I’ve decided that IT DOESN’T MATTER what excuse we’ve been using up until now! No more!

I know from experience that a few minutes each morning reviewing and writing down my major goals is time well spent, and it’s not a difficult task. Actually, I was having great fun with it.

I found myself experiencing subtle but powerful changes as I committed my ideas to paper day after day over a period of months. In fact, I was feeling so grounded and motivated that I foolishly quit doing things that were keeping me that way!

So no more excuses for me. I have resumed my goal-writing and I intend to just DO IT! Why don’t you join me? No more arguments. No ifs, ands or buts. Just do it.

So now that we are making our goals more tangible, just who do we share these goals with? My personal experience has taught me to be very guarded and private about my innermost desires.

If you know that you are dealing with someone who shares your commitment, you can freely share your ideas and gain an important ally. HOWEVER, unless you are absolutely certain that you will be supported 100%, I would recommend that you not share your goals with anyone else. No, not even your family. In many instances, ESPECIALLY not your family.

It is a pity, but oftentimes people who are supposed to be our staunchest supporters act shamefully like cruel opponents. “You can’t do that.” “What makes you think you’re so special? You can’t compete with those guys.” “Oh, man, they say you coming!”

Such cruel remarks. And they hit particularly hard because they come from very people who are supposed to elevate us, to buoy us up when going gets rough. Some of these people might claim that they do this out of love, to keep us from getting hurt. This may be true, but personally, I don’t think it matters what their motives are. The damage is still just as severe. These people will steal our dreams if we let them.

It’s particularly sad when we are ones saying these hateful things to ourselves. Not aloud perhaps, but in our dismal thoughts and sighs. Don’t steal your own dreams, my friend.

We need to keep a high polish on our heartfelt desires. If, and only if, we really make those goals shine like beacons in sky, then we will find energy keep priming pump. Day in and day out, we’ve got to suit up and show up! (Actually, you can stay in your pajamas, but you do have to show up.)

As great motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, used to say, “A big shot is just a little shot that kept on shooting.” (Stay tuned for Part 3.)

So what are we, who tend to inertia, to do? It is simple really: just take next step, and next, and next, and next... For every step of your journey, you will come up with excuses or reasons not to go on. Use your mind to steamroller these objections. What do I mean by this? Let me use an example. Until recently I had a problem getting up in morning when my alarm would go off. Often I would snooze it until there is no more snooze left on alarm (an hour later). What I started to do is, evening before, I would imagine what I would feel like when alarm goes off. How I would grumble while still feeling very sleepy. I would imagine how I would go to bathroom even thinking that I would want to sleep some more. I would then pre-programme my mind to react to these objections and steamroller them. I would switch of alarms instead of snoozing it ("Its too much effort to set

the alarm again just to get some more sleep"), I would switch on radio ("I cannot sleep with all that noise and its too much effort to switch off as its in a different room") and I would start bath tap running ("I would not want to waste water already run"). After a bath or shower I would be awake and not thinking of sleep anymore. And in end I would even imagine being proud of myself for overcoming my own objections and getting up early. In same way we should do this with all other things that require work or effort - imagine your objections, imagine yourself steamrolling your objections and most important of all imagine you are successful at it.

What if you would fail? What if you would fall? Just get up and take next step. Never cease your journey because you have fallen. Remember how far you have come - all steps you have taken. If you want to be successful, work is key. Yes, even repetitive work. And after you have toiled, you will come to realise "The pen might be mightier than sword, but plough is mightier than all."