BAH HUMBUG!!! It's that time of year to be selfish!

That's right, I said it "Bah humbug!"  But I don't really mean it like that.  I was just trying to get your attention ... and now that I have it ... let's be selfish together!

It's like this ... you are running around for the last month (maybe week, if you are like me) shopping and stressing over what to get and what to do for everyone else.  What about you?  Is it okay to be selfish this time of year?  YES, of course!

You may want to at least get through Christmas Day, otherwise kids and family will surely think the Grinch stole your Christmas Spirit.  But you do have a whole week of recovery between Christmas and New Year's to reflect upon your 2016.  It doesn't matter whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Agnostic, Atheist or Martian ... you still have a whole week to dedicate to yourself and reflect on 2016.  As well as, plan your 2017!

Take a day to look back on 2016 and reflect on all of the things that you did, the places you've gone, the relationships that you've nurtured, your successes, your failures -- you will be overwhelmed!  Capture these things, write them down and appreciate the year that you have had!

Then take several days to plan your 2017!  Several days?  Yes, several days!  You can't just get right up to the ball dropping on New Year's Eve and resolve to "lose ten pounds".  Yes you have to goals and your goals have to have real meaning to you; AND you also need to have a plan!  This stuff takes time you know!  If you just whimsically pick a goal out of thin air because everyone else in your "circle" is picking that same goal then there is a good chance that come January 2nd (3rd or 4th) ... you have already forgotten about your New Year's resolution and so has the rest of your circle.  There you sit, holding a lifetime gym membership in one hand and your smartphone in the other, waiting for the guy on the other end to stop laughing about your cancellation question.

2017 will be your year ... but you have to own it!  That means giving 2017 the time and attention that it deserves.  That means creating your year and not just waiting to see how things unfold.  That means making a list of "day trips" today.  That means making plans for weekend getaways today!  That means planning your summer vacation today! That means registering for those Half-Marathons today! (I threw that one in for my beautiful wife Lori).  Make a list of books to read - one each month? One each week?  Include something by: Jim Rohn, Dave Ramsey, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Richard Branson, George Orwell, Hemingway?  Make your lists, set your due dates, find someone that you know will hold you accountable.

2017 shouldn't be an accident.  2017 shouldn't just happen to you.  You don't need to "wait and see what unfolds in 2017".  You do need to invest the time and energy that 2017 deserves (that you deserve)  if you want it to be a great year, perhaps even your best year ever!

Create a great plan and you will have a great year!  Trust your plan!  Your plan will get derailed throughout the year, count on it.  There will be work interruptions, kids will get sick, dates and destinations may change ... but when December 2017 comes to a close and you go through this process again you will be saying to yourself "what an awesome year 2017 was!  Now let's make 2018 even better!"

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year's; safe travels and love to all!

Feeling motivated?

Feeling motivated?  Me neither!

Feeling overwhelmed is more like it.  We are over the hump (Election Day), Thanksgiving is coming up fast, then Christmas (Started your shopping yet? Me neither.), then New Year's! Soon enough the question that comes to mind will be "where did this year go?"

That is a great and serious question!  I have trouble remembering where the week went, let alone the year!  A whole year is a big deal, you should ponder it and spend some time remembering 2016!  Maybe even a few days to reflect on it and plan for 2017.  Yes, really, a few days!

I remember hearing the great Jim Rohn (his recollection of a bible verse) saying "go into your closet."  Meaning step away, find someplace quiet, with no distraction, no smart phone, no dumb phone, no television.  Break away from the "real world" and focus on yourself, what you've accomplished, what you didn't get to, but thought was important.  Celebrate your accomplishments, reiterate what is important to you, create goals for 2017, create a plan for 2017, create a timeline for your 2017 plan!

What better way to get motivated than spending some time patting yourself on the back for your accomplishments and reminding yourself of what YOU want to accomplish/what's IMPORTANT to YOU (this is the all important WHY!)

Reflecting on your week may only take a few minutes, your month a few hours ... but reflecting on something as monumental as your year deserves a few days!  Sure, you could wait until January 1, 2017 ... but you don't have to.  Your new year can begin today!

Have a blessed day!

Take your own advice!

So many times I have found myself offering advice to friends and family ... usually unsolicited.  But the other day I was recanting in my head a conversation with my brother and realized I was being a hypocrite.

On a recent phone conversation with my brother I was providing him with some great tips on how to eat healthier and get more exercise.  He is not the type to open up too much, so I am quite sure that he hadn't asked me for any help.  Being someone who loves him very much though I felt compelled to shower him with my wisdom!

I mean I really love my brother and I want him to live a long healthy life which is why I was recanting the conversation.  All the time wondering "was he listening?", "what could I have said differently that would have resounded in his mind and motivated him to take action?"

Then I realized, I've been trying to get in shape and lose 20 pounds ... FOR FIVE YEARS!   Why am I preaching to my brother, I need to be preaching to the mirror!  Who am I to offer advice?  I barely passed my annual physical and get winded walking up the stairs to the third floor at my office!

I often listen to a recorded lecture by Jim Rohn and remember him saying "some of you are asking 'Mr. Rohn, how is this stuff working for you?' ... well ... listen to me very closely, but don't watch to carefully!"  Mr. Rohn was a great "preacher" of a philosophy on how to live a successful life.  And even Mr. Rohn was having trouble following all of his own advice.

Unsolicited advice is usually hard to hear and even harder to follow!  How many doctors, nurses and fireman do you know that smoke ... don't they know better?  Aren't they always telling people not to smoke? How many police officers and legal gun owners are injured by their own weapons or fireworks each year due to their own lack of judgement or missteps?  Hmm?

Well the good news for my brother is that I will try not to offer him any unsolicited advice anymore (emphasis on "try") and I will start to heed my own advice.  Those twenty pounds are coming off by Christmas 2015!