I often think about where I will be or where I want to be in the future. I am guilty like most of you of just living in the present and not looking ahead to the future. In business, planning ahead is essential to survival and failure to plan ahead is certain doom. No matter if you’re an internet marketer, a corporate business man, or a factory worker you need to be focusing on the future.

Everything in life consists of steps in a certain direction. The key knows what direction you are going in. you should be planning your steps so you are certain to get where you want to go, and make sure you have the tools you need when you get there.

I see and hear people all the time focusing on the present and they are drowning in self pity because they are not where they want to be. Most of them truly believe that their destiny has somehow been predetermined, and they don’t realize all they have to do is take a step in the direction they want. I imagine that many people (myself included) have tried their big plans for success at one time or another and failed. So, they just decided to walk the easy path and see where IT takes THEM. It’s easy to take that path and just resign yourself to the fact that your plan failed, so many of them never try again. 

I know several people in the Poker Affiliate Business that no more than 2 years ago was working at a shitty 9 to 5 job that they hated.  They had tried several ideas that all failed, but instead of giving up they kept at it and now they are free from their shitty jobs and living the good life. Now to be clear, these guys are some of the hardest working people I know. Just because they have lots of money and freedoms that most of us don’t enjoy doesn’t mean they work hard. It’s actually just the contrary; they work their asses off now more than ever.

So, back to the title of this post. Where will you be in 5 years??  Will you be doing the same thing you are doing now? Or will you push yourself to achieve the success you deserve to have. The best part is that the answer depends on you and what you do with yourself. Nobody controls how you succeed.

It’s funny knowing and talking to many successful people, as I’ve said before they all have traits in common. One of the things I hear all of them say is: “make the main thing, the main thing!” Seems like a simple and easy to follow statement, but when you look deeper within yourself you’ll see that more than likely you are neglecting the most important things in your life..

When I made a list of my priorities or the “main things’ in my life, I began to see that I had my “main things” out of order.. This is what it looks like in my head:

1. Wife and Family: This includes spending time with the wife and kids, making memories we will have forever.

2. Work and Business - This includes my corporate life and personal business (web marketing, etc)

3. Free time and “Randy” time: Watching TV, movies, ESPN, and playing poker, games, etc..

Now, notice what order I put everything in. Family, work, fun. Now, your priorities are usually what you spend the bulk of your time on, right?? So, in my mind the family comes first, then work, then Randy time. In reality, I spend most of my time working. Then I spend the remainder during the week trying to relax and get organized for the next day.

Here is how my typical week goes:

Wake up at 7am and get to work by 8am. Work until about 6pm and leave the office. Get home and spend about 15 minutes talking with the wife about our day. We usually eat dinner in the dining room with the kids for about 30 minutes.. Then I fire the laptop back up and go back to work.

As you can see, I spend more time working than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always planning on spending more time with the wife and kids on the weekend, but I usually end up working or taking some “Randy Time”. Every once in a while I’ll sit down and talk with the wife and kids, but never as much as I intend to.

After making the list above I realized that I’m not making the “Main Thing” the main thing. I would imagine many of you are making the same mistakes too. I’ve realized by doing this that I only have a short time to correct this mistake and create a new REAL priority list for myself.

I’ve been in this rut for a while now and I know it will take a lot to break this destructive cycle I’ve created for myself, but I am committed to changing not only for myself but also for the people around me. When my life is all said and done, I really don’t want to be remembered as the guy that “worked all the time”. That’s not what I want to be about.

Now, I can make a whole list of reasons excuses about why I need to work more and that list includes: Providing for the family, working for my retirement, getting a head so I don’t have to work so much, and the list goes on and on.. In the end though, we cannot take money or status with us, we can only take the love from those around us. That’s it! Nothing else. I’m positive my wife and kids would rather have more time with me than more money from me. I would imagine your family feels the same way.

So, that’s my thought of the day. Make sure your “main thing” is the “main thing”. If you look real hard, you may find out that you have mixed your priorities up just like I have.

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” -

Well, it’s been two days since the tornado hit our little town. It looks like we won’t have electricity for at least a week, and maybe two. There is still a ton of clean up to do and not having power and the ability to run to town and get basic things in making life a bit of a challenge.

Tuesday night, when this all started, I was driving home from work. I left the office about 5:30 and it takes at least 45 minutes to get home. My wife called me and said to stop and get the kids some snacks and her something to drink. So, I spent a few

extra minutes in the store about 20 miles from home. After I left the store my wife called and said a Tornado was about to hit and I was driving right towards it. I wasn’t sure if I should turn around or keep going. Everything got dark quickly and I could see the storm up ahead. I didn’t know else to do but keep driving and get home to my family.

I was about 4 miles from home and I heard the tornado sirens going off and knew I was running out of time. I noticed as I went by a few houses an old man was flagging me down and I quickly stopped to see what he needed. It turned out he was having trouble getting his storm shelter door open. So, I helped him get it open and helped his wife who was using a “walker” get into the storm shelter. They kept telling me that I had no time and to get in there with them, but my family was waiting on me and I couldn’t bare the thought of them being frightened and worried. So, I told the nice old couple “thanks, but I had to get home”. I got home and it was dead silent outside. A different sound then we had gotten use to with all the thunder and lighting. My wife had all the kids in the wall with mattresses all around them.