Welcome to the First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Believe it or not, it doesn't take a typical number of 2 people to have a relationship. Your first and last relationship will always be with yourself. Usually, when you're in any form of a professional or personal relationship, you give all that you have in an attempt to get the job done or to please your partner. So, why not give your all to yourself first? When you can find happiness within, before offering it to other entities first, things usually fall into place and work well to your advantage.

Like the old adage says, "Don't put the carriage before the horse". While you're busy loving others first, building someone else's dreams or talking yourself into thinking you'll become a millionaire based on an idea you don't really believe in, the world and the people in it will move on, leaving you behind. Don't do this to yourself. Be proactive and not reactive. Get out of your own way and start making your own decisions.

Once you come to the realization that your life begins with you first, then only can you begin to put priorities in a simple order and make a commitment to follow through on each of them.

Priorities and Commitments; each of these sound much more aggressive than they truly are. Don't put too much thought into it and create fear for yourself. Simply think about the life you want to live, consider the things you'll need to have in order to achieve this, set each as a priority and make a commitment to follow through on each step and take action. A commitment is like making a promise to follow through on something. If while in action it appears that things aren't working out quite as planned, you don't need to break the commitments you've agreed to within yourself, simply tweak them a bit. Reprioritize things and take each one, one step at a time. Just remember to remain focused. Life brings about changes by the minute. You too are allowed to make the necessary adjustments to reach your goals.

Getting out of your own way to begin your walk, setting priorities and making commitments all sounds wonderful but are meaningless unless you are able to do the inevitable. You must believe in yourself. You must believe that you are highly capable and worthy to fulfill the missions and dreams that you want. You almost need to demand the things you want in life. To demand doesn't mean to become a vigilante and "take" from life what you want. In the sense that I am speaking, to demand means to have a strong will and an elevated focus.

After the day is done, take a little "me time" and sketch a design for the life you want. Work on your Fine Art one day and one stroke at a time. When it's done, step back and admire your Masterpiece.