One never knows when the lesson shirked will come back to bite you on the ass.

Every life experience must be grabbed with passion.  Learn and earn, if possible, from everything put in your path.

This advice is not just a nice-sounding bit of advice based on theory, it is premised by a very traumatic event in my life some 32 years ago.  That event could have put me in a federal penitentiary for a very long time.

I once heard a story of a would-be flight navigator who cheated on a major part of his written  exam.  His deceit went unnoticed for many years until an in-flight emergency left him at the helm.  As he was descending, he couldn’t recall the total sequence.  In desperation, he radioed ground control and half in tears told them that he drew a blank on how to land.  The calm ground control staff walked him through it and, by shear luck, he landed without a glitch.  He was fired on the spot.

Likewise, I was encouraged by my college teachers to keep a  journal, and my freshman teacher encouraged me to write with passion.  That lesson made me fall in love with English and when, in 1978, I stood at my arraignment and read my recognizance speech to the judge, he quickly reduced my substantial $500,000 baqil to a mere $500.

Unlike the navigator who fudged his way through, I was prepared adequately for the trauma I faced in the courtroom.

Let the judge tell the full story:

“Look up and not down. Look forward and not back. Look out and not in, and lend a hand.”

~Edward Everett Horton~

There are thousands of gurus and wannabes telling you to get focused.  Then – in the same breath – they tell you to write down a gazillion goals for seven or eight categories, then narrow them down to a half-dozen or so and focus on them.

So now you have, let’s say, 40 goals that you are supposed to focus on.  The only trouble is that the 39 sitting on your hard drive are screaming for your attention.  When a stumbling block arrives – as it always does – you jump to another and then another, and then it’s lunchtime, then it’s siesta time, then it’s dinner time, and finally it’s Miller time.

If you snooze, you lose in this high-pace world we live in.  But the whole tamale does not consist of 40 appetizers to choose from, rather from one entree to nibble at until it is consumed.

The judge calls this court to session:

That is why it is so important to review your life on a daily basis using a journal. By doing so, you can remember how you managed and mismanaged life. The next time around, the same mistake – if not learned – could cost you a job, a marriage or even your life.

There may not be anyone able or willing to save you from a mistake in judgment down the pike. Parents do the best they can to forewarn us that we can’t have a baby’s reliance once we leave the crib.

The judge rules…

You must be gifted in creating ways to solve challenges with your children and only use tools of the last resort when absolutely required or necessary. John Kennedy’s father, Joe, said this to John…and it will serve so many ways.

Here’s what old Joe Kennedy said: “If it is not necessary to change, it’s necessary not to change.” If it’s not necessary to scold, then it’s necessary not to scold. If it’s not necessary to use sarcasm, then it is necessary in the rest of your speech to use sarcasm.

Controlling that temper is the first step toward reigning in the wild horses that move your life. The judge weighs in…

Please! For you – please focus for a moment on what you are doing. My wife changes channels faster than the speed of light. People surf the net for opportunity after opportunity, sometimes having ten browsers open simultaneously looking for the Holy Grail of marketing riches and getting poorer by the minute. Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.) is no longer a disease; it’s the norm!

Is it any wonder that 95 percent of the wealth in the world is controlled by less than ten percent of the population?

So take a deep breath, close all browsers other than this one, listen to the audio, and then get serious about laser-focused success on your own terms.

Remember: Don’t have other browsers going. Turn off the info-overload button and get truly serious about your present and future.

When finished listening, go to the PerfectBizFinder and start to live your life on purpose – your purpose – from this day forward.