When you did your New Years Resolutions, did you look introspectively and have any regrets from this past year? Typically, these regrets might have something to do with your relationships, fitness and health, financial situation, or your spiritual well being.

This morning, Pastor Dave’s message was Beyond Regret and it was so good, it inspired me to write about regrets. I believe almost everyone has regrets. It can be a regret for eating that last desert, or something that is said to someone in anger. Regrets come from the choices we’ve made. Regrets are a sense of guilt.

If you haven’t had the chance to read about William Borden, it’s a great story about No Regrets. Bill Borden was already a millionaire by the time he was 16 since he was an heir to the Borden family fortune. He made a decision to follow God’s calling and his heart and serve the needy of this world, instead of taking over the family business.While traveling through Egypt to China, he contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of 25.

Written in his Bible were the words, No Reserves. Underneath, were the word No Retreats, and under that was written No Regrets. To read the whole story and the timing of these words, just read his story on the internet. It’s inspiring to read about someone so committed to their purpose in life they can say, No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets.

I coach people to live successful lives. Regrets can hold us back if we let them get in the way of continuous improvement and opportunities. They can affect our attitude in either a negative or a positive way! No one can go back and change whats been done, but all of us can make a brand new start. Everyday, we have a choice! We can dwell on our regrets and the negatives or we can make good choices and move forward in living a positive, successful life. No Reserves. No retreats. No Regrets!

Make it an awesome 2012!

A great example that Success is Attitude Management is a movie I just watched called Soul Surfer. It’s a true story about Bethany Hamilton, the surfer who  lost her arm from a shark bite and came back to win the women’s national surfing championship. I had tears in my eyes for most of the movie because I am so inspired by Bethany’s determination, persistence, and faith. She lives out my philosophy of Success is Attitude Management.

Bethany makes the decision to surf and compete again, even though she has only one arm. She lives by Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. As she deals with all the challenges, she begins to question what happened to I can do all things. At one point she thought she was done. She questions, “Why did I have to lose everything”? Her dad pointed out that she didn’t lose everything. A great lesson for all of us.

Bethany goes on a World Vision mission trip to Thailand just after a tidal wave hit. She said that the Lord works in mysterious ways, however, that’s an understatement. She states, who would have thought that teaching a kid to surf could teach me that surfing isn’t the most important thing in the world, love is. Love is bigger than any tidal wave and more powerful than any fear.

This trip helps her to overcome her fears and keep going. She said, “I don’t need easy, I just need possible”. She shows us that anything is possible if we will overcome our fears and not give up. She said, “If you have faith, anything is possible, anything at all”.

The reporters asked her if she could go back and change surfing the day she lost her arm, would she? She said she wouldn’t have had the chance to embrace more people if she had two arms. This challenge gave her the platform for motivating and inspiring more people. This is a great inspirational family movie. A must see.

While pursuing your dreams, there will be times you’ll want to quit. Just remember Bethany Hamilton’s story for inspiration and never give up!

Make it an awesome day and Merry Christmas.

Some final thoughts and quotes from the book Seven Days In Utopia by David Cook. As I mentioned in my first post about this book, it’s a must read for any golfer or sports enthusiast. The game of golf has many lessons that are analogous to lessons in life.

• Confidence is supreme in the game of golf. Confidence comes from being prepared for an emergency.
• Greatness is revealed in the unorthodoxy of life. It is in thinking out of the box labeled “comfort zone” that we discover truth. Our box is nothing but a self-imposed prison, a trap for unsuspecting souls. The passion in life of the main character in the book was to set people free from their boxes. It has also become one of my passions in life to help people get out of their comfort zones and live a life of contribution and freedom.
• Always set an extra place at the dinner table, so when destiny comes knocking at your door you invite him in as though you have been expecting him. This is such a great quote. Anticipate opportunity. Fulfill your destiny!
• Recall is the most powerful tool in your armor. Always recall the positive, successful, moments and events in your life.
• When a seed is sown in the right season, it’s yield is great! Sometimes we have to keep working and innovating until the timing is right.
• Life in the end will be measured by significance, not your golf score. Significance will be defined by your character, relationship values, virtues, and faith, not by a golf score.
• Success is a destination while significance is an eternal calling. God calls us all to live a life of significance.
• See His face, feel His presence. and trust His love.

The book ends with a great question. If you died tomorrow, what would they write on your tombstone?

Live a life of significance and make it an awesome day.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the book Seven Days In Utopia has some great life lessons and success principles. They center around the game of golf but apply to life as well.

• First, you must see; second, you feel; third, you trust. This is the epitome of golf. This principle is true in fulfilling our dreams. we must first visualize what we want or where we want to be. Next, we must feel what it is like to accomplish that. We need to involve all the senses in doing this. Then we have to trust that it will manifest itself if we apply ourselves.
• There is no room for think or try; they are deadly to commitment. We must have a never give-up attitude. Success comes to those who just won’t quit.
• You don’t have to be perfect to be an artist, you have to let go. To me this simply means that you have to get started. You don’t have to have all the answers to be successful. If you will just let go of your fears and get started, the answers will reveal themselves.
• The genesis of new thought often happens in the simple things of life.
• Comfort zones and tradition is a great place to hide. It is also the enemy of innovation and the destroyer of new thought. It can hold back the wisdom of creativity and squash the dreams of man. In the long run, it can steal talent. I believe on of the prerequisites of success is being able to expand and work outside of our comfort zone. We will only grow and learn when we operate outside our comfort zones.
• Is it tradition you seek, or truth? Is it excellence, or acceptance? This is a great and challenging question if you really are seeking success. The most successful people don’t follow tradition, and most all of them strive for excellence.

Will you strive for excellence? The choice is yours! Will you be successful? The choice is yours! The canvas of life is in your hands.

Make it an awesome day.

I recently read the book Seven Days In Utopia by David L. Cook. It was also made into a movie which I have yet to see, but now want to. I thought I would share some of the life lessons the main character was taught while spending seven days in Utopia.

• If you want to build a successful organization, you better build a bullet-proof foundation for WHY you want to do what you do and HOW you do it. This is so true! If your WHY is not strong enough, when the going gets tough, it will be too easy to just give up on your dreams or your goals. I’ve heard it said that your WHY should be strong enough to make you cry, or better yet, that you would die for. Would you die for your children?
• Every Champion has convictions, but perennial champions have convictions based upon foundations. These foundations become the first line of defense when facing adversity. Everyone faces adversity. It’s just a matter of how we deal with it. Are your convictions based upon foundations and have you written them down?
• Emotional responses make us vulnerable to the trap. This BLOG is called Success Is Attitude Management, and if we can’t learn to manage our attitudes and emotions, then the deck is stacked against us in becoming a champion in any endeavor. Have you ever responded emotionally to a bad shot on the golf course? Have you ever responded emotionally to a sale not made or being rejected by someone? Stay strong and committed to your dreams.
• All golf shots start with a blank canvas. We must paint the shot with our eyes first before our body can produce it accurately. Not only is this true of golf, it’s true for life. If we don’t visualize and know where we are going, we probably won’t get there. We get to paint our own canvas of life and create whatever we want our life to look like.

Over the next few days, I will share some more life lessons or success principles that I think this book points out. It’s a wonderful book and if you like golf or like to learn about life, it’s a must read.

Make it an awesome day.