If you’re like 92% of those who set any goals at all, you’re looking in the mirror right about now feeling guilty and disappointed with the person you didn’t quite become. With goal-setting odds stacked overwhelmingly against you (all but a mere 8% crash and burn somewhere between January’s excitement and December’s memory lapse), it’s easy to feel those nasty little joy-suckers of shame, disappointment and regret. But maybe you don;t have to feel that way…

It’s not that people who do great things are great people and the rest of us shmoes are the gray residue stuck at the bottom of the ordinary barrel. It’s that they are willing to …

Find the burning WHY that drives you and the HOW will follow. Your WHY is what burns in your soul. It is the reason behind your activity. It is the fundamental purpose and passion that animates you.

There’s a reason Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan and not Michael Phelps or Michael J. Fox or Michael Jackson. His name became synonymous with basketball because basketball is what he focused all his time on. He lived and breathed it. He married it. What have you married? What do you live and breathe?

Procrastination is an insidious habit that makes life more hectic, hurried and panicked. It robs us of peace, undermines excellence and degrades the joy that excellence produces. But does procrastination always undermine excellence, happiness and peace? Perhaps not.

Only 8% of goal-setters ever reach the goals they set. But the problem may be less an issue of will and more an issue of the kinds of goals you’re setting. Learn the best way to set the goals you will always enjoy pursuing and will more likely and easily reach.

Do you have an extra 5 hours a day you could devote to doing what you love? If you could find 5 hours, that would translate to and extra 34 hours a week, or 136 hours most months and 1,768 hours a year. That’s a whopping 8,840 hours in just 5 years’ time and 17,680 hours in a decade you can devote to learning something, overcoming something, developing something, to creating an amazing life. If you are anything like the national average, I can offer you the gift of those 5 extra hours, free of charge.

I challenge you to do something you’ve always wanted to do. Or learn something you’ve wanted to learn. Or go somewhere you yearn to go. A talent you wish you had. A skill you want to develop. A hobby you want to pursue. But don’t wait. Start today. Not next year or next week or in a couple days. Tomorrow. At the latest.

Are you addicted to your smart phone? Do you spend a significant chunk of the day online? Or playing games? Or watching TV? How long can you go without checking status updates or text messages or your twitter feed? The more we rely on electronic media and electronic forms of interaction, ironically, the more disconnected we become. This challenge is to unplug and reconnect.

What separates you from the realization of your goals is nothing more than a series of decisions made consistently over time. 92% of those who set goals fail to achieve them. Become the 8% by doing what the 8% do!

Boredom doesn’t “set in.” It doesn’t settle on us like dust in the attic or strike us like lightening or wash over us like so much rain in a thunder storm, soaking us in waves of ennui. Boredom is the natural state of the passively uncurious, the unadventurous and indecisive.

Just as there are specific actions we can take and attitudes we can harbor to increase the likelihood of a successful life (in whatever aspect of life we’re seeking success), there are obviously specific actions and attitudes that can increase the likelihood of failure as well. Below are some of those steps that can lead to abject failure in life. The point is, of course, to know ahead of time exactly where the cow dung in the field is to avoid stepping in it.

Are you a goal-setting flunky? A New Years Resolution drop-out? Have you set goals time and time again only to summarily fail to reach them? All of them? Well, the good news is that you didn’t waist your time trying. You even likely improved your life, becoming a subtly better person, perhaps without even realizing it. The very act of setting and pursuing goals can actually make you a better human being. Click on in to see how!

Are you a Personal Development Junkie? Do you surf the web in search of your next high, the next blog with the newest twist or next fix to your personal development needs? There is a lot to choose from. Some are decent. Most fall somewhere below average. Some may be doing you more harm than good. Check out the 5 signs personal development blogs may be damaging your life.

Guest post by Tim Brownson of A Daring Adventure: Our self-talk can build and lift or it can trap, undermine and cripple. There are ways we can learn to change the very language we use to describe the obstacles we have to the life we dream of living. Try this simple change of language to experience a quantum change in your life. Self-talk matters. Come see why.

The reasons for change are endless: A new career. An old habit. A new one. Acquiring a skill. Overcoming a fear. Ending procrastination. Becoming happier. But no matter the reason or the kind, all change has a starting point. This post is a tribute to the late Dr. Stephen R. Covey. Change is made possible by understanding the principles undergirding change. Covey taught those principles.

Guest post by Farouk Radwan: What is the most precious asset you own? Is it your house? Your investments? Your current skill set? Even combined, they pale in comparison to what is an even more valuable asset. Your most precious asset is your time! Just think about it. If you were to use your time wisely, you would be much more likely to acquire whatever other asset you’re after.

Guest post by Stephen Martin: Much of what I’ve been able to accomplish over the past few years – being a father, writing a book, staying energized in my day job – came about largely because of what I learned from doing laundry. Gradually, three principles emerged from the never-ending supply of dirty socks. Following them not only allowed me to keep my kids clothed most of the time. They also nurtured a personal breakthrough, taking my writing career in new directions during the absolute busiest time of my life.

Are you secretly longing for something more? Are there obstacles that stand in your way? Or have you fallen asleep at the wheel of your life? Well today is the time to wake up! Grab hold of the wheel, and start steering in the direction of what ticks inside your heart and soul. Now is the time. Stop waiting for things to change. And start taking action to change your life forever!

What kind of life do you want to live? Who do you want to be? What kind of family do you want to have? What goals do you want to pursue? Early one morning, I was attacked by a crazy mosquito that taught me something about life and goals and success. Come read and find out what this bug taught me and how it can help you break through the barriers in your life today.