12 Things You Need Before 2015

We’re coming up on the new year! Do you remember 11 months ago when you dreamed of all these things you wanted to do this year? What you wanted to accomplish? Who you had hoped to become by now?

Over the last year I’ve become convinced that there are 12 personal skills you absolutely have to develop if you want to be able to look back at this point every year and be psyched about how far you’ve come. Make yourself these 12 things, and every November you’re going to be itching for December so you can write next year’s agenda.

1. Self-Aware

Step one for everybody is being truly self-aware. Before you can be intentional about your life, you have to really know yourself–why you are, what makes you tick, how you think, what you need.

Who are you really? Where are you at now? And where do you wish you would get? Not your job title, not how many followers you have. You. Get away from everything for a day, go be by yourself, and get back in touch with your deepest thoughts, feelings, and desires.

Too many people know it sucks to look back on a year or a lifetime of years, and think “Wait–that’s not what I wanted…”

2. Visionary

Once you know who you are and what you want, spell it out. In words. Write a vision.

Create a vision so that you can always know where you’re going and why you’re doing what you’re doing to get there. Every day is about achieving that vision, because any day that’s not is a day you have lost. The less visionary you are, the less focused and powerful you will be.

Make sure your vision is sincere, inspiring, clear, actionable–and above all, it must be a true commitment.

3. Goal-Oriented

After you have defined your vision, it is essential to plan exactly how you’re going to get there and then start executing your plan: Setting goals.

Goals increase clarity and focus, motivation and urgency, enable accountability and self-management, and keep you on track when things get hard. Ultimately, goals make big things happen.

Without clearly written plans, steps, action items, to-do lists–“goals”–it is very hard to stay on a straight course. Having vision is one thing, but knowing what that means you absolutely have to accomplish today is what gives fuel to the vision. And there is nothing quite like crossing a goal off your list to boost your motivation and confidence.

4. Self-Controlled

Now that you’ve gotten back in touch with yourself, defined your vision, and set goals, it’s time to work on self-control. Because no matter what you said when you were on a mountain top, when the valleys of stress, distraction, and challenges hit, without some intense self-control you’ll fall flat on your face.

Self-control has everything to do with the little things. Those little daily choices that don’t seem like that big a deal. But over time, they lead you somewhere. And if you’re not self-controlled while you’re making little decisions, how do you expect to face the big ones?

Self-control in attitude, focus, decision-making, relationships, communication, everything–self-control is an absolute necessity if you want to be an effective, successful, and happy person.

5. Positive

No matter how much you prepare and try to control yourself, you’re going to fail. You’re going to fall hard on your ass some days, and getting up is going to feel impossible. People are going to make comments that knock the wind out of you. The world will seem to fight against you some days.

When things aren’t going your way, there is an extremely powerful weapon you’ll have to use if you want to keep walking till you see the light at the end of the tunnel: Positivity.

Sure, “thinking positive” doesn’t give you superpowers. But thinking negative drains you of every ounce of energy and determination you ever had. “I can do this!” can lead somewhere. “I can’t!” leads to your couch.

6. Confident

One of the best kept secrets in history is that all the movers and shakers didn’t always feel “confident.” They just decided they had to act like it anyway. And that is where you can find your confidence.

There isn’t a certain type of person who gets to be confident in their “golden touch,” while others (like you) have to tread carefully because they’re always at the brink of failure.

There are people who do, because they tell themselves against all feelings and reason that they can do! And there are people who don’t, because they allow themselves to assume they will screw it up. Be the doer. Decide that you know you can. Sure, you know you’ll get knocked down a few times, but in the end, you can, and that’s all that matters!

7. Creative

Life will absolutely not always throw doors open for you, so you have to get creative sometimes. You have to build your own doors. You have to figure out your own ways to do what you want to do.

Creativity will get you hired and paid. You’ll be the one with the plans and solutions. You’ll tweak things till you get results. You’ll figure out what needs to be done. You’ll be an innovator.

If you want to be a part of the crowd, ride their wave. If you want to do even better and get even further–if you want to be above average–if you want to see your vision become a reality–you have to design your own wave. And that takes some good old brainstorming, day-dreamy creativity.

8. Energetic

No matter how well I know all of the above, sometimes I just can’t do it. Or at least my tired mind and body convince me that I can’t.

I like to trick myself into thinking I’m superhuman. I can still run full speed ahead on little to no sleep. I can buy time by skipping the gym. I can guzzle a 5-Hour Energy on the way back to work. But give it about a week, and exhaustion will catch up with me. My feet will start dragging, my attention will start lagging, my eyes will start sagging, and I’ll become just one of the zombies again. Life will start happening to me. Don’t let that happen to you!

Your mind and body both depend on enough sleep, good nutrition, and regular exercise. Neglect any of those and you’re setting yourself up to crash long before your work is over.

9. Courageous

If you want to accomplish big things, you’ll have to take some risks, ask for help, and do scary things. And those first two are just kinds of scary things. Bottom line is, you’ll have to do lots and lots of scary things. Your goals are sitting just outside your comfort zone, or else you would have already accomplished them.

Asking for help, for references, for introductions, for time and coaching–it all takes courage. Pitching your ideas, giving feedback, leading a team–takes courage. Publishing a book, selling a product, networking–takes courage.

Courage doesn’t mean you’re not scared. Courage means when you need to do something, you do it whether it’s scary or not. Period.

10. Persistent

Minutes become hours, hours become days, days become weeks, weeks become months, and months become years. And through it all, no matter what, you have to be persistent.

Remembering that your vision is a commitment, you have to understand that you’re in what you’re in for the long haul. When things get tough, you don’t just think positive and exercise self-control today. You do it tomorrow, and the next day. Every single day, you do what you need to do, no matter what.

When life fights against you, you fight back and you don’t stop. When someone says you can’t, you keep going. When you get fired, you keep going. When you don’t get called back, you keep going. When you don’t get the raise, you keep going. Keep going, keep going, keep going. Persistence doesn’t mean you’ll get everything you want. But a lack of persistence ensures you won’t get anything at all.

11. Happy

I could throw in some references to studies that say happy people become successful, not the other way around. And I believe that principle. But at the end of the day, that’s not why you need to be happy.

You need to be happy, because this is your life. You only get to live it once, and life is about more than goals, promotions, and bank accounts. Life is about the happiness that you experience along the way. Sure, a year-end bonus can buy some legitimate happy things, but happiness is deeper than success in business. Happiness is success in life.

I firmly believe happiness is a choice. I believe it because I’ve lived with some of the poorest, most broken and abused people in the whole world. And they chose to find happiness. Perspective. You can choose to be happy during your journey. Or you can choose to need more first. To wait–to wait until you “get there.” And if you choose to wait, you’ll probably never make it to the happiness. So choose happiness now instead.

12. Peaceful

None of this is worth anything if you are not at peace.

You can be so caught up in the race that you lose touch with reality. In reality, everything is pretty much okay. We create these social pressures that tell us they’re not, but they really are. Don’t get so busy and so stressed that you can’t let go and relax. Don’t get so focused and driven that you can’t breathe.

Whatever it takes–meditation, prayer, relaxing, dreaming, taking a walk, closing your eyes–whatever it takes, find peace. If you don’t, buckle up for a really terrible ride.

What simple thing can you do todayevery day–to increase each of these characteristics in yourself?

As you finish up this year and prepare for the next, think about these 12 things regularly. Give yourself a head start on next year by becoming a master of yourself over the holiday season.

On January 1, hit the ground running with me by being truly self-aware, having a clear vision, knowing how to use goals, being self-controlled, staying positive, living confidently, creating solutions, taking care of your body, having limitless courage, being persistent, persistent, persistent, choosing to be the happiest person you know, and living at peace with yourself, the world, and all there is!

Let’s do this!

Why I Love Darkness


This is my view when I run.

I prefer running at night.

(Warning: In the dark, everywhere is deer crossing–including you.)

In fact, I sometimes just get in my car and go for long drives at night. I like what I see in the dark: Nothing.

Doesn’t sound too sensible, I know, but I’ll explain:

Life Is About Fear

When you were just a little kid, you were afraid of the dark. At least a little bit. You were afraid because you honestly didn’t know if there were monsters hiding in the closet or under the bed. The stories were pretty real to you anyway. The shadows made you hide under the covers.


When you were a kid, you lived in that reality. A reality of monsters and heroes, fairy tales, fantasies. Your imagination was an amazing thing. You created your reality by what you chose to think.

Then you grew up. And life hit you hard. Reality set in. You learned how the real world works.

There are no monsters under your bed, and the chance of being bitten by a deadly snake or spider–well in the grand scheme of things, you just don’t have to worry about it anymore. There are more important things to worry about.

(I get why some grown ups stay afraid of clowns, though.)

The fear that crept up now and then in your childhood is replaced by an even darker, broader pessimism, until it demands all your focus and energy.

You know more now. What do grown ups fear? Just as deeply as children (we just learn how to hide it)?

Rejection. Failure. Age. Death. Relationships. Divorce. Bills. Taxes. Crowds. Meetings. Bosses. Work. Customers. Conversations. Criticism. Confrontation. Politics. Government. Terrorists. Responsibility. Disappointment. Hurt. Awkwardness. Wrinkles. Fat. Arthritis. Cancer. Injury. Accidents. Lawsuits. Salespeople.

Life. Reality. It’s all too scary.

But somewhere along the way, for a reason too deep to explore in any less than a book, we lost our childlike optimism.

We lost our ability to think almost anything besides stressful, discouraging, fearful thoughts.

We’re less scared of the dark. But we can’t trust our parents to protect us anymore.

We’re not worried about monsters. But we can’t stop thinking about growing old and frail.

We’re not scared of strangers kidnapping us. But we can’t meet strangers without fearing rejection.

We’re not terrified by legends of ghosts and goblins. We’re terrified of being late to another meeting.

Sharing our toys doesn’t scare us. Monthly payments do.

Movies don’t scare us anymore. But we can’t watch a movie without stressing about the homework we could be doing instead.

And now, as adults, we rarely stop worrying. All we see around us is scary. Relationships, money, age, stress, work. They might not make us cry (in public), but they still scare the hell out of us.

They sap the energy out of us. We’re tired, because with all our worrying, we have no mental room left for genuine excitement.

The Grand Canyon and Almonds

It’s not that we’ve lost our imagination entirely. It’s not that we don’t believe in good and beautiful anymore.

It’s that we’re drowning in the stress and fear surrounding us. Constantly, unrelentingly screaming at us.

You never get too old to appreciate. You never get too hardened to be amazed.

I remember the first time I ever walked up to the edge of the Grand Canyon.

I could not believe my eyes. My jaw dropped. It was … bigger than I could have ever imagined.

To this day, I can still feel that childish feeling of awe.



Beautiful. We adults can still feel beauty. We just usually have to wait for a vacation.

I wonder, though, if we tried tuning out a little of the fear that directs our daily life, if even a little almond might not just taste amazing, too.

In his book, Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn both humorously and sincerely explores the sensations offered simply by biting into an almond.

Why don’t we explore, anymore?

Why don’t we think of everything in life the way we did as kids?

Why don’t glass elevators in fancy hotels still blow our minds?

Why don’t we live with as much and as intense excitement as we do fear?

Why I Love Running at Night

I will argue from the bottom of my heart and to the end of my days that one of the biggest reasons our lives are missing happiness is that we are paying too much attention to the things that scare us.

You CAN stop thinking about money, work, and relationships sometimes.

We have forgotten that as little kids we created our own happiness by drawing a picture of a beautiful idea or by choosing to wander in the woods.

We have been educated, book-learned, and advertised into a non-stop focus on the exact things that cause us stress.

Who reads novels anymore?

Who thinks happy thoughts anymore?

Who hopes anymore?

Everything around us is filled with stress and pressure. Everything around us is too much to handle.

It’s not that there’s no beauty left to see.

It’s that you can’t pay as much attention as 1st world, 21st century humanity does to fear and sadness–to the stressful things trying to take over our lives–without the negativity drowning out the positivity.

And that’s why I like walking, running, driving, exploring at night. Because there’s nothing there.

There are no businesses to remind us of work.

There are no people to remind us of social pressures.

There are no billboards to remind us of what we can’t afford.

There are no banks to remind us of our budget.

There is no traffic to remind us of the daily grind.

There is no noise to attend to.

No things to look at.


Then, just like a child, your imagination is freed to create something good.

Why does growing up mean reality no longer consists of the thoughts you have, but the things you have to get done in a week?

There is more to reality than to-do lists. A lot more. Go look outside.

It’s hard to attend to something happy when your entire mind has already been monopolized by fearful thoughts, sounds, and images.

What’s Around You Doesn’t Matter Nearly as Much as You’ve Been Told.

That all sounded a little dramatic, didn’t it?

I could have been more short and to the point. Saved time.

I kind of rambled like I liked the sound of my own voice, I guess.

Well alone in the dark, without a judging world, there’s nothing wrong with liking the sound of your own voice.

Alone in the dark, you can think and talk about whatever you need and want, without even a thought of the scary, judging, stressful, demanding pressures around us in the adulthood we’ve learned.

I like to run in the dark, far away from everyone else, because it lets me think and feel.

No distractions, no projects to work on at home, no computer to stare at, no people to watch me, no bustling streets to watch.

Just a perfect darkness to help me let go of the noisy world of fear and get in touch with myself.

It doesn’t have to be dark out–less to distract just makes it easier.

But the bottom line is this: Whatever it takes, we all really need to take some time and get away from the stresses that have swallowed up our lives and dreams in fear.

There can be more to your life.

Our Blindspot

At a public speaking contest I led last week, I got to ask several people to give impromptu speeches to answer a question. They all got the same question. And I got to pick it!

I consider myself a very positive person. But I have to admit, I have a little cynical streak. Just a little one. And it’s centered entirely around the culture of America’s younger generation.



I like to believe the information age has better potential for happiness and productivity than debating on Facebook and twerking on YouTube.

Actually, my cynical side is summed up perfectly by New Girl‘s Max Greenfield:

Thanks for the gif, BuzzFeed.

Oh yeah. And BuzzFeed. (You won’t believe what I’m going to write next!)


So when given the chance to ask one question of four different impromptu speakers, I came up with this:

“What one value, moral, or life lesson does America’s younger generation most need to learn?”

There were several insightful viewpoints: Conversational skills, ethics, discipline, family values.

It’s really impossible to pinpoint the one thing America’s younger generation would benefit from learning–its one biggest blindspot. But it was good to hear suggestions by people coming from various influences and experiences.

I wondered how I would answer that question.


And almost immediately, one word popped into my head:



Modern America wakes up with a hangover and flips on the news.

It sits down to breakfast and catches up on all social media activity missed during sleep, filling any gaps with meaningless nutrition facts compliments of the cereal box.

It rushes late out the door to work and speeds down the highway to the tune of talk radio, Katy Perry, and its gnawing screaming dread of the day ahead.

It arrives at work and reads more emails than it can deal with. Scans Google News headlines. Make sure not to miss that one about the guy from Tennessee who’s been hiccuping for 27 years. Priorities, you know.

It plans its day. Creates a to-do list. Mostly just stresses. Suddenly the first two hours are gone.

It catches up on the office gossip. Damn, where do the hours go?

Lunch time. It turns on the TV in the lunchroom so that it doesn’t accidentally spend lunch break thinking. That would be awkward. TV mixes well with more social media browsing on its smartphone. Only the 43rd time its checked Facebook today, after all.

It goes back to work and chats with its co-workers for the next couple hours about the information it just received from the TV and internet. Pushes productivity to the last possible minute. Panics. Stresses some more. Does a little work. Goes home.

On the way home, it listens to loud music to help release tension from the day. Even better idea: It should call a friend and vent about the crappy people it was burdened with today.

It gets home and turns on the TV. Sits in front of the TV screen and rhythmically scrolls its smartphone screen. Need more information!!!

And then suddenly, modern America falls asleep, without having to think a genuine thought the entire day.

And days turn to weeks, weeks turn to years, and years turn into a lifetime that it can’t get back.

Noise, noise, noise, noise, noise.

America’s younger generation needs to shut up and calm down. Let go and chill out.

We need to learn Quiet.


I’ve lived in other cultures where people would sit still, silent, and just experience the beautiful life buzzing around them.

I’ve lived in places where you get more accomplished and still somehow have time for a nap, a friendly chat around the dinner table, and a long, peaceful walk.

I’ve seen people who reflect, meditate, imagine, dream. Who feel silence.

I’ve met people who listen, who learn, who receive.

I’ve watched people rest.

I know it can be done. But modern America is determined to make it as damn hard as can be.


What could YOU take out of your day, just for one day, to free your mind of a little extra noise, and feel the peace of Quiet?

Yesterday I turned my phone off first thing in the morning and left it off all day long. #BestDayEver. It really was a happy day. So peaceful.

We hear more when we stop bombarding ourselves with all the noise we possibly can.

We think so much more clearly when we stop filling our minds with all the information, drama, and stress we can get our hands on.

We accomplish so much more when we stop trying to do hurried bits of everything.

We rest so much more when we just rest.

I promise you that if you let go of the need for noise, you will feel more peace.

And that is a promise I wish every young person in America will take to heart.


Happiness is not hiding. We’re hiding from happiness.

For help finding it, I recommend Jon Kabat-Zinn’s famous book, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life.

Or just turn your phone off.

Before It’s Too Late



Tomorrow will be too late to make the most of today.

I’ve always heard people say that at the end of life you’ll regret the memories you didn’t make more than the ones you did. Lately that’s started to resonate with me.

I’ve become scared of death over the last few years. I didn’t used to be. I always figured I’m pretty comfortable with what I expect to happen to me when I die.

My expectations haven’t changed too much, except that now I’ve grown up I’m a lot less sure that the future looks exactly like what I imagine. But I hate the idea of being done with life now. It really bothers me.

Do you ever stop and think, “How did this year go by so fast?” If you’re 20 or older, I know you do. I was talking recently with a friend at work, realizing the past year has flown by about as fast as a month used to drag on when I was 12.

A few years ago I was so obsessed with a few ideas–ideas about what my focus in this life had to be–that when I wasn’t getting exactly what I wanted in life, I welcomed the idea of death. I felt like death would be an easy way out. Didn’t bother me at all.

Enter the greatest friend I’ve ever had. I learned to stop taking myself so seriously. To stop analyzing life and start living it instead. She taught me to let go of my expectations, plans, determinations, desires, and just welcome life itself.

She taught me to stop obsessing over my idea of how life should go, open my eyes, and enjoy life as it is. She taught me to stop worrying, stop stressing, and just dance to life’s music.

Here’s why I don’t like the thought of coming to the end of life now. Life is absolutely awesome! Now I want to stick around forever just so I can experience every different amazing thing life has to offer. Every morning I wake up and think, “What do I get to do and see today???”

Now the idea that I’m going to have to move on to whatever’s next before I can learn every language, play every sport, read every book, meet every friend, hike every trail, build every career, and taste every food–that idea doesn’t sit too well with me.

A lot of people are scared of death because they don’t want to deal with whatever’s out there (or not). A lot of people embrace death because they think this life isn’t worth living. But I don’t want to die because I’ve only begun to realize how incredible this lifetime in this world really is.

Stop and think with me. Are we taking life for granted? Are we rushing from one day to the next? Are we plodding mindlessly toward the finish line? Because once we get there, there’s no starting over.

Or are we taking time to stop and smell the roses? How often do we slow down enough to open our eyes, look around, and just go “Wow!”

I think there are a lot more things to make us happy in this life than we’re willing to slow down and notice.

I think that when I get to my 60th or 70th birthday, if I look back and realize I lived life with my eyes closed, paralyzed by fear and insecurity, I will wish I could take it all back and have another shot.

I want to look back and say, “What a wild ride!” I want to remember enthusiastically grabbing all sorts of opportunities, welcoming and mastering challenges, looking for adventures.

Is life really hard and scary enough that we shouldn’t bother enjoying it? Or can we step out in courage and live life, with every little adventure, to the fullest, before we look back and realize it’s too late?

Better Than Dogfighting

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln


In military aviation, a pilot who can boast five or more aerial victories is given the honorable title of “Flying Ace.” History’s top ace of all time was named Erich Hartmann, who won a shocking three hundred and fifty-two in-air battles. He survived more than fourteen hundred missions and was never wounded. Named “The Black Devil” by his enemies, Hartmann attributed his success to his mentor, a fighter pilot named Paule Rossman.

Paule Rossman was also a very successful ace. But unlike most aces, he couldn’t engage in dogfights. A dogfight is an intense aerial battle in which physical strength is a must. Rossman suffered from an arm injury that made dog-fighting impossible for him. So he had to find a way to compensate for his disadvantage.

Rossman started doing his homework. He was studying the battle, while others were gripping their controls, firing bullets, just praying for the first hit. Rossman refused to go into a confrontation unless he knew he was in position to win. When he attacked, he had analyzed the situation every which way. It was his focused studying that gave him his tremendous success.

The great Erich Hartmann learned his strategy from Rossman. They both made sure to go into each battle fully prepared. They didn’t rush into the middle of dogfights with guns blazing, hoping they would outpower, outshoot, and outluck their enemies. Instead they planned ahead. They studied their options, learned their enemies, and planned careful successes.

These two famous flying aces teach us something important. Success doesn’t come from running blindly into the fight. Success comes from preparing. Success comes from observing, studying, planning, strategizing. Success comes from learning.

Acting without learning is like hoping that brute force and blind courage alone will make you a flying ace.


Just like Hartmann, Lincoln understood one of the key principles of success: Brawn doesn’t win. Preparation does.