The First C is CREATE.  You are the author of your life and your future success and you are the only person responsible for creating the life that you want for yourself.  The late motivational speaker and business philosopher, Jim Rohn said, “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”  Don’t leave your success and happiness in the hands of chance.  Take full ownership and create the life that you deserve.  Determine what you want out of life and go after it as if your life depended on it, because it does.  Regardless of what your current circumstances are, you have the ability to change your life and create the life that you want for yourself.  In order to make this change, it is also going to require the Second C.

The Second C is COMMITMENT.  Once you have decided that you are going to create the life that you want for yourself, it is going to require commitment.  Commitment means stepping outside of your comfort zone.  Real estate mogul Donald Trump says, “Your higher self is in direct opposition to your comfort zone.”  Typically, anything significant that we are trying to create in our lives lies just outside of our comfort zone.  We have to commit ourselves to putting all the excuses to the side and to doing whatever it takes to realize our goals and dreams.  However, it is not enough for us to simply be committed; we also need the Third C.

The Third C is CONSISTENT.  We must be consistent when trying to create the life that we deserve.  Motivational speaker, Tony Robbins says, “It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.”  We have to be consistent in the pursuit of our goals and dreams.  That means that we have to be willing to push forward despite the obstacles and setbacks that life will present to us.  Being consistent means doing all the things which are required for you to do in order to achieve your goals and dreams, even on the days when you don’t feel like doing them.  Success is not convenient, but rather, it is rewarded to those who are consistent in their pursuit.

You are the only person responsible for planning and designing the life that you desire for yourself.  I believe that we all have something inside of us that if we simply learn how to activate it, we can transform our lives and go from wherever we are right now in life to wherever it is that we desire to be in life. 

The thing that lies within us works very similar to the (Global Positioning System) GPS devices that many of us have become familiar with.  If you are not familiar with a GPS device, it is simply a device that if you were to put in an exact destination the device will give you directions to take you from your current location to your desired destination.   We all have a personal “internal” GPS device that often lies dormant inside of us that if we were to simply activate it, we could transform our lives and create and design a new life for ourselves.  Here are some steps to activating your internal GPS.

1.  Take Personal Inventory:  A GPS device is useless until it first communicates with the satellites to pinpoint its exact location.  If the device is unaware of its location and is in “searching” mode you cannot even put in a desired destination.  Same goes for your internal GPS, you can’t plan a new life for yourself if you don’t first take personal inventory to have a realistic picture of where you are right now in your life and what it is that you truly desire in order to bring meaning and purpose to your life.

2.  Decide:  In order to activate your internal GPS, you have to make the conscious decision that you want to take ownership of your life and design the life you desire. Actor Ben Stein says, “The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.”  Changing your life begins with a decision followed by consistent action.  Don’t delay the decision.  If you haven’t already done so, decide to take control of your life and design the life that you desire. 

3.  Write it Down:  Less than 5% of people take the time to write down their goals or what it is that they desire out of life.  A GPS device that is not set to a specific destination is simply wondering aimlessly.  When you decide to activate your personal GPS it is important that you determine what it is that you want out of life and that you write it down.  You can’t hit a target that you can’t even see.  It’s important to be very specific when you write it down and give yourself a realistic timeframe.  Be sure to also review your destination, your plan, or your goal daily to ensure that you are constantly moving towards it.

Novelist George Eliot says “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”  Don’t waste another minute, activate your personal GPS and create the life you deserve.

You can completely transform your relationships, your finances, your health, and your spirituality if you take 100% responsibility for your personal development.   There are some practical steps that we can all take in order to maximize our investment in ourselves.

• 1) Take Personal Inventory: Before any of us decides to embark on the ongoing journey of personal development it is important that we take the time to access where we are in our lives, what is it that we are unsatisfied with and what is it that we would like to change in order to improve our lives.
• 2) Watch the Company You Keep: The people you surround yourself with contribute a great deal to your personal growth. Carefully choose the people that you surround yourself with. Remove negative people from your life and replace them with positive people who inspire and support you in becoming a better person.
• 3) Read Books and Listen to Audios: There is a book or an audio cd about every area in your life that you would like to improve. Submerge yourself in personal development books and audio cds. These books and cds will expand your mind and transform your life.
• 4) Protect Your Most Valuable Asset: Your mind is your most valuable asset. If you develop it you can have whatever it is that you desire in life. However, you must also protect it from all the negativity that may surround you. Stay away from negative conversations, reading negative information, or watching and listening to negative news.  All of those things will have a negative effect on your mindset and your personal growth.

Investing in yourself is an ongoing life long process, however, if you take it seriously you can create and design whatever life that you desire.  Investing in yourself is the absolute best investment you can make.