There are perhaps a thousand success advice that we can take from the Internet, books or conferences. We can pick one and put it in our head, but the key is to actually apply it continuously in our lives until it becomes a habit. In 2011, I picked out 10 lessons that I promised myself I will consciously put into practice. I tell you that these work because it did work for me in 2010. So here goes:

1. Practice appreciation. Have a sense of  gratitude for what you already have and you’ll find yourself more at peace. What’s best, more blessings will come into your life!
2. Learn how to accept “what is”. Accept your present situation, limitations, and capabilities. Take the lessons, and learn how let go. I once heard of this saying “A bird once came into my life, my mother said let it go, if it comes back it’s yours. If it doesn’t it was not meant to be.” This is so true in life.
3. Take a stock of life and do what’s most important. Prioritize whatever you believe to be true for you. If today is the last day of your life, what would you prefer you would do and who do you want to be with?
4. Smile though your heart is breaking. At times you will be challenged, your world will seem to be crashing down. Rest if you must, weep to let it out, and then smile. Trust that it will eventually sort itself out and everything will be all right. Nothing is permanent, “everything shall pass.”
5. Have a sense of wonder and adventure like a child. “Unless you become a children of God you will not enter the kingdom of God”. We only live once, do what you want today and do not worry too much about tomorrow.
6. Do what’s hard. Speak your truth and what’s true deep inside your heart. Worry not what others may think and have judgment of you. What they think is their issue not yours. In the end you are the only one who will be accountable to yourself.
7. Be decisive, take action and trust divine intervention. Big things in life happen when we take the plunge and jump over the fence. We only regret the things we did not do, not so much the things we do. Do it now!
8. Nurture yourself and fall in love like never before. “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all” as the song goes. Unless you love yourself you can never love someone else. Savor the miracle of love just like the first time you fell really in love. Everything else are in vibrant colours. So why not color your life now and continue to share with others too?
9. Meditate, be at peace, and live a life of flow and ease. There is nothing like living in love, peace and joy.  Radiate love everywhere you go.
10. Connect to the past, live in the moment and let the event and circumstances unfold. Past is history, future may never happen, you only have this moment. Live the life you imagine now. Live your life today for tomorrow may never come.

So before the first month of 2011 ends, I hope that you will take to heart the importance of giving life the best of you – not tomorrow but today, the here and now.

So what are you going to do to make it happen for you this year? Take your passion and live and create the life you want. If you can imagine it, and believe on it it shall come to pass. We create our own life and that moment is now.

Cheers to the best of 2011! May all your wildest dreams and wishes come true because they do. Sending you my big hugs!

With confidence, I introduced myself and asked If I can interview him to share his wisdom. He instantly agreed and we did an impromptu interview during one of the breaks. He talked about creating our environment by design instead of by default. Here’s what he had to say:

According to him there are 9 different environments that we shoud understand and be consciously aware of 24/7. These are:

Apart from being aware, Jim shared that it is important for us to assess and craft these environments to our advantage. To do this:

1. Listen and be aware to each of the nine environments. Do they inspire or expire you?
2. Assess your current ratings in each – is it good or can it still be improved?
3. Establish or write down your “desired” action or changes you want to make.
4. Identify the negative aspects of the environments that you want to delete.
5. Identify what positive things or changes you want to add and act on them.

If we become more conscious of our environments, do the prescribed strategies above, and stick to our action plan, we can live an extraordinary and ultimate life.

Jim and I agreed on the fact that a lot of people go to seminars, get pumped up to transform, but go back to their same old life. In order to avoid self-help learnings from becoming shelf-help, Jim said that we need to consistently focus and act on three things, everyday:

• Towards happiness
• Towards health
• Towards wealth

Is it really possible for someone to be happy, healthy, wise? The big answer is  YES! If you put happiness first, your health, and wealth will follow. They key is the awareness and recognition of what makes you happy, what makes you healthy, and wealth creation will follow as a result.

“Live life by design and not by default. Craft your environment because the right environments pull you into a bigger game or a bigger you,” Jim said.

For more information please check Jim’s site http://www.ultimategameoflife.com Whew! I am glad I trusted my intuition. He is a man with a big heart, and I love his life philosophy!