984. "No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one."

"No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one." Jessica Savitch


It's easy to become complacent after achieving a goal. When they are achieved, the feeling you receive is unmatched. You swell up with happiness, joy, you become ecstatic, and so on. However, you must not forget to set new goals. If you do not set new goals, you will find yourself stuck in a rut in the same routine.


While you must set new goals, it is also to celebrate each goal. Celebrations are always deserved when goals are met. You must be able to bask in the joy of achievement, and once this celebration is done, set new goals and begin again. This will always keep you focused and the reveling in your accomplishments will push you to accomplish more and more.

987. "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" Robert Schuller

Two of the things that people fear the most in this world are death and failure. Both of these often keep a strangle hold on people from actually living. To many, safety is comfort. However, if you stay safe your whole life, how much do you actually experience? The fear of failure comes in many forms; fear of your business failing, fear of not living up to your parents expectations, fear of getting rejected, etc. I believe this is a question that you should ask yourself everyday. 

Failures are no doubt going to happen to everyone. Once you accept the change of failure, there is no reason to fear it. Failure is part of life, so why be caught in its web of fear? If theres something you have been dying to do, something you're passionate about, why not go for it? Take the risk. My brother when he graduated college had a job offer (at the peak of the recession). Instead of taking it, he headed out to Hollywood to try and make it in an excessively competitive industry. As you can imagine, my dad was not happy. And most certainly my brother had a fear of failure and definitely a fear of letting down his father. However, it was something he was passionate about, and he knew to ever do what he loves he had to be in Hollywood. He's currently making positive steps in the direction he wants. He hasn't reached his dream, but hes living his life and my dad couldn't be any prouder.

You only live this life once. So you should never let fair of failure hold you back. Ask yourself "What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?", and if it's something you really want to do, go for it. If you fail, pick yourself back up and learn from it. If you succeed, you'll be the happiest person on the planet at that moment.

990. "A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."

"A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval." Mark Twain


I believe this goes with being comfortable and having confidence. If you're low in self confidence or uncomfortable with yourself, you will continue to lack confidence and be uncomfortable in life. What I encourage all to do, is try to improve yourself everyday. Set longterm goals and use everyday as a short-term approach. What I mean by that is set large objectives for yourself; lose 20 pounds, or be able to talk to women comfortably, or learn a new hobby. Then each day do something small to help towards these goals. Perhaps exercise or not eat dessert, maybe talk to the girl next to you when you're getting coffee or pumping your gas, and for a new hobby read a new article on the subject or ask someone about it. 

Each of these small tasks will eventually lead you to your ultimate goal. Remember my older post "Every artist was first an amateur." In order for someone to have lost weight, they had to have taken small steps. In order for someone to be a ladies man, they had to have started with small conversation. And in order for something to learn a new hobby, they must have started at the beginning. When you finally accomplish these goals, you'll be amazed at the self-confidence you receive and you will begin to become more comfortable with yourself. Setting goals, and accomplishing them is one of the greatest ways to build confidence, and when you're confidence you will certainly be comfortable with yourself. So start making that list of goals today.

992. "Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy."

"Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy." Lao Tzu


Think of this quote as a house, and the easy as the foundation. The foundation is the simplest part of a house, it is straight forward, without frills and designs, and rarely needs attention to small details. However, it is the most important part. If a strong, unanticipated wind blows, a loose foundationed house will fall, but if the foundation is in order, it has a greater chance at surviving.


The other day I had an interview. In the past certain questions had thrown me off, but that was due to lack of preparation. This time I managed what I could myself, and nailed the interview. I made sure I was well dress, well researched on the company and took an accurate assessment of my skills. I was asked many difficult questions, and ones I had definitely not prepared for, but because I have a great base of knowledge, I was able to roll with the punches and answer them well instead of searching for answers.


There are many things you can do in your life to be more prepared for the difficult. Make a to-do list, do your laundry, save a portion of your income, and I could go on and on. I have learned this through experience and it is true; if you are prepared, you will succeed. This doesn't mean knowing everything about everything, but have what you can control in order and you will be able to better roll when the difficult arises. 

993. "Every artist was first an amateur."

"Every artist was first an amateur." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Practice, Practice, Practice. Going off my last post about having role models and heroes, this post is about how to because others role models and heroes. At one point in time, every CEO was a high schooler, every MLB player struck out for the first, second, third time, etc, and every actor was in his first play. Not many people are born into the limelight (unless your Paris Hilton). 

To become famous, or enviable, you have to put in your time. The "Mona Lisa" wasn't Da Vinci's first attempt at art. His first ever drawing was probably just as bad as yours or mine (maybe a little better). If you have an interest, but think you won't be good at it, just try and keep at it. I'm not musically incline, so I didn't think I could play the harmonica, but now I can. If you want to be good at something, just keep practicing and hustling and you will be eventually. However, you have to start somewhere. Just thinking you would like to be good at something will get you nowhere. So act on you desires, act on your dreams and hustle and practice until you drop. Don't worry about failing and falling, pick yourself up and keep working. Eventually you'll succeed.

994. "As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary."

"As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary." Ernest Hemingway


Think back to when you were a kid. Most of us had heroes, idols, or role models. I know I had many. I idolized Ken Griffey Jr. and Chipper Jones. Every chance I had, I tried to emulate these guys. I had Griffey's swing down pat, and I batted righty. I also looked up to Shaq. Since I was taller than everyone in 7th grade, I beasted the boards. The fact is, I probably wouldn't have been as good of an athlete if I learned on my own, instead of emulating this guys. So why stop having role models and heroes when we grow up? It's important to look up to someone at any point in your life. 


People who we regard as heroes are almost always great at what they do. They reached this point not without making mistakes either. So if we aspire to be them, we can possibly avoid the mistakes they made in their life. I currently have taken on a new role model, Richard Branson. The way he puts the customer first in his business endeavors is something I aspire to do (his ability to always leave room for fun is also something I admire). 


Role models and heroes don't have to be in sports, or in business, they can be anyone in your family, Mother Theresa, Christopher Columbus, etc. No matter what age you are, I encourage everyone to always have a hero and aspire to emulate aspects of their life. This will always give you a goal and something to strive for.

998. "It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish."

"It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish" -J.R.R. Tolkien

How many ideas have you had in your life that you thought were awesome? You thought you'd love to do this project. Perhaps building a new deck, or simply set up a lemonade stand. Than months later you realized you never even started it. I know personally to me this has happened often. Ive had ideas for websites, I wanted to write a book once, and even things as simple as cooking dinner Ive put off (thank you fast food).

To me this goes hand in hand with the old saying "why put off to tomorrow what you can do today." And I've also recently found how to answer this question. As stated in my first blog, #1000, I have started reading Richard Branson books, and the one I finished already is "Screw it, Let's do it". I really am starting to believe in this. Just the other day I was at a club with two of my roommates and some of my friends. All of a sudden my one roommate said "my cousin is having a house party in Philly, wanna go?" Everything inside me was saying "you know were already here, I'm comfortable here and Philly is 30-40 min away." However, I said screw it, lets do it! And it turned out that I ended up having 10x the fun I would have had if I stayed.

Not every decision you will make will turn out with a 10:1 worthwhile ratio, in fact some decisions might be worse, but if you never try it you will never know. You live life once, why not push yourself everyday? The more you turn those "no's" into "yes's" the more spontaneous fun you will begin to have. I know my life has become a lot more fun and interesting and I encourage all to start any ideas you might have in your head, just try them out. The sooner you start them, the sooner they will be complete and the greater the sense of accomplishment you will have.