Kennedy

Kennedy originally came in to the shelter as a young dog and hated me. Every time I would walk by her kennel, she would lunge at me and I wondered if we were ever going to be able to get her adopted. Luckily, she found a home. She had this home until she was diagnosed with Addison's Disease and became a burden to the family who adopted her. As soon as she walked back in to the shelter, she laid her head in my lap and I was in love.

The night I took her home, she played non-stop with my other dog, Atticus, for four hours (and would have kept going if I hadn't separated them so I could get some sleep). She never left. On Wednesday, Kennedy left this world and I lost an amazing canine companion. She was a little like me in she loved every other dog she ever met, but was very picky with the people she trusted and felt comfortable around. If she trusted you, she was the sweetest, most easy-going, most loving dog you would ever meet.

Honestly, right now I feel like I have this giant empty spot in my heart. Some of you might be reading this thinking I am crazy because I am talking about a dog, but the animals in my life are part of my family. Kennedy was a beautiful dog who was with me through the ups and downs of my life for the past four years. She had been though a lot of change and was a constant, faithful companion. Just thinking about her and writing this hurts. It makes me wish I would have had longer with her. It makes me wish I would have cherished the time we had a bit more. It makes me wish I could have been more prepared.

When I adopted Kennedy, I knew she wasn't going to have the longest life. I knew she was going to have struggles and I knew it was going to be hard. Knowing all of these things doesn't make it any easier at the end. But, as much sadness as I feel now, I would go back and do it all over again. My time with Kennedy has shown me we can't take anything for granted. It has shown me the little things we let bother us because we think they matter, really don't. This all has shown me we are going to hurt, but insulating ourselves from the pain would be even worse. It has shown me we need to be more cognizant of the time we do have.

If I would have not brought Kennedy in to my life, I wouldn't feel this sadness right now. But, I would have never had the great times I had with her. On the day she came back in and laid her head in my lap, I knew this day would come. I didn't realize then how much this would hurt, but I also didn't realize how much I would love her. She stood by me when others didn't. She put up with me when I drank too much. She was there when I finally quit. She loved Leila from the instant Leila came into our lives and our home. She showed me love, when I didn't feel as if I deserved it.

Life is short and precious. We have to stop spending our days doing things we think society wants us to do or what we think we have to do and instead do what we need to do. It's easy to get caught up in the drama that is daily life, but what good does it do? It doesn't help us to cherish what we should be cherishing and living life the way we should. There is always going to be loss. There is always going to be death. We are going to feel sadness and pain at times through life. How we live our life in the other times is what really matters. Make moments that matter.

Kennedy was a great companion and came in to my life when I really needed one. She was a big part of our home (figuratively and literally) and she will be missed more than I can express.

Actually, I can

This phrase needs to be a part of your daily life. Every time someone says you aren't able to do something you need to do, this should be your response. Every time you have doubts about your abilities, this should be your response. Every time you want to quit because you think you can't do something, this should be your response.

We have to get better at believing in ourselves. This life is going to be filled with pitfalls and challenges and difficulties, but we can do anything we put our minds to. We can accomplish any goal we really want to accomplish. We can follow any path we really want to follow. We can live the life we really want to live. We can do anything, but it starts with having the belief that we can.

Chase those dreams that scare the shit out of you. Work towards the goals you have been putting off. Start living the life you have always known you should live. Embrace the change to do what you really want to do. Do anything you can to live the life you want.

So start saying it. Say it all the time. Make it your mantra and repeat it every morning and every night. Convince yourself that you can. Start right now. What amazing things will be accomplished if you start believing you can do anything?

Tomorrow

Way too much of our time is spent worrying about tomorrow. We look forward to when we accomplish our goals and have the money to do the things we want to do and feel as if we have finally succeeded. We are constantly planning and worrying and hoping and dreaming and wishing, but we spend too little time enjoying what is happening right now. We lose sight of what we have and what we love and what we do.

We have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Hell, we don't even know for sure there will be a tomorrow. We can spend our entire lives living for tomorrow or we can spend our lives embracing the now and enjoying what today brings. What would you want to do if you knew there would be no tomorrow or next month or next year? Would you continue to live the life you currently lead or would you do something different?

Why do we need this knowledge to do what we really want to do? Besides you, is there anything stopping you from living in the moment and enjoying every last second of life? No matter how much you plan and work and hope, everything could come crashing down in an instant. Everything you are working so hard for could never happen. The people around you could disappear. What would you miss if it were gone? Do you celebrate it as much as you should?

I'm not saying that we shouldn't work and hope and dream and plan for the future. I am also not saying that your goals aren't reachable. I don't mean that working hard is a waste of time. All of these things are necessary to live the life you want to live. But, and this is a really big but, you have to enjoy what you have today. You have to slow down and spend time with those you love and make time to do the things you love to do. You have to stop letting stupid, little shit bother you. You have to smile more. You have to enjoy what is happening around you (and if you don't, then change the scenery so you do).

You can spend all of your time worrying about tomorrow and never get the chance to enjoy today. No one wants to spend their life worrying and never enjoying. Don't wait until you have more money or more time or a better job or a better house to enjoy what you have. Don't let anything stop you from doing the things you need to do to be happy. Don't wait until it is too late to enjoy life...you have permission to start today.

What Is My Purpose?

For the majority of us, knowing what we are supposed to do with our lives would be wonderful. This would be the one question most people would what answered. What is my purpose? Most of us just don't know what it is we are supposed to be doing (or even if there is something we are supposed to be doing). We hear people talk all the time about following our passions and doing what makes us happy, but many of us don't really know what our passions are, or if we do, how to make a living doing them. We get stuck in this struggle of wanting to love what we are doing but constantly thinking there must be something more out there to make us happier and feel more fulfilled.

Yes, there may be something better out there waiting for you. There may be something that sets your soul on fire. There may be something that makes you want to jump out of bed each morning and attack the day. There may be something better, or there may not. We don't know. That's the scary part. Do we constantly chase this unknown? Do we continue to give up what we have, thinking there may be something better, without really knowing? It's the Let's Make A Deal decision with life. "You have $5,000 but do you want to risk it for what is behind door number 2?" You have a job and a life that does bring happiness (more if you would let it), but do you want to risk it for what is hidden out there?

After reading that, you may think you have an answer, but what if I asked the questions in a different tone? Do you want to settle with what you have, thinking you are not as happy as you could be? Can you continue to do what you do, all while believing there is something more out there? Can you give up searching with the knowledge that you aren't as passionate as you want? Do you risk the hum drum existence you have for the chance of finding the greatness hidden out there?

You see, there are always two ways to look at things. I believe we need to find the happiness in what we have and what we do, while constantly searching for more. Searching doesn't always mean you have to quit your job and go looking for something different. In some cases it will mean this, but in others it won't. Your choices have to be your choices and your path will be different than every other path. You have to do things in your own way. You can't make all the choices someone else made because what works for them may not work for you. You have to solve these dilemmas based on your life, not based on someone else's life. How you decide to answer the questions above is personal. How you decide to proceed is up to you.

There is never going to be any "one size fits all" answer to finding our passion and happiness. Some people will find this search to be incredible easy, but others will struggle their entire lives. This doesn't make anyone right or wrong, it is just their path. The way you go about achieving everything you want probably won't work for many other people. We are all going to look at the issue differently, so there can't be a perfect solution. You can read as many books and blogs as you want. You can listen to all the experts, but in the end you are going to realize two things:

1) Different people will have different ways to "achieve" finding passion and happiness and many of these ways will contradict each other.
2) The vast majority of us are in the same place. Even the people who seem to have it all figured out will often have doubts about their purpose.

The answers to the big questions will never be one size fits all. These answers won't be found in books and they won't be found on blogs. No one can tell you what is going to work for you. You have to find it for yourself. You have to decide what is going to work for you. You have to get our there and explore and dream and work and hurt and love and fail and succeed and live. Asking the question is fine. Wondering if there is more out there is normal. You aren't in this by yourself, but you have to find your own answers. The real question is: Are you going to look for them?

Life Is Grand (If You Make It That Way)

This is a hard thing to realize and believe. We would love to go though life thinking we have to be given something to make life great. We want the amazingness of life to be dependent on other people because if life is as grand as we make it, we only have ourself to blame if things aren't going the way we want. Blaming others or the gods or karma or fate isn't going to cut it anymore...we have the choice to make our life the life we want. If we don't, then it's our fault.

No matter what you think or thought, no one is going to give you the life you want. You have to go out there and take it. You have to work hard and choose to follow the path you need to follow. If you don't, you will end up where the majority of people are...unhappy and constantly doing things they don't want to do. Most of these people don't realize they are where they are because of themselves. Instead, they constantly focus on the outside influences and think these influences control everything. They do not. We are in control.

I know there are a lot of people who will say we don't actually have control over anything. Respectfully, I disagree. Thinking like this is an easy way out. It gives us the ability to blame others for our unhappiness and it allows us to throw up our hands and quit while thinking we can't do anything to change it. Bullshit. You have to grab hold of the things you want. You have to take charge of your life and make it the life you want it to be. It's not going to be easy and you aren't always going to succeed on your first try, but don't let anything stop you from making your life amazing for you.

We all run into challenges. There will be times when we want to throw up our hands and say fuck it. There are going to be hard times. Everyone has them; how we react to them is what makes the difference. When you get knocked down, get up and go again. We can't give up on ourselves. We have the ability to make our life the life we want. We can't be afraid to be different and we can't be afraid to chase our dreams and our goals. This isn't being selfish; this is making life into what will make us happy. You can settle for a life of mediocrity, but what's the point? We have to dream big. We have to make our life as grand as we want it to be. No excuses. No bullshit.

Stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility for your life. Take control, make this life what you want and never, ever stop believing that you can do anything you put your mind to. This is your one shot at living the life you want to live. Make it count.

Take The First Step

This is one of those days where I struggle, staring at a blank screen with a blinking cursor, trying to come up with something to share with all of you. I think about the subjects I could write about and then throw them out one by one, either because I have already written about them or because I don't know what to write about them. There is nothing more difficult for a writer than having nothing to write. When this happens, I just start writing. Sometimes, this writing ends up being good and other times it does not. Either way, once the words start flowing, I find it a little easier to keep them coming.

I know I have written about starting a couple of times and incorporated it in to some other recent posts, but I can not stress the importance enough. Once you start moving, it is easier to keep moving. Once you start writing, it is easier to keep writing. The same is true with losing weight, saving money, eating healthier, cooking more, reading more...pretty much anything you want to do is easier once you get started. The hardest part is going from stopped to starting. It can also be hard to continue moving, but not nearly as hard as starting.

Once you start, there will still be fears and there will still be excuses, but these are much easier to ignore when you are moving. Once you get a little momentum, the drive to continue is always there. It won't be easy, but it will be easier. For most of us, we need that little push, the nudge, to get started, but like a stone rolling down a hill...the littlest nudge can keep us going for quite a while. No matter what it is you want to do, just start. Don't worry about having everything planned or knowing everything you are going to do. You can decide this once you start moving. If you are waiting for the perfect time, then start now. There is no time like the present to do something new and different.

The finish line rarely matters, except in races. Even then, it is often not important to anyone other than the winner. For everything we are going to do, the start is the most important part. Once we start, our life begins to take a new direction, one where aren't quite sure what will happen. We don't know what is to come, only what we want to come. Don't worry about the finish or even what will come next...these are all things you can figure out once you start moving.

Starting can be hard. It can be scary. Sometimes, you have no clue what you are doing. Sometimes, like my writing today, you don't know for sure where it is going to take you until you get there. But, once you start, you can make choices and steer in the directions you want to go. Anything you want to do, no matter how crazy or out of reach you think it is, begins with the start. Take the first step, make the first move, write the first word and just see what happens. You only get one shot at life; don't waste it standing still.

The Choice is Yours

How many people do you know who truly love the work they do? How many of us jump out of bed each morning excited to get to work? When you think about it, what do you want to do, but are terrified to try?

The truth is, most people stumble through their lives doing work they can tolerate, but don't really enjoy. They can come up with tons of other things they would rather be doing, but convince themselves they can't actually do what they really want to do. They don't think it is possible or they don't see a way to partner their "passion" with work. It's not because it is impossible...sometimes they just have to be creative. They feel stuck, but are doing nothing to get unstuck. These folks have tons of excuses for why they aren't doing something else, but the real reason is they won't try.

Many other people are doing work they could be passionate about and love, but they won't let themselves. They convince themselves there is something better out there and don't put everything they can into the work they are doing. They fail to see the amazing things they do or could do. They have the "grass is always greener" view and don't realize what they have in front of them. I know these people are out there because I have been one through most of my life. I always think there is something else out there that would bring the happiness I so desire, but don't do everything in my power to make what I am doing into this.

It's all about how you look at things and how you classify the work you do. Don't dwell on the negative aspects of the work...there are negatives in every job. Think instead about the great things you do. Focus on how you help people or create new things or do things others don't. Focus on the good aspects of the job. If you can't find any good aspects, then do something else. You don't have to be stuck if you don't allow yourself to be.

The secret about happiness most people don't realize is that our level of happiness is decided by us. You choose how happy or unhappy you are. You can focus on the negative aspects of anything and this will lead to a more negative life. Instead, if you look for the positives, you will feel better. If you continue to trudge through life thinking about how things could be better if, you are never going to be happy with what you do. Instead, if you focus on the good in what you have, you are going to be happier and able to achieve more. It's all in how you look at the things you have.

It's up to you. That's the good and the bad with being enthusiastic, passionate and happy. You can make things better, but if you don't, the only person you have to blame is you. Would you rather focus on what you have or what you don't have? When you go to bed tomorrow, would you rather think about all you did to make the day great or think about all the things you hate about what you do? You are the only one who can control the way you think about your life. Which choice will you make?

I Don't Have Time

"I don't have time." I am sick of this excuse. I am tired of hearing it and I am tired of uttering it. "I don't have time" has become a fall-back excuse to cover for not doing something you should do or something you want to do. We act as if our days are filled with millions of things we have to do and we just can't seem to fit in the others. Can we all agree right now to stop using "I don't have time" as an excuse?

The real excuse is we don't make the time to do whatever it is we should do. If we truly want to do something-exercise, write, learn a new language or skill, read more, cook more-we have to make the time to do it. We have to give up watching so much television. We have to get up an hour earlier or go to bed an hour later. We have to spend our lunch break doing it. We can make the time, if we really want to. When you say you don't have the time, what you really mean is watching TV or sleeping or anything else is more important than what you supposedly want to do.

Stop. Quit making excuses. If you want to write, then make time to write. If you want to learn Spanish, then make time to learn Spanish. If you want to stop eating out all the time and instead want to cook more, then make time to cook. If you want to exercise, then make time to exercise. Very, very few of us are so busy every second of every day that we can't set aside thirty minutes to an hour to do the things we claim we want to do.

Is it going to be easy? No, but very few things worth doing are easy. I don't always want to work out, but I make the time each day to do some sort of exercise, even if it is just walking between buildings at work when I could drive. I don't always feel like writing a blog post, but I set time aside to make sure I sit down in front of the computer and produce something. After a long day at work, I don't always feel like making something healthy for dinner. Sometimes I don't, but many times I will force myself to just start cooking.

Starting is the key. If you start doing something, you are more likely to keep doing it than you were if you didn't start. Try it this week. If you want to exercise, then do it while you are watching TV. If you want to cook more, then find some recipes, go to the store for ingredients and plan to cook when you get home. Then, when you get home, start cooking. If you want to write more, then make time each day to sit down and write. To do the things you say you want to do, you have to take control of your schedule and make sure you have time set aside to do them. Sometimes you will have to give up something to accomplish what you want to do. You just have to decide what you want more...an hour of sleep or an hour of writing. Sitting in front of the TV or exercise. Eating unhealthy fast food or a nice, healthy, home-cooked meal.

The good things in life take work and a little bit of sacrifice. Next week, are you going to remember what happened on that mindless TV show or are you going to remember that amazing meal you cooked? Which matters more to you? Do you want to do what you say you want to do or do you want to remain stagnant, doing what you have always done? Either you want to make the time or you don't. Just stop saying you don't have time because we all know you're full of shit. Figure out how to find the time or stop saying you want to do something. If you really want to do it, you'll find the time.

You Can Do Anything

During the last two weeks, we have seen numerous awe-inspiring athletic performances and stories. From Michael Phelps to Missy Franklin to Katie Ledecky to Usain Bolt to Allyson Felix to Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh Jennings to Mo Farah to Gabby Douglas to Bradley Wiggins to David Boudia to Chen Ruolin to Tom Daley to all the the other amazing athletes, many people throughout the world have stood up to cheer for their country (and for many other countries). We have seen some of the best athletes in the world compete in their respective events and show the world why they do what they do.

If you love the Olympics even half as much as I do, you have followed along cheering and celebrating and feeling sad for those who come up short. You have watched in awe as world records were broken and athletes did things you could never imagine doing. For all the amazing athletic feats that occurred, for me, one athlete stands out as an inspirational example of being able to do anything, if you put in the work.

Oscar Pistorius was born without fibulas and both of his legs were amputated below the knee while he was an infant. He learned to walk using prosthetics and has spent his life doing everything a "normal" person does.  In this Olympics, Oscar competed in the 400m and 4x400m relay. While not winning a medal, Oscar showed the world what is possible if you put your mind to it. He inspires anyone who watches him compete, including his fellow athletes. Oscar's story is what the Olympics is all about...rising above any challenge to compete on the world's largest stage.

What's stopping you from doing what you want? Whatever it is, I am guessing it isn't as big of an obstacle as competing in track and field without legs. Every one of us has the ability to do anything; we just have to believe in ourselves and not let anything stop us from doing it. Any time you think about giving up because things are too tough, think about Oscar's story. Think about what he has done with the hand he was dealt. He didn't give up. He didn't let anything stop him from doing what he wanted to do.

If you could do anything, what would it be? What's really stopping you?

Be Curious, Not Judgmental

Take a minute and think about something really stupid you have done. For all of us, this should be really easy. I know I have done tons of stupid things in my life and I could come up with way more than I would like. How would you like to be continually judged for this stupid thing? How would you like others to spread around what you did to other people, some you know and some you don't, who would also judge you by this stupid thing? 

My guess is you would hate it. You would think it was unfair and wish people wouldn't judge you by one stupid thing you did. We all would. Knowing this, why do we continue to judge other people based on a stupid thing we know they did? If it is something we wouldn't want to happen to us, why do we continue to do it to others? Quit being so damn judgmental.

We all make mistakes. We all do things that are incredibly stupid. Every one of us has something in our past we would be happy to forget. We learn from what we have done and become better because of these lessons. Would we prefer to not do some of these stupid things? Of course we would, but we can't change the past and just have to move forward while learning what we can.

For some reason, we have a hard time letting other people do this. When they do something we consider stupid, we have a hard time letting it go. It may because we want to believe we are better or smarter than these people and we think judging them will make us feel better about ourselves. The truth is, when we constantly judge other people, we don't feel better about ourselves and we look like big assholes. We like to think we would have done something different and better in the same circumstances, but we really don't know because we haven't been there. Your judgment assumes you know everything and you don't.

We are going to do something stupid. Hell, we'll probably do lots of stupid things in the time we have left. Knowing this, we have to remember to not judge other people for the things they do. When you see someone else being judgmental, call them on it. Think about how much better you would feel if you weren't being judged by the people around you. If you would feel better, wouldn't other people feel better if you weren't judging them? It's simple really, just quit being so damn judgmental.

Today Is Always A New Day

There are going to be days when nothing seems to go right. No matter what you do or what you try, you can't seem to get things to work the way you want them to work. Sometimes, shit just happens. It happens to everyone. It will be frustrating. It will be aggravating. It will difficult to keep your head in the game. We all have days like this and how we react to them is what separates the good from the great.

Forget about these days as soon as they end. Move on. Start the next day by living in the moment. Don't spend any time thinking about the past and just push forward. It's the same advice many of the athletes in the Olympics get...if you have one bad performance, you have to immediately put it behind you and just focus on what you are doing now. The people who can do this are the ones who can achieve amazing things.

Think about it. Are you going to be able to do your best work when you are still thinking about and fuming over the things that went wrong yesterday? Are you going to be able to do your best work when you are wondering what you needed to do better last week? Are you going to be able to do your best work when you continue to think about what you should have done differently in the past? No. You just can't. To do your best work, you have to be living in the moment and you have to focus on the task at hand, nothing else.

We are all going to have bad days. Things are going to go wrong. We aren't always going to accomplish what we want to accomplish. Sometimes, something isn't going to work the way we want it to work. There will be frustrating days, but we just have to get through them and then start again. We don't have to let these days bring us down. We don't have to let these days affect the days to come. Forget about them and try again.

Shit happens...how we deal with it is what really matters. Don't let today be ruined by what happened yesterday.

Make the Choice

For many of us, we feel a little bit of emptiness inside because we don't do everything we want to do. We may do some things that matter, but we aren't doing enough or the right things because we still have this feeling of needing to do more or something different. Instead of listening to this feeling or examining the reasons behind this feeling, we do things to ignore it.

We see people doing amazing things. We watch people around us who seem to constantly succeed and do things we wish we were doing. We watch professional athletes and think they are genetically gifted or given opportunities we never were. We think people are more talented or better educated or gifted or given chances we never were. Instead of thinking about what we can do or what we need to do differently, we think about why we can't. We think about what is holding us back. We make excuses and continue to have the little bit of emptiness inside.

I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of coming up with reasons why I can't. I'm tired of only doing enough to get by. I'm tired of not trying. I'm tired of not listening to and examining the emptiness to figure out what I need to do to silence it.

Instead of coming up with excuses for why we can't, we need to come up with a plan to make it happen. Instead of looking at other people and thinking they have something we don't, we need to figure out how to get to where we want to be. Instead of doing anything we can to ignore the feeling of needing to do more, we need to examine it and figure out what we are supposed to do to silence it. Instead of doing nothing, we need to do something.

We can do anything we put our minds to. We can accomplish any goals we really want to accomplish. We must choose to do them. We must choose to stop making excuses. We must choose to figure out what is going to silence the feeling of emptiness. We must choose to do the work. We must choose to do things differently. We must choose to something, anything to push ourselves forward.

What choice will you make?

What is Possible?

The human mind is crazy. For many of us, we are full of doubts. We constantly think we can't do something and then put less effort in to it because of this mindset. We have a hard time believing we can accomplish amazing things, even when we see others doing it. They must be different or just better or genetically superior. When we don't believe, we can't do everything possible to succeed. The problem is we will never really know what we are capable of doing until we do it.

To achieve amazing things, we have to push ourselves in ways we never though possible. Our minds must remain open to possibility and we have to allow, yes allow, ourselves to push harder than before. We have to believe we can do anything we want to accomplish, no matter what anyone else says or does. There can be no doubts or fears, only belief and drive.

Many people thought it impossible a human could run a 4 minute mile. Roger Bannister didn't listen to them and in 1954 did the impossible. This has now been done by many more people. What was once impossible is possible. Many people never thought a human would stand on the summit of Mount. Everest. This was before  Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit in 1953. This has also been accomplished by many people since. What was once impossible is possible. We've put people in space and on the moon; we've created machines allowing people to stay under water for months; we can speak with anyone in the world instantaneously; we can fly; we can bring people back to life after death. All of this was accomplished because someone believed it could be done.

Creating amazing things isn't easy. Not everyone will do it. Most of us will never push ourselves beyond what we we think we can do. We won't really know what our limits are because we will never test them. Without pushing these limits, we won't do the impossible. What do you want to do? Besides your limiting doubts and lack of belief, what's stopping you? Stop doubting and start believing. Start doing. Your goal may not change the world, but getting there will change your world. What are you actually capable of doing?

Winning and Losing

In everything you do, you are going to win some and lose some. While the winning and losing matters, how you react to each is also very important. I'm sure you know people who are terrible winners and terrible losers. You also will know people who are gracious in winning and in defeat. These are the people we should emulate.

We have all heard the saying: "It's not important if you win or lose, but how you play the game." Yet, very few of us really believe this. While doing your best is important, I believe it is equally important how you react to winning and losing. We must learn from every experience and utilize these lessons to continue improving. We need to have a short-term memory when it comes to loss and focus more on what we learn and strive to do better next time.

Winning feels great. We all want to be filled with the euphoric high that comes with winning. But, we also know the pain of defeat, even when we did our best and still lose. When we view everything as a learning experience, we can win and lose with grace. Using the knowledge as a springboard to doing better helps take the sting out of losing. It still sucks, but gives us the motivation to improve. This motivation will help us transform from good to great!

Do your best. Learn from every experience. Put in the work to do better next time. These are the most important things in competition. Yes, winning feels amazing and losing hurts, but feelings are fleeting. The knowledge we gain lasts much longer and helps us become better. This is success. This is what we have to do to be the best we can be.