The First Day of the Rest of My Life: Hitting the Big 4-0

I woke up today having to remember that I now have a FOUR in front of my age. The last time that happened was when I was, well, FOUR.

36 year later I have hit a milestone. A milestone our culture tends to approach with DREAD rather than ANTICIPATION.

I don’t feel any older. If anything, I feel much better than I did even in my 20s in so many ways.

More secure in who I am…what I want…the power we all have to set the course of our lives.

My 40 by 40 goal was attained today. I actually lost 40 pounds by age 40. It was a goal I set sometime last year and even as I uttered it on the air, it sounded almost impossible. How was I going to DO this??

As I have always said (because it’s the truth), the END RESULT is what you need to keep burned in your psyche more than the steps it will take to get there.

We do this routinely every day, don’t we? We set out to drive to Los Angeles or fly to New York and we KNOW that’s where we are going to end up. We don’t have to envision every turn or gas station or bathroom break along the way. We don’t have to envision what the terrain looks like from 37,000 feet or which direction the flight will take because of weather, air traffic, delays, etc.

None of that matters. Your END GOAL is what matters.

When you focus with laser like precision on your end goal, things start to happen. People and circumstances and opportunities begin to cross your path and enter your life, almost magically.

It really IS magical the way the Universe, God, the Life Force (whatever you personally call it) works towards the attainment of our dreams when it knows just how much we want them.

If your end goal is to lose weight, as it was for me, you need to burn the image of the NEW YOU so deeply into your soul that you will find yourself making different choices day to day.

Before you might have had the extra slice of cake without any hesitation. Now you find yourself tasting a sliver and not a bite more. Or maybe you pass on it altogether.

If your goal is to attain more financial security, you might find yourself with more examples of daily restraint than you ever thought you had in you!

You begin asking yourself, consciously at first, “Is this choice I am making getting me closer or further from my goal? Or will it have a negligible effect on my progress?”

If the answer is it will set you further back, you have to evaluate whether you are ok with that.

And just how much of a setback you are looking at? Eating an entire pie the night before you need to lose the final couple of pounds probably isn’t the wisest choice. But having a piece of pie after losing 80% of the weight you want to lose might just be a kind and appropriate treat for yourself.

I am writing this blog on the MacBook Pro I envisioned I would own. After a financial setback at the start of the year (on top of the mountain of bills and responsibilities that were already piling), it seemed a lofty goal that might not come true. How could I afford it?

My father surprised me with the EXACT MacBook Pro that I had envisioned. I NEVER DREAMED it would come into my life as a GIFT, even from my Old Man.

See? If we fixate just on the HOWs of something manifesting, we limit our thinking and even our chances of attaining something.

You fixate on getting out of financial collapse by winning the lottery. But what if you gain millions in an inheritance? The selling of a book or movie?

There are infinite ways to achieve a goal. I lost 40 pounds without ever joining a gym, starving myself, or taking pills.

I made it into radio 16 years ago even though most everyone warned me I was crazy to even dream it.

So what are your dreams? Life is too short to believe all the people who say you can’t do something.

They are so, so, so WRONG.

Go out there and do it already. Your life is waiting. Your dreams are just around the next bend and behind the next door.

We just need the courage to take the turn and open the door. It’s not the hard thing we all make it out to be.

I thank you for your thoughtfulness, your support, and your belief in me as well.

Know I am standing beside you as well in all that you set out to accomplish.