For all busy goal oriented people. We sometimes do too much, take on too much, and put too much on ourselves. We like to think we can be all things to all people, but we often neglect our own needs.

Recently I have done what I just described. I took on too much and I overloaded myself. My body started rejecting all the ware and tear I put on myself. I started getting sick, had no energy, and became a bitch to be around. I was working about 18 hours a day, getting 4-5 hours of sleep at night every night for several weeks.

I just thought I had some much to do and so little time to do it. My story isn’t unlike many people I know that are successful. They work long hours, don’t sleep a lot, and still manage to produce at whatever they are doing. They make it happen! There are a few differences I’ve discovered that make them better off than what I’ve been doing. They focus on themselves too!

Now, I’m not saying they neglected to do work, neglected their families, or anything else. They did however pay close attention to how they spent their time. They are organized and efficient, which is the x factor in successful people. They use their time wisely and pay close attention to their own needs.

I’m the type of person that has always been able to get things done. I have a huge monkey on my back sometimes though, I am a big procrastinator. I love to put things off because I like making it through in “crunch time”.  I love to seem like I can accomplish the impossible and make things happen. The truth is that this makes my life harder than it should be.

So, I’ve been working hard on my “character flaws” and trying to eliminate them one by one. My main focus now is to quit allowing my self to put things off until later. Later never seems to come until it’s “crunch time”. I bet many of you are the same way. Luckily, we’re not alone with this issue, but it will be up to US to fix it.  

We can all find great excuses to procrastinate, but think about all the time we would save if you “just did it”. I tell my kids all the time “if you would just quit arguing and do it, you would have been done by now”. Sound familiar??  Truth is its human nature to procrastinate. 

My plan now is to work on getting more organized and efficient with my time. I’ll keep you updated. 

The last couple of months have been very stressful and busy. We’ve had a Tornado and a snow storm that has put my family to the test. Being coupled up basically stuck at the house is never easy. Combine that with losing power for days on end and you have reached a new kind of stress level.

On the brighter side, 2008 has started out to be my most profitable year ever. This hasn’t been easy and had required me to work about 18 hours a day 7 days a week for the last six months. Achieving your goals makes hard work worth it. Things at my main job and my internet ventures are paying off and allowing me to have more personal freedom than most people have.

Anyway, I guess there is always a mix of good/bad things that give you a good balance. So, after the storms we took the kids shopping and spent lots of time with them. This made us feel a little less guilty about planning our “Personal Reward” trip to Tunica.

Life is all about checks and balances and they are needed regardless of how fucked up they can sometimes be. We all know some people who are very wealthy. Spend all their time working or thinking about working and they have little or no time to spend with their families. They wake up one day and their kids are grown and moved out, their wife is unhappy and screwing the mail man, and then they realize that their priorities were all wrong. By that time though, it’s too late, life has passed them by.

I also know many people who work hard at 9-5 jobs and take every opportunity to live life to the fullest. They may not get to retire early, drive a Bentley, or vacation in France. They do however lives their life everyday, play with their kids, and enjoy every minute of being alive. If they drop dead tomorrow they won’t have any regrets, not one!

We all have choices to make. Every decision we make will affect not only ourselves, but everyone around us. YOU have to decide what kind of life you want to have. It doesn’t matter if you’re 20, 30 or 40. It is never too late to start living life.

“We all have a choices, we just may not have one we like” -

It has been one of the craziest months of my life! First we had tornado’s, then we had a records snow storm this week. I can only think that we must be being tested. The best part about the last month is that we have spent a lot of family time together and I’ve really enjoyed it.

Our Kids are growing up very fast and there just isn’t a lot we can do about it. I’m starting to actually feel old now. I know it won’t be long and they will be moving out headed for college. Life does seem to go by fast,

Anyway, the title of this post is “Opportunity Knocks”. The older I get the more I start to see lost opportunities. Opportunities are honestly few and far between. Not only do you need to be in the right place at the right time, but you also need MUST recognize it when you see it! Sometimes you won’t ever have certain opportunities again, and you must take advantage of them.

Motivation + Opportunity = Success

To see an opportunity you must have motivation and you must have goals. We all have a certain amount of motivation. Everyone has something that motivates us. For some it’s money, for other is may be something as simple as finding time to relax. The real truth is that motivation is only part of the formula to get where you want to be. Being motivated alone will not make you successful. The flip side to this is you must find or MAKE an opportunity.

Now I can’t tell you how to find or make an opportunity, that’s something you must do for yourself. If you were to ask me for some advice on becoming motivated or finding an opportunity I would tell you this:

1. Find out what you want out of life and what you need to get there. Do you want a promotion at your job? Or maybe you want to retire before your 50. It all depends on what YOU want

2. You have to realize that with all things there is a price to pay for it. It might be less time with the family or it might be less time watching your favorite sports.

3. Motivation = opportunity - If you are motivated you will start looking for opportunities that will help you achieve your goals. Remember though, you cannot put one before the other and you cannot have one without the other.

4. “The boring guy leads a safe life”. This is a simple statement, but there is a lot of truth there. Getting where you want to be will take some risks. Not every risk will pay off, but you cannot be scared to try. With every opportunity there will be risks. You must ask yourself if you are ready to take on these risks.

“The are a million ways to make a million dollars, you just have to find one” This statement is from my good friend Jeremy Enke (jeremyenke.com) . He is a self made millionaire and the man is constantly staying one step ahead of his competition. The business he is in really doesn’t matter. Once he sets his mind to something, he does it and works his ass off to do it better than anyone else.

Jeremy will be the first to tell you that not every opportunity has worked out, but that didn’t keep him from trying. Not giving up and continuing to find and recognize opportunities has been the key to Jeremy’s success and the success of many others.

“Never worry about trying and failing, as long as you don’t fail to try”