No one will remember how you started but the world will never forget how you finished. If you are going to exhaust effort on anything affiliated with your dreams, I encourage you to focus intently on finishing. I am guilty of not finishing a few things that I’ve started, we all are. The goal is to develop and strengthen the skill of follow-through. Following through with the careful execution of any goal is the greatest gift you can give yourself.

There is an unexplainable feeling that you experience when you accomplish anything. The ultimate goal is to experience this feeling early and often. There is a way to accomplish this. Step one, finish strong. It doesn’t matter how you start, it’s how you finish that matters. It’s funny what our minds have the capability of retaining. As I wrote this, all I heard was an old friend’s voice echoing “finish strong”. I choose to finish what I start and so should you or don’t bother starting it at all.

Be a finisher and finish strong.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

Another thing to consider is ensuring that you are teachable. No one wants to teach someone who isn’t willing to learn. Are you a teachable person? Do you take constructive criticism personally? If you answered yes to the second question, you are not a teachable person just yet but it’s certainly a muscle you can strengthen.

Finally, be open to learning new lessons. There are so many lessons to be learned from life on a daily basis through your very own mistakes and by watching the mistakes of others. These same lessons will be less difficult to identify the more open we are to learning them. When we learn a lesson, any lesson, we are less likely to repeat the mistakes which caused us to learn the lesson in the first place.

If you act like you can’t learn, no one is going to teach you.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

About a half-hour had passed before he quietly eased his way back into the large conference room. Once he returned from his secret mission, our entire group was eager to hear about what she had asked of him. Before he could answer that question, I asked him a different one. I asked him, “why did you say yes to something with without the specific knowledge of the details?” His reply made complete sense. He said “I accepted because I figured whatever she was going to ask me to do, she clearly felt that one of us had the capabilities of doing it”. And I thought, Bingo!

Accepting a challenge even if you don’t know the specifics is essential to your growth as an individual and as a leader. By accepting new challenges you are able to learn new skills and strengthen your abilities overall. Never turn down an offer to be better. Learn to recognize the life lessons that are learned through accepting challenges and learning as you go. I challenge you to start saying “Yes” to opportunities that increase your overall value.

Do you accept this challenge?

To The Top!
Joe Paul

Take a second to imagine that you are standing at the edge of a cliff and you can’t see the bottom. There is either a bed of pillows at the bottom of the cliff or a bed of thorns; you will not know what is down there until you jump. Some people would stop there and not jump thinking that surely the bed of thorns is a more fitting end to their story. Winners understand the importance of taking risks so they would most likely choose to jump and find out.

I for one would jump without even thinking about it just to see where I land. I am almost certain I would land on the pillows; a bit optimistic I guess. Perhaps it is due to my deep understanding of the importance of taking chances. I encourage you to start taking risks. Helen Keller once said “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.” This message should be very clear to you. You know what you have to do, now do it.

Take that chance, make that move, and believe in the path that has already been charted for you.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

One morning she followed her same routine; she arrived in a bad mood wishing her normal wish. Later that same afternoon, she was summoned to Human Resources for a meeting. The meeting lasted a few minutes and at the conclusion of the meeting, her wish had been granted. She didn’t know how to react; naturally she didn’t see it coming or did she? She didn’t have a plan b after she got what she was asking for.

Again, be careful what you wish for. Here’s a person who was gainfully employed with a great organization wishing she’d get fired. Well, she got what she wished for. Now what? Before you experience a similar fate, if in fact you are the type to make wishes, I encourage you to wish for good things. At least you won’t be disappointed when it comes true.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

It is through the power of intention that you are able to attract certain things into your life; good, bad and certainly ugly. When I first read Wayne Dyer’s book “The Power of Intention”, I was not sure what to expect nor did I fully understand the dynamic paradigm shift that was about to occur. Basically, the power of intention speaks to attracting that which you think about most. Specifically the Law of Attraction which suggests that you attract into your life what you focus your mind on the most. I did not know why I was experiencing this but it helped to explain it.

Understand that the “thing” you’ve been thinking about lately is about to happen. That person who has been occupying your mind space is a phone call away. The life you know you deserve to live is still a possibility. Your goal is to keep your eyes on the prize and your mind on the finish line. Allow your mind to focus on what you want to attract into your life and it will begin to show up. This requires a little bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed and the ability to believe in the unseen.

Your thoughts have the incredible power to become things. Whatever you focus your mind on the most is what will show up in your life.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

I used to fall in love by the drop of a hat and quickly learned that heartbreaks don’t feel as good as they sound. I now better understand the true meaning of love; I have been able to adopt a new approach to love and falling in love. This new approach of “loving me first” was adopted shortly after a terrible break-up. I realized that I didn’t love her the way she needed to be loved simply because I was selfish. Selfish of the fact that all of my love was reserved only for her; I never really considered me in that equation. That’s why it didn’t work out. How can you truly love someone if you don’t understand what love is? Or who to give your love to?

I am reminded of the lyrics to a song that the late great songbird Whitney Houston sang ever so beautifully; “Learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all”. This is truly a timeless message. Simply, if you want to experience the greatest love of all, start by loving yourself first.

You deserve it!

To The Top!
Joe Paul

1st Corinthians 13 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails.

I’m certain you’ve heard the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Simply put, anything that is destined to be great takes time to build. You are destined for greatness and it is going to take you building a strong foundation brick-by-brick. It is going to take you reaching deep down inside and pulling out every ounce of endurance from your being. It is going to take patience. The end result will be similar. Much like Rome, you too will stand atop a mountain of your issues, obstacles, trials and tribulations proclaiming victory as the conqueror. Stand up and claim victory.

Understand this; you have come too far to stop now. You must know that being successful doesn’t happen overnight. Even when it seems like it does for some people, it truly doesn’t. Their day simply came before yours and that’s ok because your day is right around the corner. As you read my words, I want you to accept the fact that your life will and must improve and know that your dreams are not impossible. If that is your desire then it shall and will come to pass.

Continue to chase your dreams, work diligently towards the attainment of it and be patient while it shows up at the exact time it was meant to be there.

To The Top!
Joe Paul

When we respond to the world in a negative manner the world will reciprocally respond ten times more negatively. We have all experienced it and it isn’t fun. I challenge you to choose to be more positive about life’s beautiful possible outcomes. Miracles happen every day. In fact, the daily miracle you experience currently may not be as clear to you as it should be.

Understand that when you were born you instantly became a miracle. Be mindful of the fact that someone didn’t make it that morning. Hence the miracle you instantly became. Every day we are blessed to share with the rising sun is another day to celebrate the miracle that is your life.

Remember to Celebrate Daily!

To The Top!
Joe Paul

As an adult and through my vast experience with sales, I learned to develop and strengthen the muscle that allows me to transfer no’s into yesses. Initially, when I attempted to “sell” a product or service and was met by a no, I would be very disappointed thinking that there must be something wrong with me and my ability to sell; fortunately, I was wrong. When someone rejects us, it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with us or our abilities. Simply understand that everything isn’t for everybody.

Some people are simply not interested in being accommodating by nature. Others have created this imaginary force field that is designed to discourage salesmen from selling to them. Those are the people I cherish the most because their “no” saves me time, effort and energy. Your goal is to reduce and limit the amount of time you spend trying to turn a no into a yes. Your efforts will be futile. Some minds are simply made up; it has nothing to do with you.

Understand that every no means you’re that much closer to a yes. Embrace every “no” you hear because each time you hear it, focus on the “yes” that’s right around the corner. The goal is to keep going and not be discouraged by rejection. Remember, they are not rejecting you as a person; they are most likely rejecting the product or service you are offering. When you hear a no, dust yourself off and try again. If you don’t give up, eventually, someone will say yes.

To The Top!
Joe Paul