It's that Day set aside to honor Dad, and rightfully so for the majority of us. Thank you, Dad for all you've given me. The love, laughter and learning have not all ways been easy but it has been consistent. I wish I had listened to more, sooner but thankfully I learned or at least remembered the most important lessons when it counted most. I know much of this you learned from your father and he from his. I have passed it on to my son and daughter as best I can and in a few years the cycle will most likely start again.

How lucky we've been to have you there to make some decisions, influence others and have been a strong enough role model that we could find the answer to the question, WWDD, What Would Dad Do?

Yes, we were lucky however, for whatever reason, others must sometime step up to fill the role of Daddy in someone's life.

To all the single moms, grandparents and other relatives, foster parents, teachers, or maybe even just the neighbor next door who have stepped into the role of Daddy in addition to all the things you already do I pray that the love you have shown is returned to you in kind. Thank you for being there for that someone. Thank you for caring enough to make a difference in a child's life.

Image available as a garden flag from flagsplus.com

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command. Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons
I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men. And, alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine. Plus, the intelligence of a man. You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin; it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will put the world at your feet. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you. Who am I?

I am a HABIT!

Truer words may never have been spoken. However nobody seems to know to whom they should be attributed. I've seen these words on more than one occasion and nodded approvingly. 'Good stuff', I'd tell myself. Like many things we read, I recognized it and went on, never thinking about how it might be applied in my own world.

This weekend it appeared in front of me not once, but twice. One in a blog of a social networking and business friend and once in the blog of an industry trainer friend of mine. Suddenly I had that infamous flat forehead moment. Big Time! Perhaps it was because it was the new year and I was doing that "resolve" thing so many of us do. Once I regained consciousness I read it again and that's what leads me to the point of this blog.

You can make all the resolutions in the world and it won't make a bit of difference unless you start acquiring the habits necessary to fulfill those resolutions.

I resolve to increase my income three fold in 2009... OK what will you have to do to achieve that?

I'll resolve to sell more product...OK what will you have to do to achieve that?

I'll resolve to sponsor more distributors in 2009... OK what will you have to do to achieve that?

I'll resolve to do more presentations... OK what will you have to do to achieve that?

The answer to each is that you will have to develop the habits necessary to fulfill each one and each is most likely one of the habits you'll need to fulfill the other.

If you do what is necessary to make more presentations you will have achieved a habit necessary in sponsoring more people into your business. Get in the habit of building your network and you definitely will be moving more product and your income will indeed increase. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

It is once you realize one other factor...

A habit is defined as A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.. Look at the last two words. frequent repetition. Not every now and then but, frequently.

That means you will need to do it more than before. There are still only 24 hours, give or take the scientific nanosecond adjustments scientists developed, in a day which means something has to give.

There are other habits that have to be removed from your daily routine in order to free up time. I'm not going to sit here and lecture you as to what you shouldn't be doing because you know your life better than anyone. Instead I'll leave you with a little assignment. See, you have to get in the habit of assessing your own progress to see what changes must occur in your plan to excel so this little exercise will help you eliminate the bad habits the waste the valuable time you could put towards good habits necessary to achieve those resolutions.

Your assignment is simply this:

1. Take clean sheet of paper and draw a vertical line down the middle
2. Look at what you have done recently that has produced favorable results and write them down on the left side
3. Review your last 24 hours and write down on the right side all the things you've done that were not productive in attaining your goal
4. Review the past week and do the same
5. Now remove all the items from the right that are essential to your everyday routine. This includes family and faith. Always keep your family and faith at the fore front of your life.