The nearest star to Earth is the sun. It takes a little over eight minutes for the light from the sun to reach us. The next nearest star is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.22 light years away. That means when you look to the night sky and see that star, the light you are seeing was generated four years ago. For a high school senior, that means when they were in eighth grade*. If we look up at Polaris (The North Star) tonight, the light we see was generated over 400 years ago. That means about the same time the microscope was invented, and Shakespeare was writing sonnets, Polaris was generating the light we see today. So what does that mean for me? Today? That means when you do something to add value to somebody today, you may not see the result of the value you added any time soon. You may NEVER see the result of the value you added, but you add it anyway. You add it anyway because you know that adding value to somebody today will result in them adding value to somebody else on another future day, and investing in somebody today for a future return is worth it. *Think about a teacher or a coach or any other adult who believed in you when you were in 8th grade. Think about how they made you feel. They did not add value to you expecting to get a thank you. They just did so someday you would pay it forward. If you can, you should consider reaching out to thank them for making a difference in your life. Think about the possibility of one intentional act of kindness reaching somebody on the other side of the world a decade after the original act was received. You don't serve others to see the results today. You serve others because it is the right thing to do, and by doing so, you are leaving people and places better than you found them...like you should. You add value because in an increasingly dark world in which we live, it may be the only light shared with that person-today or any other day.  Be the light today. Make an intentional effort to add value to somebody today, and recognize the light that others have shone on you. Smile! You are a star!

(For further potentially inaccurate historical findings from the era of time from approximately 433 years ago, go here: http://www.fsmitha.com/time/ce16-9.htm)

"Your brain is like a supercomputer, and your self-talk is the program that it follows."-Jim Kwik
That is to say that when you speak the words, "I'm not very good at math," or, "I'm just not a good test taker," you are telling your brain who you are, and it does whatever it can to protect your identity. I would say, in this case, it is ok to commit identity theft. Get a new identity that recognized possibilities. Change what you tell yourself, and in return, you will change who you are. If you struggle with a skill, just identify it as a short term struggle, and that you will soon be good at it. Sure enough, you will learn to overcome your self-limiting belief, and will be a better math student, or test taker, or whatever you are currently struggling with.  If you fight for your limitations, you will get to keep them. -Jim Kwik 
FIGHT for changing behavior and self improvement. Tell yourself that you are a work in progress, and that you are capable of great things, because YOU ARE!! Like it has been said many times, you ARE who you believe you are. Tell yourself how powerful you are, and get to work developing the awesome YOU that we know you are!!

Have you ever had a disagreement with somebody you care about? Have you ever wondered, "How can they think that way?" Have you ever wondered how to avoid such conflict? I have the solution: communicate your expectations. All conflict arises out of expectations that are not met. I expected you to take out the trash without being asked. You didn't, so you must not appreciate me very much, and if you don't appreciate me, then I will stop doing anything for you! See how that spirals out of control rather quickly? The garbage didn't get taken out because it was not communicated effectively that there was a "need" by both people to remove the garbage, and that the problem was obvious, and required immediate attention. (That's a lot to take in!)  I have a better way. Communicate your expectations in a way that is not demanding, but rather collaborative if possible. "See how this benefits both of us?" Then the expectations will be available for both to interact with intention. If nothing gets done after that, well, there may be bigger underlying problems and motivations. Those are better left for another day... IF you want something done, communicate it so your expectations are known without being demanding. Watch how your relationships improve... or at least your expectations will be known. 

Think of an "expert"(somebody with a special area of interest that shares their knowledge and experiences with other people).  How do you suppose that person became an expert in their field? They probably didn't accidentally become an expert. They more likely spent thousands of hours developing their methods, processes, and information to share with others. Then, they told other people what they specialized in, and asked how they could be of service to them. Then, after several successful interactions with people, those people referred the expert to others in their sphere of influence who also saw value in what the "expert" had to offer, and forwarded the referral to others, and so on, and so on, and so on... Then, one day, seemingly overnight, this "expert" is now known as an expert by other experts in other fields. This is how it works. Who do you think you are? I know you are an expert in training (meaning that you are an expert in an area, training to be an expert; not a person who specializes in training people or animals! or maybe you are, but I digress...). What is your field of expertise? Developing relationships? Is it building a championship team? Is it conflict resolution? Is it building a business? Choose something that others want to know about, and become an expert in that field. Study those who came before you, and do what they did...but add YOU to it. Make it yours, and add value to people every day. Give it a try. Who knows, maybe a few thousand hours from now, you'll be an expert.

Do a little bit every day, and over a long period of time, you will reap HUGE benefits...or consequences. Whatever you do daily will influence your path in life. How do you want to live? Healthy, happy, and prosperous? Do little things every day to move TOWARD that goal, and in time, you will be there. Read every day, journal every day (to measure what really happened, rather than how you remember it), add value to others, eat right, exercise, get plenty of sleep, you know the list... You will reap the benefits of a life well-lived. If you consider the alternatives: watching TV every day (or YouTube, Netflix, or Hulu, or whatever you use to get your visual entertainment), keeping your social media streaks alive in favor of in-person interactions, living vicariously through others, gossiping, eating junk food, not sleeping well, you know the list... you will be ridden with health issues, your relationships will suffer, and it is not likely you will have your finances in order either. You choose every day in your "little" decisions how you want your life to turn out. They seem small, but even an olympic swimming pool is filled with drops of water.

 "Doing what is right is not always popular, and doing what is popular is not always right." -Einstein.
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Think about all the activities that at first you dread, but you feel great for having done them. Those are the activities that require discipline. Discipline is not wanting to do (or say) something, and doing (or saying) it anyway because you know the positive outcome of having done (or said) it . It is doing what is RIGHT, rather than what is POPULAR.  Most people are NOT very disciplined.. Only about 5% of all people are financially independent, and it's not because people don't want to be. It's that most people are not disciplined enough to be. So next time you dread an activity, concentrate on how you will feel when you are finished with it, do more than you intended to, and get excited about it. Go do it with enthusiasm knowing you'll be better for having done it! As a leader, the most difficult person to lead is YOU. Self discipline is difficult. You may dread it at first...

What we believe begins with a source of input. Something said to us; something we saw; something we felt; or smelled... ("whoever smelt it dealt it" is a subject for another day). And depending on when the input occurred, we have allowed that to become a "truth" in our lives. Allow me to explain the last statement: in our formative brain, we allow unfiltered input as truth until around the age of 6. After that, we begin to consciously decide what is truth with some sort of discernment, and scrutiny. The scrutiny that we use later in life (for most of us, after the age of 12) may be filtered through what we THOUGHT was true earlier in life. I have begun to look at what I believe, and ask myself if it is "true" to me, or is it just something I thought was true. I believe people are good, generous, compassionate, and honest at their core. I believe they sometimes choose actions that are contrary to their nature, and we tend to focus on those "out of character" moments to define them as cynical, negative, and hopeless. Most people are not like that- only about 20% are (another subject again #20/60/20rule). So what you believe says a LOT about who YOU are, and what is in your character and belief system...not so much about those "other" people.

If you ever want to get some inspirational motivation, follow a leader on Twitter, or read a blog, or a book. After you read (or listen), figure out what to do with the information you just encountered. I recently read a tweet liked by John Gordon in which the original "tweeter" posted an excerpt from one of John's books. The passage was about thinking like a rookie.  (Paraphrasing here...) The rookie doesn't long for the good ol' days, he makes them every day himself. He creates the good ol' days that somebody ELSE will long for some day. He doesn't get caught up in how bad things are today compared to yesteryear, rather, he gets busy making today as amazing as possible, and makes today the most valuable day in his life. What will you do today that will make somebody's day better? What will you do to add value to somebody today? Get your daily dose of motivation, then do something with it. Zig Ziglar said that inspiration is like bathing- it wears off quickly, so it should be done daily. Acts of kindness are similar in that respect. Who will be your random recipient today? Ready, set, go!

A driver is driving very aggressively honking their horn and trying to get through traffic. The driver is flailing his arms out the window, trying to get through traffic by sheer will. You notice the driver approaching in your rear view mirror, and you think to yourself, "Settle down, buddy. We're all stuck here in traffic. You should have gotten up earlier, and don't be in such a hurry." Lots of other things cross your mind in this situation, and most of them are not very positive or kind, are they? Now, let's look into the car of our "crazy" driver, and see that his 7-year-old daughter is injured. She was trying to help make breakfast for her dad, and in a hurry ran into the edge of the kitchen counter. Her head is bleeding, and she is unconscious. The hospital is only 1.5 miles away, and the nearest ambulance is 30 minutes away. Now, how do you feel? Do you want them to get through traffic? What other situations do we jump to conclusions that we don't know enough about? What person do you give less forgiveness because you don't "like" them, since they are an enemy of your friend? What do you really know about that person? What do you need to do today to improve your relationships with others? Compassion is sharing the common human experience. Try it.