“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.”
— Marian Wright Edelman

When I attended a seminar one summer, I learned a very valuable lesson that I didn’t even realize I needed to learn. It was about staying in the game. Not taking myself out before I even gave something a go (thanks to that little voice in my head coming up with all the reasons I shouldn’t do something). I didn’t know that I did this, but I had to admit, once the concept was presented to me that I did indeed, at times, take myself out of the game before I even started playing.

For example, have you ever really wanted to do something you had never tried before, but chickened out even before giving it a real effort? Perhaps a dream job that you don’t apply for because “they wouldn’t hire you anyway” (your ego calling out to keep you safe). Or that solo in the choir they are auditioning for — “they always use the same person for the solos”. Perhaps they always use the same person because no one else bothers to even show up to audition!

Stay in the game. Maybe you won’t win all the time. But that’s ok. Just don’t take yourself out before “the tribe has spoken” (for all you Survivor fans). As the cliché goes, “You can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket.”

“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.”
— Tony Robbins

For many years this was the way it was for me. I would read all these fantastic books on spirituality, health, wellness, etc. The academic in me would take it all in and I could happily report that I had read all these authors with their important messages of personal growth.

So why was my life such a mess? I knew it all, right?

Well, first off, I don’t believe we will ever truly know it all. There is so much to know out there. And it is constantly evolving. And secondly, I didn’t actually know this stuff since I wasn’t actually living it.

Get off the knowledge junkie path and start taking action with all the knowledge you have built up in your life. I do believe we have the knowledge inside each and everyone of us for living to our highest potential if we would just do what we already know.

“It’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease” — Proverb

There are a lot of people who do not like complainers. And really, I can understand that. I am not a fan of people who like to talk on and on about things that are going wrong in their lives, or the traffic jams on the way to work, or their nasty in-laws, etc. You know what I’m talking about. You see them coming and you hide because you know it is just going to be the same old, same old complaints.

But then there is the other side — not complaining and not standing up for what you deserve. I also see many people “take” whatever is dished their way with no complaints. Many have been brought up to believe that it is impolite or improper to stand up for yourself. So they lay low and don’t complain.

But as with many things, there are times when it is good to be the squeaky wheel. When you see injustices going on around you or you yourself are living through one. Stand up and let people know that you know it isn’t right. And more than just saying it isn’t right, find some sort of action to take to change the situation. If you are whining about your situation and do nothing about it you are a victim. If you complain about your situation and take action to change it you are a champion.

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
—W.M. Lewis

How many of us spend our days talking about the life we could have, or will have soon, or should have. Unfortunately, talking about it won’t actually make it happen. Each day you have to consciously decide on the actions to take that will keep you moving forward and avoid the decisions and actions that keep you stuck in the past. Having a desire for change but not taking the necessary actions to accomplish change will leave you at a standstill and probably also leave you feeling disheartened and dissatisfied.

Debbie Ford reminds us in The Best Year of Your Life that now is the time to set clear, concise, structured goals to keep you moving forward. Take the time to set your goals on paper with specific deadlines attached for each major milestone that you need to accomplish. Recognize the action steps that you need to take and do them. With each new action you take you will be one step closer to fulfilling your goals and your desires.

“The most powerful thing you can do to change the world is to change your own beliefs about the nature of life, people, reality, to something more positive… and begin to act accordingly.”
— Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualization

You’ve heard it before, and you will hear it again, and again — you have the power to change the world starting with you. As Wayne Dyer points out, “There is no stress in the world, only people thinking stressful thoughts and then acting on them.” This is a powerful concept, but even more powerful is the reality that you don’t need to live in that stressful world.

Start changing your own beliefs and thoughts to something more positive and act on those thoughts. Right there, at that very moment, the world just changed.

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
—W.M. Lewis

How many of us spend our days talking about the life we could have, or will have soon, or should have. Unfortunately, talking about it won’t actually make it happen. Each day you have to consciously decide on the actions to take that will keep you moving forward and avoid the decisions and actions that keep you stuck in the past. Having a desire for change but not taking the necessary actions to accomplish change will leave you at a standstill and probably also leave you feeling disheartened and dissatisfied.

Debbie Ford reminds us in The Best Year of Your Life that now is the time to set clear, concise, structured goals to keep you moving forward. Take the time to set your goals on paper with specific deadlines attached for each major milestone that you need to accomplish. Recognize the action steps that you need to take and do them. With each new action you take you will be one step closer to fulfilling your goals and your desires.