But I was reflecting the other night on the knowledge I gained this year.  I learned a lot.  I learned techniques to become more effective.  I learned how to step up.  I learned how to lead better.  More than anything I’ve learned how to make me a “better me.”  With my knew knowledge, I wanted to put together a plan of action of sorts to take advantage of what I’ve read, what I’ve been taught, etc.

So instead of resolutions, I’m creating habits in 2012.  These are small daily tasks that will continue to make me smarter, sharper, better, in better shape/health, drive my career and my business, and just make me a more pleasant person.

With that, here are the 7 things I plan to implement and why I think they will help.

1.  Make a daily to-do list.  After reading “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy, I learned a lot about getting organized for my daily activities as well as keeping my personal, professional, and business life on track.  And this is something that I subconsciously do but never put it to paper (or, in my case, to iCloud).  This is my biggest thing to change and implement.

2.  No TV/computer/work at night within 30 minutes of bedtime.  Instead, I plan on engaging that time as personal development time.  This will be my time to dive into a good book, learn a bit more, etc.  Now, granted my book very well may be on my iPad, but I’ll still devote that time to reading.

3.  Ample sleep.  7-8 hours minimum a night.  That means I’m getting to bed early (10-10:30).  This will cut down in my extra work per night, which means I must be even more efficient during the day and early evenings.

4.  Dive into Scripture every morning.  I usually start my day by checking email, web browsing, etc.  Instead, I’m going to take 15-20 minutes and read The Bible some.  This is a personal choice, and I realize that not everyone reading this is Christian, but that’s fine.  I am, and this is something I’m going to do.

5.  Exercise and Eat Primal.  The exercise part I do fairly well already.  Eating Primal is something I plan on doing in 2012 and will write some about here on the blog (I’ll also write more frequently about it on my fitness blog).

6.  Journaling/blogging.  I need to be better at this.  I write a lot about fitness, diets, etc, but sometimes I need to just write and reflect thoughts on various things.  Some post I may write and never make public.  I may just write to vent, etc, and mark it as private on my blog.

7.  Spend more family time/more time devoted to family only.  Listen, it’s easy to get distracted.  TV, cell phones, demanding job, business, whatever…even for me, I find myself not paying enough attention to my kids and wife.  I’m not saying that I’m going to spend X amount of time a day with them, but I plan to make a conscious effort to unplug, unglue, and pay attention to them more.

Now obviously, some of these are breaking of one habit and establishing another.  But I’m okay with that.  Some of these are major changes, such as the move to eating Primal.  But that’s cool.

I know that doing these 7 things daily will make me better at what I do.

It will make me better at who I am.

And maybe, just maybe, some of these will help you as well.

But now it is time to do what I need to be doing, and you should be too:  Forgetting about “resolutions” and take action.

Resolutions is such a funny word in how we use it.  We “resolve” to do something, but there is no real action taken with just a resolution.  In fact, Congress passes “resolutions” all of the time.  They typically recognize people, places, etc, but there is no real action, just a nicely worded phrase.

And all to often, that is what “New Years Resolutions” just end up being:  Nicecly worded phrases.

We say things like “I want to lose weight” but never get started…

We say things like “I want to change my financial future” but never take that first step….

We say things like “This year will be better than last year” yet we never do anything differently…

Nicely worded phrases.  How do you avoid this problem?

Instead of setting resolutions, set goals.  This is what April and I are doing:

1.  We’re writing down our big picture objectives.  We know what we want.

2.  We’re taking each of those goals or objectives and breaking them into sections.  Bite sized chunks, so to speak…

3.  We’re taking each of those sections and writing the actions we are going to take to make it happen.

Goals are important.  An interpretation from Proverbs says “Where there is no vision the people perish.”  If you don’t know what you want out of life, how do you expect to achieve anything?  Do you think you will just wonder into a good situation?

Goals do not work like that.  Luck does, but goals do not.

So here is what I suggest:  Get your goals down on paper.  Do it as a family, with your wife and your children (if they are old enough to participate).  Get a clear picture of what you want.  Write down the steps to achieve that.  And once you have all of that down, get to work!

Here’s to an EXCITING 2010.  I pray that you prosper in all of your goals.

Brent

They make a commitment, but they do not commit to that commitment.

For some reason people have adopted the mentality that it is easy to give up on something instead of realizing that the reward is so much greater if they just commit.  Its lazy, its apathetic, and it ruins people’s dreams.

Think about this:  How many times have you made a new years resolution and gave up on it within the first month?  Don’t think about the one time you did it….think about all of the times you didn’t do it.

Why did you give up?

Why did you quit?

It is always easier doing life as normal.  We are creatures of habit.  Continuing our status quo is simple and does not disturb what we are used to.

However….

If we branch out, push ourselves a bit, commit to what we said we were going to do, and do it, then what we get is much greater than what we had before.  The reward is always worth it; the end always justifies the means.  You just have to commit and take action.

No, it is not always easy squeezing in that extra workout, that extra self-development time, or that extra time to build your business.  It is not always easy working through tough times with your spouse.  It is not always easy sacrificing time with friends because you are building a business.

But if you do…

If you commit to what you made a commitment to and do it, where you’ll be is always better than where you are now.  If that does not get your fire going, then your wood is wet!  Make a decision, commit to your commitments, and just do it.  You’ll be glad you did.

Today, I’m going to share the information with you.

I entitled this articles (for marketing purposes):  MLM Success And Mindset – The Power Of The Dream.  It is the first of a few articles I plan on publishing on the different directories dealing with embracing your dream and using your dream to motivate you until you reach success.

So I hope you enjoy the read.  Its a personal story/testimony around embracing the dream and pushing through adversity.

“There’s no excuse not to dream.”

When I read that saying on a wrapper of a poiece of Dove candy, I thought, “How appropriate for my life and home business.”  I have never held on to a candy wrapper before, but I kept this one.

Dreams are powerful, but too many people either do not know how to dream or life has beaten them down to a point where they cannot dream.  But the dream cn be revived through an emotional connection, either to a desire, to an individaul, or to a situation.

Not too long ago I almost let life steal my dreams.  My wife was pregnant, was having complications, we were facing a financially difficult time, and I felt buried and near worthless.  I knew I was not depressed, just struggling with making things work.

And I almost quit.  I almost quit my dreams, my business, and my desires.

Then I had an awakening of sorts.

During all of the financial delimmas my wife took on a job watching kids at our house.  It was a great opportunity for extra income.  She had the chance to watch a young kid all week and a handful o fschool-aged kids after they got out of school.  It paid wewll and we were truly thankful the opportunity came.

But was awakening let me to realize how handicapped we felt because of her job.  A bit of our freedom was had always enjoyed was given up.

I started some deep soul searching on the matter.  I knew I wanted more flexibility for my family, but financially it would not makes since at that point.

It was at this piont my excuse, or excuses, turned into hunger.

My hunger has propelled me to work harder than ever before.  I have worked hard in the past on a home business, but not to this extent.  I am pushing hard for success.  and success does not have to be a million dollar income.  Success could come in the form of freeing my wife’s time.

I had regained my dream, my hunger, and my drive to succeed.

There’s no excuse not to dream.  Regardless of what life has done to you, what failures you have had in your home business before, or the rejection you ahve faced, there is no excuse to give up on your dreams.

If you give up on your dreams, I guarantee they will give up on you.   And no one else will dream for you.

What is took for me to regain my focus on dreams was an emotional experience, a desire to see freedom for my family.  If you are thinking about giving up on your dreams, remind yourslef why you had that dream in the first place.

Did you want more time with your family?

Did you want to tavel more?

Did you crave success?

The way to regain dreams is to simply remember what it was like to have the dream in the first place.  In regaining your ability to dream, you may find your dream expanding.  I know mines has.

There’s no excuse not to dream.  Regain your dream, help your home business team regain their dreams, and dream big.