Whether you like it or not, tomorrow will come and whether or not you’ve prepared for the day is of no importance. What is destined to happen will in fact happen. If you are one of the fortunate ones to greet the gift that is a day, you must begin to understand the importance of maximizing your minutes. You will only be allotted twenty-four hours each day to affect your circumstances. Whether we like it or not, those hours will continue to tick and tock away waiting for you to make your move. We simply need to decide to act and not to continue to watch time pass us by.

Time waits for no man; I cannot stress this enough. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. That is precisely why we should take advantage of every single precious moment. I want you to shift focus from yourself for just a second and think about the people who matter most in your life. When was the last time you told them you loved them? When was the last time you spoke to a parent? Is there someone who has wronged you in the past whom you haven’t forgiven? Today is the day this change happens.

Every message sent to us is meant to be heard at the specific time we receive it. It is up to us to recognize it as a message. My message is simple; learn to appreciate the time you are blessed with. Do not waste time on people and things that don’t add value to you as a person. You know exactly who & what I am referring to. The time is now for you to make those necessary changes in your life. The time is now to choose to forgive yourself and forgive others; that is the only way you will truly move forward.

Since tomorrow is not promised, choose today to be incredible.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

Your future success is based on the work you do in the present. Do you want to know why so many people dream impossible dreams? It’s quite simple actually, how much effort does it take for us to dream? Precisely right; it takes little to no effort to think of grandiose thoughts or create these visions of grandeur. In fact, I encourage it. The problem is; this is where most people stop. They stop at the dream stage and never progress to the next stage; the work stage.

The work stage is where you work to meet your thoughts and/or dreams half-way. I say half-way because thinking of the idea is truly only half of the way there; the second half consists of the work that you must put in towards making this idea a reality. Write down your plan of action. If you don’t answer the “how” in how you are going to make this dream come true, it will be almost impossible to do it. The how is your set of instructions, your directions, your plan of attack. Your plan should be very detailed, precise and leave little room for error.

Today is the day you choose to put that thing you’ve been thinking about to work. That thing or idea is worth absolutely nothing if it’s stuck in your head. You need to share it. You need to release it. You need to believe in it enough to take the risk and see if it will work out; it just might. Much like you, I have tons of ideas that pass through my mind on a daily basis and don’t necessarily act on all of them. However, there are ideas that pop into your head that evens surprises you. When that happens, write it down and start working on creating it in order to share it with the world. We’re waiting.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

There is an ongoing battle between being cooperative and being competitive. Oftentimes, the thin line which separates the two becomes obscure. Some extreme competitors expect to win and most inevitably do. The problem comes when our expectations aren’t met and the results aren’t favorable. Many of us are so competitive that experiencing a loss would result in complete disappointment and utter devastation.

When I was in college, I ran for Student Body President. I truly gave that election my all and I mean ALL. After several grueling months of campaigning from dorms to classrooms, Election Day had finally arrived. Almost ten hours later a winner was announced. My name was not called. That was my first experience losing an election. There are countless people who quit after they’ve experienced a loss. My life experience has taught me that if perhaps I don’t win today, it doesn’t mean I can’t win tomorrow. Every loss presents an opportunity to learn, grow and get better.

Although I did not win the election, I was not willing to accept that this one loss would ultimately dictate my future. A winner understands that it is not over until it is completely over and even then you must fight some more. Whether you win or lose, remember to always give it your best shot. While I was devastated at the time, I had to wrap my mind around the fact that failure is an event, it is not a person. No matter the results, you should never walk away from an experience hoping you had done a little more. Leave it all on the battlefield.

The greatest difference between a winner and a loser is that a winner always gets back up.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

I woke up this morning and the first thought that came to mind was “what do I value most and what am I giving value to that should not be receiving it.” When I think about the things I value most, what ranks at the top of my list are the relationships I have with my family members & my friends in addition to maintaining great health. The list of things I value most seems quite small compared to the list of things that I place value into that really should not be receiving it.

One of the major things we place value into that absolutely should not be receiving it is other people’s opinions about how we should do things or how we should live our lives. While cordial constructive criticism may be exempt, we are all guilty of placing unnecessary value in others opinions. Remember they are opinions, not facts. Value facts, not opinions. The goal is to work diligently on shifting the focus from the things we do not value to the things we value most. The first step involves you introspectively analyzing what’s most important to you, writing those things down and working on making them a priority in your life.

What others think or say about you is truly none of your concern. It is up to you to determine what is most important in your life. Stop allowing others to dictate your direction when they don’t even have a map to your life. Those people have never walked a mile in your shoes so why are you allowing them to run your life? It is imperative that you take complete control and responsibility for your thoughts, feelings and actions.

Take it from me, it really and truly doesn’t matter what people who don’t matter think about us.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

During my undergraduate studies, I allowed my young impressionable mind to soak up lessons and words of wisdom from almost everyone I heard speak and nearly every book I read. I am a sponge; my daily goal is to try to soak up as much knowledge as I can. As for my collegiate years, one of the messages that stood out the most was “The 7 P’s”. The 7 P’s stand for “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance”.

Let’s break this down a bit. The “proper” in this phrase simply means that the plan you are enacting has been vetted thoroughly through a fail-proof process. Basically, have you thought this plan through? The “proper” ensures that there are very few possibilities for failure. The “prior” obviously deals with being sure to have a plan of action before going into action. The level of your performance is contingent upon the execution of your plan. Your “planning” must not only focus on the big picture. The best plans are ones that are detail oriented. It’s not enough to have a bird’s eye view of your plan; you must learn to drill down to the core of the plan in order to highlight its details. The devil is in the details.

In order to prevent piss poor performances, it is important that you remember to prior plan. We create many of the inevitable pitfalls we encounter by not being prepared. You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready. All plans are similar to roadmaps; while there may be traffic and unforeseen delays, if you don’t have directions, you may or may not get there.

If you don’t have a solid plan on where you are going, it will be impossible to get there.

To The Top!
Joe Paul