Every year around this time I find I have to pull myself out of a bit of a funk. Even though I still play hockey and like to go skiing with my son Keith, I have to be honest and say the winter blues still get the best of me. The older I get the more I begin to realize, I’m not really as much of a winter person as I thought I was. Is it just me, or did this winter seem to drag on especially long?
Spring is finally here and it’s a perfect time to for a bit of spring cleaning. It gives us the perfect chance to sit down and assess how we are doing on our goals so far for the year. If you set New Year’s resolutions, it’s also a great time to reflect on how close we are to achieving the resolutions we set a few months back. If you’re like many of us, something may have got in the way, putting up a wall between you and your goals. That’s okay, though. I’m going to let you in on a little secret: We don’t have to wait 9 months to take another crack at them. Today’s the perfect day, or the perfect 86,400 seconds, to hit the “reset” button and put a solid plan in place to achieve your goals.
Maybe you want to eat healthier by ditching the sugar, or increase your energy by walking more or working out. Perhaps your goal was self-improvement by reading a book on personal development or taking a course. Whatever your goal was, I want you to revisit it and give yourself another chance. It’s a proven fact that if we really want to reach our goals and make lasting changes, we must be involved in achieving something called “self-mastery” by continuously working on ourselves. Jim Rohn suggests, “Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” He continues, “If you work hard on your job you can make a living, but if you work harder on yourself, you can make a fortune.”
Is one of your goals to get a raise? After a bit of research I found that the average Canadian makes between 3-5% more each year from their job. That means it takes almost 20 years to double our income as an average person. You may be thinking of those people you know that seem to get “lucky” and substantially increase their income in a year or two by getting a promotion, a new job, or increasing their sales. What we don’t see is that chances are their increase had nothing to do with luck, but rather they had in some way increased their value to the marketplace through making change.
I really believe Ben Franklin said it best when he said, “If you do tomorrow what you did today, you will get tomorrow what you got today.” Let me paraphrase that… If you do the same thing tomorrow that you did today, your result tomorrow will be the same as today. Hmm. Another quote that speaks to me in a similar way is by Albert Einstein. He said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Some people don’t do well, because they don’t feel well. Additionally, they don’t feel well, so they don’t do well. It’s a vicious cycle that needs to be broken.
I’ve noticed that I can get a lot more accomplished in a day after a good night’s sleep where I wake up feeling refreshed. I have also noticed that if I can get up and get a work out in before heading off to work, chances are I’m going to have a more productive day than if I hit the snooze button on the alarm. A successful, productive day is also what helps me get a good, deep sleep at night. Then, surprise, I wake up feeling energized and refreshed. See how that came full circle? It all starts by consciously deciding to better my tomorrow, knowing what I have to do, and taking the first step. If we can change the way we think, we can’t help but change our actions. If we change our actions, we can’t help but get different results.
Good actions = Good results Poor actions = Poor results
I guess my mother was right after all. It’s sad how it took me all these years to finally realize that for myself. So, tomorrow we’re all 
getting another 86,400 seconds to spend. It’s up to each one of us how we maximize each one of them. Tomorrow, I want you to make conscious decisions that will better your life. Set a goal, make a change, achieve success, and repeat every 86,400 seconds
About the Author
Glenn Caldwell
Vice-President, Sales
NAL Insurance
519)432-8333 ext. 3350 (Phone)
(800)265-1657 (Toll Free)
(519)434-5220 (Fax)
(519)671-1060 (Cell)
http://www.nalinsurance.com
http://www.healthytrucker.com
