There is someone in your life right now that is keeping you from reaching your full potential. This person may be really close to you or someone who you interact with a little less. This person may be the one you turn to for advice. This person may be someone you trust. Besides you, this person may be partially responsible for some of your failed dreams.

Sometimes in order to move forward, we must leave some things behind. This is perhaps one of the most challenging things to do. Back in college, I was faced with a similarly difficult choice. My best friend since elementary school and I were starting to grow apart; our interests were constantly clashing. While I was focused on creating a better tomorrow, it never seemed to make the top of his list. I did not want to accept the fact that in order for me to get to the next level I would have to part ways with someone I’ve known for most of my life. While some choices may not make us feel good they are certainly good for us. I did what I had to do to protect and preserve my future and I challenge you to do the same.

Change is not easy but it is certainly necessary. Some decisions are exceptionally difficult; that doesn’t mean we should shy away from making them. Reevaluate who is in your support circle. If you have someone in your circle who you cannot count on, you need to cut the dead weight. If someone in your circle is constantly negative, you may want to limit your communication with them. If you are wondering why some of your dreams aren’t coming true, check your dream supporters. There are some people who simply don’t want to see you succeed. Figure out who they are and separate from them.

Not everyone who is around you is on your side.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

The interesting thing about setting goals is that we really don’t know the exact date when we’ll accomplish them. Yet we continue to work diligently and hastily toward our goals. In many cases, we’ll never know the exact date because many people give up right before they get the thing they were working so feverishly for. Many people give up because they lack the necessary patience and perseverance required to accomplish any goal.

We would not have the joy of enjoying the world’s most famous fried chicken had Colonel Sanders given up on his dream of franchising his original recipe. Colonel Sanders was rejected over 1,000 times before he finally heard his first YES! It may take you 10,000 times or 10 times to accomplish your dreams, either way, do not give up. We can only imagine what would’ve been had he not persevered and remained disciplined enough to continue to keep trying until he received a favorable response.

How many of us have given up after hearing our first ‘No’? The key to accomplishing any goal is endurance. Are you willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes in order to realize your dreams? That is exactly what it takes to win. You must be willing to endure the tests in order to discover the answers. We appreciate that which we work the hardest for. If you want your dreams to come true, you must be willing to travel unchartered territory. You must be willing to outlast the criticism, doubt and negative energy freely offered by those who doubt you. You must be willing to accept the fact that nothing and no one will keep you from accomplishing your dreams.

Friendly Reminder: Every ‘No’ means you’re that much closer to a ‘Yes’.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

It has now been three days since he has seen the light of day. He has not been able to sleep and his diet over the past few days has been reduced to a few bites a day. Friends and family have been trying desperately to contact him yet he lacks the motivation to answer his phone. He does not want any contact with the outside world during this process. He is in terrible shape. He hopes that perhaps in time, his wounds will heal. His story sounds so much like most of ours at one point or another in our lives.

No one expects you to mend a broken heart rapidly; a broken heart takes time to rebuild. In fact, the only thing that can heal a broken heart is time. Initially, the actual event is so overwhelming that we refuse to accept it; we are experiencing the first stage of grief which is denial. The power of the mind allows you to control how you grieve a loss. The shock eventually transforms into an understanding. During this stage your “why” is typically answered and in some cases not.

The final stage is acceptance. By the time you have reached this stage, you have developed the necessary serenity required to press forward. Understand that things will happen to us, no one is immune to experiencing a disaster. With this understanding, I challenge you to program your mind to expedite to this stage as reasonably quickly as possible. Do not be misled, grieving is a process. I simply want you to develop an understanding that the one thing we cannot stop is time. Time will certainly continue to pass and so will the hurt we initially feel.

As time continues to move forward, we are encouraged to follow suit.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

Knowing what you have to do and not doing it is what I call crazy. I must use the adjective crazy simply because you know yet you refuse to act. It’s sort of like knowing the answer to a question on a test yet failing to bubble anything in. Do you get credit because you know the answer or because you bubbled in the correct answer? Exactly; knowing is simply not enough, your knowledge must be followed by consistent action. Bad habits produce negative results and the opposite is also true. Learn to develop habits that produce positive results. If you want to live your best life now, you have to literally start acting like it.

On this journey towards success you must continue to ask who and possibly what continues to hold you back? We both know the answer to this question; obviously you are the only one who can keep you from achieving your dreams. We control our destiny. We hear it often yet very few of us believe it enough to act on it. I challenge you to start acting like you control your destiny. The sooner you develop a bullet-proof belief system and mindset that encourages actions which include intense focus on accomplishing every goal you set to achieve; the sooner life can be a beach chair.

An average mind-set will always produce average results. If you want to win, learn how to develop a winner’s mentality. A winner’s mentality is such that we enter a battle uncertain of the final results yet maintain the strong belief system to know we will ultimately win. That’s a winner’s secret; knowing you will win no matter the circumstances and outcomes. The best way to develop an above-average mind-set is by increasing the above-average input into your central processing unit or CPU. Your CPU is your brain; what you allow to enter your brain ultimately dictates your outcomes. Garbage In, Garbage Out.

It’s never too late to reset your system; upgrade your applications and reprogram your CPU.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

With arms stretched wide towards the sky followed by a cat like yawn, you welcome the day. At that moment we are faced with a choice; whether to greet the day positively or continue to allow our problems to cloud our judgment and negatively influence our progress. As we prepare to start our daily regimen, some of us will in fact proceed to greet the day unenthusiastically. Others will try to convince themselves that tomorrow will be the day when they start to work on improving themselves. The rest of us understand the importance of living each day to the fullest.

For so many, today never seems to become the tomorrow they talked about yesterday. You can talk about it and it may sound real good but without action your words become filled with emptiness. Stop talking about it and start being about it. You cannot reasonably expect that things will change in the future if you aren’t doing anything to affect that change today. Some things naturally don’t happen overnight; I believe that dreams fall into this category. I also believe that we can speed up the process of dream actualization if we invest necessary time and effort into ensuring that they come true.

We must fully take advantage of the days we are blessed with. If we are on this side of the dirt we can absolutely influence the change we wish to see in our lives while maintaining the understanding that so many were not afforded the opportunity to embrace another day. You watch the same news stories I try to avoid yet each day we all witnesses the stories of countless people who simply will not make it to see tomorrow. It is imperative that we understand how blessed we truly are; stop taking life for granted. Every day we are blessed to see is another opportunity afforded to us to work on our vision, goals and objectives.

Use each day to get closer to your dreams.

To The Top!
Joe Paul