With the month of June almost over, that means summer is here and we are halfway through the year -- so putting it in sporting terms: It's Halftime!

In a sporting event, the players are given a break at the half in order to refresh themselves, look at how they played in the first half, and set strategy for the second half. So as you approach halftime, here are some thoughts. Do you have a vacation planned in the next two months that will give you the needed break and refreshment? If not, schedule one this week! How did you "play" in the first half of this year? Have you met your goals that you established at the beginning of the year? Here are a few ideas to evaluate where you are at with your goals as you approach the halfway mark.

Take some time to sit down alone and review your goals. How many are you on mark to make? How many have you not even begun on? How many have you achieved?

For those you haven't even begun, my suggestion would be to reset your goal at 10 percent of the original goal. Obviously this goal hasn't been a priority, for whatever reason, and most likely won't suddenly become so. But you can make some ground. Set a small increase for the remaining six months and get ahead a little in these areas.

For the goals you are on pace to achieve, try to stretch about 10 percent. So, to give it a numerical value, if your original goal was 10 and you have already reached 5 after halfway, stretch yourself to try to achieve 11 by the end of the year. This will give you a good reason to kick into high gear as the year progresses.

For those goals you are on pace to break strongly through, try an increase of 50 percent.

And finally, for the goals you have already reached, try to set the new goal at 100 percent of the original goal.

In all of these remember that it is better to try hard, and even fail at a higher goal, than to take the easy route and attain nothing at all!

Best of luck as you re-evaluate your goals!

You Are Made for Success!
Chris Widener

P.S. Today's issue is going out to 91,086 subscribers. If you've gained value from what you read in my Ezine, then I would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue to friends, family and associates!

In This Issue.......

1. Charting Your Course to Success Article
2. Made for Success Quote and Commentary
3. The Last Word...
4. Español?
5. Customer Feedback
6. More Information

1. Charting Your Course to Success Article

How to Guarantee a GREAT Day Every Day! by Chris Widener

Several years ago, I had a standing interview every Monday morning on a radio station in the southeast that I enjoyed very much. You can imagine, though, that it became routine. So to make it a little more fun, the host got to where he didn't even tell me the topic before we would go live on the air - that put some excitement into it!

One week he asked me the following question cold, at the beginning of the show: How can a person guarantee that they will have a great day, every day? Now some may find that a hard question, but for me it was actually a very easy question to answer (a little harder to actually live, but not that hard). You see, I believe in principles that govern our lives so that we can control our destinies and create for ourselves the kind of lives that we desire. People who live based on principles achieve what they desire while people who live reacting to circumstances do not.

So, what were the principles that I gave to guarantee that a person could have a GREAT day every day? Here they are:

Focus on Today Only.
Yes, we need to have long-range goals. But our focus must be on today. My old equation is that your short-term tasks multiplied by time equal your long-term accomplishments. With that in mind, it is imperative that we focus in on our short-term, to control it and make it what will eventually, when multiplied by time, equal our long-term goals. Don't think about tomorrow.

Today is enough trouble in and of itself. You can work on tomorrow when it gets here. Instead, make today the best day you have ever had. Realize that when you lay down to sleep tonight you will have just given up the only shot you will ever have at today. Today is now gone and it is only a memory. You only get one shot at your today so focus intently on making it all that it possibly can be. Focus, focus, focus! When you focus on making today great, you are on the road to guaranteeing that you will make your day GREAT, every day!

Embrace Your Power to Choose.
Dwight D. Eisenhower said that "The history of free men is never written by chance but by choice, their choice." When your today becomes your yesterday, you will look back and realize that that day was a result of your choices and your choices only. "But wait Chris, what if my boss controlled my day? That isn't my choice!" But it is your choice to work for someone else! You choice to let someone else tell you what to do. You chose the feelings of helplessness that overwhelm you when you feel bad that you do not control your own destiny. The moment we realize that we have a gift from God that the animals do not have, mainly the gift of free will and choice, and when we realize the inherent power within that gift, and ultimately when we finally begin to exercise that gift, then and only then, will we begin to create for ourselves a GREAT day each and every day! Take ownership of the direction in your life. Make your choices then carry them out!

Your Attitude is Up to You.
Yes, bad things may happen in your day. The pitcher for Team Circumstances may have a tremendous curveball waiting for you and you cannot control that. You cannot control what others may do or say. But you do control your attitude. Your attitude about whatever happens to you is up to you.

When something happens to you, you have the choice: Will you let it get you down and depressed, keeping you from forging ahead and making the day the best one ever? Or will you say to yourself that no matter what happens you are on the path to success and no obstacle will keep you from it? Will you say, "Sometime you win and sometimes you lose - I guess this time I lost"? Will you say, "Sometime you win and sometimes you learn - I can really learn something from this!"?

It is all in what attitude we choose. Your attitude is up to you and when you choose to have a great attitude, you are choosing to guarantee to have a GREAT day, every day!

Live Out and Act on Your Priorities.
So far we have dealt with internal perspectives, and that is indeed the place to start. But the practical place is in our priorities. If we want to make our days great, then we have to live out those things that will by definition make our days great. And those things are what are important to us. They are our priorities. So each morning you start out by saying, "What things are important to me today? What are the things I need to accomplish in order for me to lay down tonight and know that I lived a GREAT day?" Then you put those in order of most important to least important.

Don't do what is fun. Don't do what is easy. Do what is IMPORTANT! Live out your priorities! When you do, you will guarantee that you will make your day GREAT, every day!

Tomorrow, when you wake up, go through the four following points and see if you don't make tomorrow a GREAT day:

Focus on today only.
Understand that I get to choose how today will go.
Remain in a positive attitude no matter what happens.
Live out and act on my priorities.

Do this and you will guarantee a GREAT day, every day!

Chris Widener

2. Made for Success Quote and Commentary

"All limits are self imposed." -- Icarus

Chris' Commentary:
Let's deal with the obvious first - There are some limits that will never be broken. A human will never run 40 miles an hour or jump 30 feet in the air. But for most people the limits we are up against are not the kind that all of humanity will never prevail against. No, for most people, the impossibilities we see are not impossibilities at all, but rather things that are entirely possible that we merely declare to be impossibilities. Have you limited yourself? Have you placed that dream of yours in the category of "impossible?" Have you sets limits on what you can accomplish? If so, free your mind from the shackles you have allowed to hold you prisoner, for the shackles that hold you are placed there by one person - you! And you have the key to take them off!

Action Point: Name one thing that you have limited yourself mentally in. What is it? Now, commit to taking one step to break through those limits - and do it before the day is through! Take action right now if need be!

3. The Last Word...

This week I came across an article by Jim Rohn that is a simple, straight-to-the-point article that I just loved! It was called, The Two Choices We Face, and folks it is a brilliant article. I love the way Jim can say something so simply and succinctly, but it hits you right between the eyes and heart. So, read on...

The Two Choices We Face by Jim Rohn

Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives. The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To have less. To read less and think less. To try less and discipline ourselves less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.

To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing at all.

Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to stretch upward and outward to the full measure of our capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment that we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can?

Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability and desire will permit. To settle for doing less than we could do is to fail in this worthiest of undertakings.

Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results! And if our results are less than our potential suggests that they should be, then we must strive to become more today than we were the day before. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of whom and what they have become.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Man, I love Jim Rohn! -- CW

P.S. If you want to learn more about Jim or to see what products he's got available, click here:
Jim Rohn's Online Catalog

4. Español?

Did you love Jim Rohn's and my book, Twelve Pillars or Jim Rohn's Building Your Network Marketing Business CD but have friends or business colleagues who want/need them in Spanish? Great news! We've got these plus a whole lot more now available! We've got books, CDs, MP3s and eBooks all available in Spanish. I'm so excited because the more I speak across the country, the more I am asked if we have products available in Spanish; and now I can say, "Yes, we do!"

To see a complete listing of product titles, descriptions and pricing click here: espanol.yoursuccessstore.com

5. Customer Feedback

Here are some of the testimonials and comments we received over the past week from Ezine subscribers. To read more testimonials received from readers over the past year, please go to Customer Testimonials

Today I received a package and in that package was a book authored by Jim Rohn and Chris Widener called the 12 Pillars, well like any other book I read the preface and got interested and then started the 1st chapter and before I knew it I was at the end of the book, which completely and positively affected me ways that I cannot even explain in this text.  I can assure you that this is a must read if you are at all interested in developing yourself. I literally could not put this book down and this is the first time ever that this has ever happened to me. This book is more than words. It is a thought provoking, knowledge based story that will continue to impact on my development for a very long time. I believe that this book will, in time, be as great as As a Man Thinketh, Think and Grow Rich and How to Win Friends and Influence People. I invite you to enjoy this book like I did.
-- Phil Currie

Just a quick email to let you know how much I enjoy your weekly success and achievement ezines! It's a pity we don't have as many inspiring people like your self here in Australia. Anyway, thanks for keeping the motivation up, have forwarded your emails to all my friends and colleagues and am enjoying reading your book!!
-- Rachel

I would like to congratulate you for this wonderful and amazing issue I have ever read on motivation and leadership development skills. Please accept my congratulations, this issue will always keep fire burning inside me to perform better and I hope I will keep receiving such wonderful articles to keep this fire burning and keep myself motivated.
-- Sumant Kumar

Thank you Ezine readers, for the sincere and kind words of encouragement and appreciation you sent me! -- CW

6. More Information

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