvement(s) in order to triumph in the next round.

The process is a simple one. First, you make a Plan or set goals. (Not planning is a plan, too, just a bad one.) Then you Do or execute (hopefully). Finally, you assess how you did in Review. In the review stage, you measure your accomplishment, count your wins and losses, and make necessary adjustments.

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

As the great philosopher Susan Powter said, “Stop the insanity!”

Download and complete the REVIEW Worksheet. (Sent via the e-mail feed. If you are just registering now, it will go out with the next feed.)

TIP: I keep last year’s calendar, photo albums and online photo storage service (I use www.DropShots.com—private and protected) handy to help jog my memory of all the events and activities of the past year.

Gratitude
Preventing the Fatal Mistake

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” —Oprah Winfrey

The very process of setting goals (deciding what you want based on what you lack and don’t have) can focus your attention and powerful mind on your scarcity and shortcomings. To set your creative power in a positive direction, you have to be mindful of the wealth, abundance and prosperity you already enjoy in order to see, attract and capture more of it. You will need to operate from an attitude of abundance, not scarcity. Focusing solely on what you don’t have actually turns your creative power against you.

Please review the awesome power gratitude has in being able to singularly change your life. Review this post.

Now complete the GRATITUDE Worksheet. (Sent via the e-mail feed. If you are just registering now, it will go out with the next feed.)

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy

Please feel free to share some of your greatest victories, lessons learned and things you are grateful for in your life right now in the comment section below. I’m sure there are many lessons we can learn from one another’s successes and insights.

Also, I invite you to recommend your colleagues, family members, friends, clients, prospects and others you associate with in this blog series. Your invitation, and their acceptance, could be the act that changes their life forever. Start the year off right by making a difference in the lives of those around you. I’m providing the program; you just need to invite those you care about to join us.