Tips to Help You Make This Your Best Year Ever

By Ruben Gonzalez

1. Count your blessings daily. Doing so will keep you in a positive state of mind.
2. Surround yourself with positive, encouraging, successful people. They will pull you up no matter what the circumstances.
3. Come to terms with the fact that in life there is no free lunch. Stop trying to get something for nothing. Doing so is a waste of time and energy you could be using to go after your dream.
4. It's not what happens to you, it's how you handle it.
5. Deliver more than you are paid to. Make yourself indispensable to others.
6. Focus on your strengths. Find an arena you are suited to play in, have the courage to get started, have the courage to not quit, and decide you will give it all you've got for as long as it takes to get the job done.
7. Live this day as if it were your last. Treat others as if it were their last day.
8. Take your projects seriously but learn to laugh at yourself.
9. Don't neglect the details. Excellence comes from taking care of the details.
10. Smile more. It makes you more approachable, and makes it easier to build your dream team.
11. Constantly ask yourself, "What is the number one thing I could do in the next 15 minutes to get me closer to my goal?" Then do it right away.
12. Break down large goals into smaller more manageable goals.
13. Find a mentor who believes in you, who will support you, and who will push you toward your dream.
14. Don't let others rain on your parade. Avoid negative people like the plague.
15. Decide to find the seed of good in every adversity.
16. Decide that you are willing to do whatever it takes to realize your dream.
17. Realize that true happiness lies within you. Happiness is the product of the quality of your relationships and of the degree of control you feel you have in life. Every time you make excuses, you lose control and become unhappy.
18. The past does not determine the future. No matter how many times you have failed, the next time you could succeed. If you don't believe me, just read Thomas Edison's biography.
19. Take full responsibility for your results.
20. Protect your attitude. Your attitude determines your altitude. Average talent with great attitude will beat out great talent with bad attitude every time.