As I sat at Cutters Point Coffee (on Lacey Blvd, Lacey, WA), I heard a familiar voice. I turned around and there was a friend of mine whom I had not seen since… well… yesterday. We started talking about the goals we have in life, and what we are doing to get there.

Then he asked me an incredible question, “What is your motto in life?” He told me that he had run his life on one motto… “How Badly Do You Want It?” This concept of ‘intention’ is also a key focal point in the book If How-To’s Were Enough We Would All be Skinny, Rich and Happy by author Brian Klemmer. He went on to share that without struggle, there is no success. An example he gave was that he does not want to cook dinner, but he does want to eat. A person doesn’t want to give up doughnuts, but does want to be healthy.

That got me thinking about why I don’t have a motto and how it might be impacting my desire towards my goals. I have never really given it much thought and perhaps that is why I feel like I haven’t had a clear direction in life. I am going to work on a motto so that I can remind myself in one quick sentence of my mission statement in life. What are some of the motto’s that you run your life by and have you found it to be helpful?

    What should you be doing at the start and end of the day? Ask successful person and they will always tell you the same thing, review, review, review, review!

At the end of the day, most of us are so tired that we fall asleep only to be rudely awaken by the electronic rooster (the alarm clock). Instead, take a few minutes to review everything you have to do tomorrow? About important meetings, appointments, family dinners, etc. Not only does this help you stay organized for the next day, but you may realize that you had forgotten an important step for the next day’s activities. Write down all of the tasks you wish to accomplish for the next day. List everything from a lunch meeting to take out the trash. You will take a step towards your goals with each item you cross off of that list.

Now for the hard part, wake up 5 minutes earlier and review your day and your list! I know, who wants to wake up 5 minutes earlier, right? Well people who want to achieve their goals for starters.