Twenty-three years of Law Enforcement taught me that continuous training will not only will save your life, but will help you stay at the top of your game. But what about training on your own personal time, for personal reasons at your own expense? My friends, the best thing you can do for yourself and for those around you is to become the best version of yourself. This involves growing, learning & developing; whether it be for a hobby, personal growth, spirituality, communication skills, a new career or a side business. Put the time and money into yourself. This will give you and those around you the best ROI. When you invest in yourself and become the best version of yourself, this is where the magic happens for you and for those around you.

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound” When you fail and you are by yourself, then your failure is really insignificant. No one was there to witness it so you can say it never happened. But when we fail in front of others, it is larger than life, it’s documented and recorded in history for everyone to revisit. If you can laugh at yourself when you are by yourself then why can’t you laugh at yourself when others are laughing at you. Ya could. Remember my friends, it’s YOUR journey; no one else’s. Just keep Doing You and BE THE TREE.

Failure is the state of not meeting a desirable objective. The opposite of success. Failure, and the resultant pain it causes, helps to shape and mold us. How can we recover from our failures? 1. Accept It; 2. Embrace It; and 3. Let Go of It. You have a choice. You can take it personal when you fail, let it devistate you and give up.; OR you can get back up, dust yourself off and move forward.

For many years, I equated Happiness with Success. I thought that reaching certain levels of success would bring happiness. But in reality, they were meaningless achievements that provided short term happiness at best. Are you really happy commuting long hours to make crazy money just to pay for an unnecessary hi-cost life. I now know that, for me, success does not bring happiness but living a happy life is success. The key to creating an action plan for you to live a happy life is self-awareness.

Today is February 15th, the day after Valentine’s Day, and society has finally decided to give out 8th Place Trophies to adults by calling today “Singles Awareness Day”. Relationships fail for many different reasons and we should neither be punished nor persecuted when they do. But to celebrate or be rewarded for being alone is absurd. We all deserve to be in a healthy relationship. It is what makes us a civilized society. Being alone is not something that should be celebrated, rewarded or proud of; but it is an opportunity. It is a special time; a time for reflection and self-awareness. When you are alone, this is God’s way of telling you that you have work to do. This is a time for you to become a better version of yourself through introspection, self-awareness and personal growth. In time, you will be rewarded with the healthy relationship that God wants for you. Today should be called “I need to start focussing on ME day”.

Do It Every Day is the 3rd D of my 3 D’s of Happiness. Once you have taken the effort through self-awareness to discover you, have taken the initiative to execute and DO YOU, have selfishly decided to DO IT FOR YOU, now just DO YOU EVERY DAY. If you can’t do it every day, at least do it every chance you get. But isn’t it sad when you only do what you love on the weekends; or when spring & summer arrive, you suddenly come alive; or worse, you stop doing it altogether. There are many people living the life they want to live every day. They aren’t just lucky stiffs. They are choosing to live their lives on their terms. You and I can make the same choice. DO YOU, DO IT FOR YOU and DO IT EVERY DAY.

Do It For You; the second D of my 3 D’s of Happiness. Are you just going through the motions in life? Not doing YOU for YOU. Depleting your emotional bank account as Dr. Phil would say. There is no need for past regrets; but you can change what you do from today on. Just make a conscious choice to be happy. If you continue to deplete your emotional bank account, you will eventually have nothing left of you to give. So what can you do to Do It For You? Make the choice today, right now, to live your life on your terms and finally DO YOU, FOR YOU.

Do You is the first D of my 3 D’s of Happiness. But before you can DO, you have to BE. This is done through self-awareness. Peel back the layers of that onion by asking yourself what are you good at, what are your passions, what are your core values, and what is your DNA? The answers to these questions should be genuine; from your heart & soul. I say, “Before you can DO YOU, you have to KNOW YOU and it wouldn’t truly be YOU if you worried about other people’s perceptions of YOU”.

Do You, Do it for You, and Do it every day. Doing You is simply a matter of self-awareness. Figure out who you are, what are you good at, what is your DNA and what is your purpose in life. Stop lying to yourself and everyone around you and just be You. Do it for you. If you don’t live your life for You, you will wake up one day hating your life and who you have let yourself become. Even worse, you will start blaming and resenting those around you for what is really your fault. Do it every day. Once you figure out who you are and have decided to live your life for you, keep doing what makes you happy. Don’t stop. My friends, life is a balance but you owe it to yourself to tip the scales in your favor. It’s never too late to Do You, Do it for You and Do it every day.

Resilience is the ability to recover from or adjust to misfortune or change. Adversity is a fact of life. Things do not always go our way. Sometimes, it seems that things never go our way. Resilience is a part of our character that allows some of us to get knocked down by life yet get back up and come back even stronger. Listen to some tips on how we can persist in the face of adversity.

Consistency is to stand firm and carry on regardless of obstacles or distractions. Tony Robbins believes “It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently”. Dr. Gloria Petruzzelli provides 5 Tips For Being Consistent: 1. Make a conscious decision to remain consistent; 2. Revise your concept of time; 3. Have a plan and know your objective; 4. Remember that feelings & thoughts are temporary and subjective; and 5. Do one thing at a time and be in the present moment. I believe that when you stay true to yourself while executing consistently, everything else will fall into place.