Lives begin with every moment you live; with every morning you greet; with every new project you begin; with every new dream you dare to imagine, and with every affection you give. Our lives are renewed in the hands of a child that reaches up, with love in his heart, to caress his mother’s face and warms her heart with a smile; in the farewell to someone whom you will never see again, but who will remain in your heart for the rest of your life; in that first kiss that will continue to make your heart flutter; in that first step you take towards a better world; in every one of your ideals. Life continues and does not end, instead it is built from moment to moment.

Don’t become complacent, consider this moment as a new beginning. Relearn to dream. Your dreams determine your destination in life. Find the path that life has set forth for you, and realize that whatever it is that you want out of your life has already been placed in your hands. Do not limit yourself. You have possibilities you have discovered yet. Don’t limit yourself. Your future begins when you dare to start down the path towards your dreams.

If you have tired blood, fight back. Fight back against that fatigue that compels you to lay your head to rest. Fight back. Do not say, “Someday I will,” just do it. That day is today; do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today. Plan tomorrow’s work, but act today.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re 20 or 60, dare to dream a new dream and lose yourself in the pursuit of it. Most people spend the first half of their lives saying, “I’m too young for that stuff” and the second half saying, “I’m too old for that stuff.” Do not fall prey to that nonsense. You only get one life to pursue your dreams in. Who cares if you have to climb a million steps to get to them? Grab hold of your ideals, and take the first few steps on the path, then dash into your dreams, into your future.

Become the sewer. Sew dreams, sew ideals; sew smiles; sew compliments, sew empowerment; sew love; sew appreciation, and most importantly sew hope; hope for a brighter, better tomorrow. Some day you may look into the eyes of an old man, who silently begs for words of comfort and a shoulder to lean on, or the angry and broken young man who desperately seeks counsel and a place to belong, and change their lives. The world is hungrier for all of that, than it is for bread. Sew with your heart and reap the rewards with your efforts.

Live with purpose. Live with passion.

When we’re little kids, they ask us, “what you want to be when you grow up?”

When we’re in high school they ask us, “what do you want to study in college?”

When we’re in college they ask, “what are your plans are after you graduate?”

And when we graduate, we go do what we’ve answered this whole time. We’ve gotten trained in that question, and live lives that are simply an answer to that questions. And Thoreau was right, wasn’t he? Most men and women do live lives of quiet desperation.

The only difference between the highly engaged and the massively disengaged people is very simple. The highly engaged people believe that their future is bigger and brighter than their past, and that they have a say in it. Disengaged people do not believe that, and live lives of quiet desperation. The most successful people in the world, are driven by a cause, a reason, or a life-long passion. This means that we have to start asking different questions. Perhaps start asking questions like these:

“What do you want out of this life?”

“What do you feel is your purpose in life?”

“What do you think is your calling?”

“What are your dreams?”

Earlier this month, I heard Ivan Moralez say that the most important gift we can give our children is to teach them how to dream. If you’re reading this, you’re probably not a child, but take the time to figure out what are your dreams and what are you doing about them?

I recently came across this poem by Edgar A. Guest and thought, I’d repost it.

Equipment

Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You’ve all that the greatest of men have had,
Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,
And a brain to use if you would be wise.
With this equipment they all began,
So start for the top and say “I can.”

Look them over, the wise and great,
They take their food from a common plate
And similar knives and forks they use,
With similar laces they tie their shoes,
The world considers them brave and smart.
But you’ve all they had when they made their start.

You can triumph and come to skill,
You can be great if only you will,
You’re well equipped for what fight you choose,
You have legs and arms and a brain to use,
And the man who has risen, great deeds to do
Began his life with no more than you.

You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place,
You must say where you want to go.
How much you will study the truth to know,
God has equipped you for life, But He
Lets you decide what you want to be.

Courage must come from the soul within,
The man must furnish the will to win,
So figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You were born with all that the great have had,
With your equipment they all began.

Last Tuesday, I had the privilege of hearing my friend, Brad say that he wants all of his friends to be better than him in every way possible. This really rocked my world. I used to think that friends, good friends, were the ones that accepted me as I am. Now, I understand how dangerous that statement is. My dry cleaner doesn’t care about me, she accepts me just as I am. A good friend should want you to be better than they are, and a really great friend will proactively help you to become that way.

It’s taken quite some time for me to realize that when it’s all said and done, when I am giving the accounting of my life, the only thing that’s going to matter is how many lives are better because I had the privilege of breathing on this good earth.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3usKV2qy-c]

I am extremely proud to be associated with these people. They are magnificent people.

1. Make Brad and Kim DeHaven proud of me.
2. I truly want to be lazy first class.
3. Buy Brad and Kim DeHaven a new palm tree for their backyard resort.
4. Give my mother the retirement she deserves.
5. Reorganize myself right out of a job by age 27.
6. Financial independence by age 30
7. Raise my own kids. (Whenever I have them)
8. Become a full time husband.
9. Be a hero to my friends and family.
10. Help 1 person trade their rental for their own home.
11. Build my dream home.
12. Be the most influential person in my family’s lives.
13. Watch Dexter speak.
14. Personally thank Scott & MJ for Brad & Kim.
15. Be a guest speaker at a BDS.
16. Meet David & Kristin Dussualt.
17. Take a summer long tour of Europe.
18. Buy a super car.
19. Help an individual make an extra $1,000 /mo in the program.
20. Help a friend pay off all of their debt.
21. Be remembered as “The Great Believer.”
22. Run  a marathon.
23. Each year drop $1,000 in 10 families’ mailboxes.
24. Take my wife (whenever that happens) on a shopping spree in New York during Christmas
25. —-Surprise. To be shared from stage.
26. Match Brad & Kim DeHaven’s pin (continuous)
27. Write a book.
28. Become an inspiration to the Y generation.
29. —–Surprise. Alese, this one is about you.
30. Buy 1,000 apartment units.
31. Start an ICO in Torrance.
32. Attend a Clark Park event.
33. Buy a Cadillac.
34. Pay it forward.
35. Get onto the OLM rotation.
36. Have Wayne pin me when I go platinum.
37. Buy a waterfront home where I can have fun toys.
38. Drop weight to a build 250lbs
39. Be completely debt free.
40. Lead a peaceful, stress free life.
41. Have a trendy, contemporary kitchen.
42. Take formal cooking lessons.
43. Roll at least 6 wide a couple thousand deep to all major conferences.
44. Silver by Dec 31, 2009.
45. Take creative writing courses or be mentored by a fiction author.
46. Have my story CD go onto the DLB audio series.
47. Make $100,000/yr in my I-Commerce business by age 29.
48. Take a road trip across the  country.
49. Hear Larry Winters speak live.
50. Hear Rich DeVos speak live.
51. Meet Mike Holmes.
52. Become a better, more responsible man.
53. Get on Brad’s weekly call rotation.
54. Buy a Harley.
55. Go riding with Bob Sellers and Wayne.
56. Learn to Play Golf.
57. Relearn how to play guitar.
58. Go hiking/camping with Jeff, Randy and the Crew.
59. Learn to Snow Board.
60. Learn to surf.
61. Be able to go for a night out, have a blast, not not have to worry about the money I’m spending at all.
62. Build a business in Mexico.
63. See Tim Goad speak live.
64. Take my group to an Achievers trip in Cancun.
65. Develop a habit of talking to 5 people each day.
66. Remodel the bathroom in my office.
67. Buy proper bookshelves for my office and bedroom.
68. Visit Apoorav in India.
69. Take a road trip to Wine Country.
70. Visit Japan.
71. Start an annual Vegas trip.
72. Go to Time Square on New Years.
73. Eat at a 4 Star restaurant.
74. Walk through Central Park
75. Buy a Mac Pro for my office.
76. Buy a 3oin (or bigger) Apple Cinema Display.
77. Buy a new MacBook Pro.
78. Learn to ride a horse.
79. Get a new leather briefcase/bag.
80. Buy a new bed frame for my bed.
81. Upgrade to a new, comfortable leather office chair.
82. Buy a $2,000 suit.
83. Get a pair of custom, hand made leather shoes.
84. Take a trip to Washington DC.
85. Buy a quad and go riding with my brother.
86. Wake up with a smile on my face every day.
87. Paint the house. (No deck to sand… yet)
88. Get an iPhone.
89. Go to another Tool concert.
90. Go to an A Perfect Circle concert.
91. Go to a Lacuna Coil concert.
92. Go to a Rammstein concert.
93. Have a jacuzzi tub.
94. Buy a pair of designer sunglasses.
95. Be the keynote speaker at a major conference.
96. Take a no looking, $5,000 shopping spree.
97. Do a Tequila Episode of WLTV
98. Buy a beach home in Mexico.
99. Build a custom home in my hometown in Mexico.
100. Make my life a masterpiece.