First Word

The dog pile of life sometimes get pretty high. This last week I kept watching one thing after the other pile. It's now to the point where my new motto is to just shrug. Sometimes when it all gets to be a little too much you have to just put your shoulders up and down, and then focus on the moment. I can't recall a time in my life where the pile got quite this high or the mud this deep. What's the answer when the tough times hit? Action! Take action! Keep going and try not to look backward or ahead too much. All we really have is the here and now. Truly -- that's it. We could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's the end of the show. Even if your show got to look like the circus or the most elaborate play on Broadway, it could all just end. So no backward, no forward -- just today. And despite the pile and the deep mud, I'm going to make it a great day!

People worry about money. Listen to a casual conversation, and most often you hear something like, "I'm worried I won't be able to pay my bills." What is always fascinating is that if you asked, "Did you pay your bills and are they are paid now?" Nine times out of 10 that person would say, "Yes." A dear friend of mine always told me that if your bills are paid, what are you worried about today? Why are you worried about what hasn't happened yet or what may never happen at all. Another dear friend of mine was just worried about his balance sheet. I told him he needed to change his relationship with money. Don't focus on losing money or not making money. Always focus on making money. I guarantee you when you focus on making money, you will earn it -- and that piece of advice essentially out of the book The Secret , but almost all books on the subject teach us to focus on what makes us money versus what doesn't earn us anything but an ulce...