A few years ago, I was trying to discover what I wanted out of life and had a million things floating around in my head. However, with the many ideas floating around in my head, nothing really stood out from the rest.  Then I heard someone say, "Before you try to take on the world, GET YOUR OWN HOUSE IN ORDER."  That statement was exactly what I needed to start evaluating from within to find out what I needed to do with what was around me.

How many of us have friends or family who seem to go through each day with no plan at all? What about those we know who seem to be stuck in the exact same place they were at this time last year? Can these things even be said about you??

My friends, the solution to this problem is simple: PRIORITIZING!!! With anything worth having in life, the key to attaining and maintaining these things is to have a plan and an order in place. The most successful and happiest people are those who have their priorities in line, down to the smallest detail. You can do this, too...starting TODAY!

Think about your life and answer these questions: What/who is most important to me? What are my long and short-term goals in life? Answering these questions will lay the foundation for what will feel like a breath of fresh air in the way you live.  Everything that's important to you is worth prioritizing...faith, family, school, work, finances, friends, etc. Be sure to give these things the consideration that they deserve, and determine how they fit in your life.

THE DAY YOU GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER IS THE DAY YOU TRULY START LIVING!!!

Remember this, my friends, as you strive to become the best that you can be...

In the never-ending struggle to be successful, positive-minded individuals, situations arise that truly test your mental strength and endurance.  While there are many things we can solve or just accept and keep going, there are those unique instances where a solution isn't immediately visible.

What do you do next? Regardless of the situation, one thing is for sure: worrying and stressing are NOT the best options.

Take it from someone who knows, worrying and stressing about a situation are the worst things you can do for the situation and for yourself.  Neither will produce a solution to your problems, and it casts a negative shadow over all the other positive things you have going your way. 

Always take a positive approach, even when things don't look to great. I promise, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.  Those who keep a smile on their faces and their heads held high always come out of their negative situations faster than those who let their negative ordeals consume them. 

Have you ever seen people that drift through life with seemingly NO direction or purpose? You ever woner why so many people with degrees in one area end up unhappy with their job or end up doing something completely unrelated to what they WANT to do?

Now on the other hand, have you seen people that seem to LOVE what they do...almost as if they were MADE for their profession??  This is because these people have found their PASSION.

This is what sets the extraordinary from the ordinary, the leaders from the followers.  A person with purpose and passion will always have JOY, and that's much more valuable than happiness. (Joy is long-lasting, happiness changes like the weather.)  They'll always have something to look forward to in life, and bring a sense of peace to their lives and the lives of others.

How does one find their passion? I believe it all starts with making sure you have a strong foundation within yourself--being fully aware of where you stand morally. There are people in this world that will tell you anything and pull u in a variety of different directions, and if you don't have a great sense of who you are, you'll fall for anything.  Constant prayer, self-evaluation, and knowing who your TRUE friends are is a great start to building a solid foundation in your life.

Exposure should be next on the agenda...stepping outside of your comfort zone and committing yourself to soaking up all that the world has to offer. I encourage everyone I meet to try new things and be diverse in your extracurricular activities.  You'd be surprised at how much you'll learn about yourself by putting yourself in different environments.  If you limit yourself, you limit your potential--potential to be successful, potential to find true happiness.

I can only speak for myself, and, as a person that has found his passion, I can say it is an unexplainable feeling. Encouraging and empowering others, leadership, and political change are my passions in life, and to be able to identify them early will make a world of differnce in your outlook on your surroundings. I go to bed and wake up every day thinking about what I can do to feed my passions. That's the attitude that finding your calling in life will bring out of you.

Take some time this week and really search within yourself...what are you striving for? What's important to you? What are some things you just can't imagine yourself NOT doing? Once you find the answers to these questions, you're well on your way to finding your passion.

"Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action." - Napoleon Hill

Every year, students descend upon colleges and universities hoping to become America's next great doctor, attorney, writer, politician, athlete, etc.  While some amass great success in their desired fields throughout their careers, there are many others who barely get their feet in the door of their professions of interest. How does that happen if two people have the same level of education? I'm glad you asked.

No matter where in society you look, the difference between the mediocre and the extraordinary is the willingness to go above and beyond minimum requirements and strive to stand out among their peers.

Take some time this week and evaluate yourself according to this simple checklist I provided below. If your answer isn't a YES to all of these, you have now discovered the areas you can work on to get to where you want to be!!

Be blessed!

Professional Development Checklist

1. Do you stay up-to-date with the latest happenings in your field of interest?
2. Have you identified the qualifications necessary for the position you seek in your professional career?
   
3. Do you know at least 5 of the leading individuals in your field of interest?
4. Are you a member of any professional/student organizations directly related to your field of interest?
5. Do you attend conferences/events related to your field of interest?
6. Do you have at least 3 people working within your field of interest that you can work with in a mentor/mentee relationship?
7. Do you have work experience in your field of interest (jobs, internships, etc.)?
   

"He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign."
-Victor Hugo

One thing I like to do in my free time is talk with people about their goals. I have been blessed to meet so many great people that have a desire to accomplish some amazing things in life. As important as it is for each of us to have goals in life, it is as equally important to have a plan of action in place so that we may take steps toward ACCOMPLISHING these goals.

We all know at least one person that seems to always have a lot of goals with no evidence of any progress being made on them. Procrastination, something all of us have been guilty of at some point in our lives, can play a large role in this type of behavior. Sometimes, the person may not know how to get the ball rolling with their plans. Regardless of the reason, here is a technique that you can carry with you for the rest of your life in order to accomplish any goal, big or small (you're welcome!):

On a sheet of paper, write the following things in this order:
1) The Goal
2) One-sentence summary of why you want to accomplish this goal
3) Daily steps you can take to work at it
4) Tentative timeline for certain parts of your goal to be done

5) List of people that can help you get there

It's important that we all learn that if we want the big things in life to come our way, we must first handle the small things. I encourage everyone to try this small exercise and post it somewhere in your room that makes it something you see every day. Trust me, a little planning goes a LONG way...

A major issue that is widely ignored by teens and young adults is long-term financial security. Sadly, many of us spend frivolously without thinking about the future. In a time where the economy is almost completely out of wack, nothing is guaranteed to those who don't make moves to prepare for the future NOW!

The following tips are for those who want to begin the journey to financial freedom. These are small adjustments that are sure to have a huge impact on your finances once they are incorporated into your daily lives.

1) Never forget to balance your checkbook. I know this seems like a thing of the past since the online banking features have become so popular, but it is still necessary. Think about it this way: the more you write down each time money goes OUT of your account, the more likely you are to avoid letting money go to waste on small things that aren't needed.

2) Create a budget and stick to it! This will come in handy for those who seem to find themselves living from paycheck to paycheck and wondering where all of their money has gone at the end of the week/month. It is a good practice to implement a budget that coincides with how often your paycheck comes. Allocate certain amounts for rent, bills, food, and, most importantly, emergency funds. Everybody has certain problems that may arise that need to be addressed as soon as possible, and knowing that you have prepared for such situations will eliminate a lot of the stress associated with the problem.

3) Explore the options your bank offers. These days, in order to prepare for the future and live comfortably during retirement, just having a simple checking account isn't going to cut it. Banks offer numerous options for saving and investing, and we all should look into them to see what is best for our situation. Start off with a savings account and contribute regularly. After a while, your next move might be Money Market accounts, Certificates of Deposit (CDs), bonds, and mutual funds. The possibilities are almost endless.

We must realize it's never too late to plan for the future. It's all about taking the time to explore our options and actually becoming disciplined enough to stick with it. By no means am I saying to never spend on things that make us happy or hold back from the things we love doing. However, I believe we must plan and make sure we can afford to do these things before we just go out and do them.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
--Marianne Williamson



All of us have childhood memories of the smart kid being picked on by the other kids because we were different from the group. This behavior may have been acceptable for that age, but after we reach a certain point of maturity, standing out from the crowd and becoming an overachiever should be something we ALL should strive for.

Our favorite celebrities didn't achieve such notoriety by just being 'average.' They worked hard and set themselves apart from the crowd. People such as Bill Gates, Donald Trump, and Oprah Winfrey did more than just go to school to get where they are. They studied their craft and put in the time OUTSIDE of school for their hard work to pay off.

The great Marianne Williamson gave us some of the most profound and inspirational words of all time in this speech. It was a call to action for each and every one of us to get up and start living up to our full potential. Many of us have aspirations of being some of the greatest lawyers, doctors, singers, rappers, politicians, artists, and businesspeople the world has ever seen but have yet to do any REAL research on the profession. Anybody with money and a little bit of determination can go to school and get a degree. It's all about what we did while we were pursuing our degree that counts. We want to achieve such great things but fail to do the things that would set us apart from the competition. What is it about YOUR accomplishments that set you apart from others?

When I say real research, I'm referring to doing more than looking up how much a person in that profession makes on average each year. If you are doing real research on a career of interest, you should know what it's like to work in that profession on a daily basis, be informed of opportunities that provide experience in that field (internships, shadowing, etc.), and the occupation's growth expectancy. If you have no knowledge of any of these things, you have some work to be doing...

As young adults, we should start to see the change in responsibility leaning more in our direction versus our parents/family. Our family cannot go and live our dreams for us. They can't network and go through internships in our place. Adulthood is the time where our parents' determination to see us succeed no longer translates into us succeeding. It is solely up to us as individuals to take charge of our own futures.

So now that you've read what I have to say about it all, what's your next move? The options are simple: Stand out or blend in? Live with no regrets or go through life with a bunch of 'what ifs'?



The choice is YOURS....