I publish Ukulele Player Magazine, among other things, and the latest issue was just released yesterday early evening.

Publishing something like that means at some point, there is a target date, a deadline, if you will, and a push to make it happen. After the work is completed, I like to take some time and enjoy the company of my wife, my friends, and other family members.

Life should not be all work. You should make time for togetherness. My wife and I reserve time for “movie nights” and winding down our evenings together. We began the Friday night movie tradition from the beginning of our life together and we continue to look forward to Fridays because of it. We also toast each other every evening.

It is important to take time to consider those you love and why. It is healthy to do so and keeps your mind focused on the things you love about them. It is also good to consider your friends and what you enjoy about them.

On that note, I want to mention a friend that passed away in a very untimely manner. James Joseph Knapp. I have known Jim for almost forty years. He has helped both me and my brother move from house to house in the past. He has spent countless hours engaged in conversation, gone to various movies with us as long ago as the original Star Wars films. Jim went to bed and never woke up. I was not able to attend his memorial service.

Although Jim is gone, he was always welcome in our home and I will miss him, but he won’t be forgotten.

Make good use of your time in this world and remember to tell your loved ones that you love them. Share good time with friends and enjoy life fully. Our time in this world is finite. While we have the time to enjoy family and friends, take the time and cherish it.

The weather outside is not really frightful, and if I built a fire, I am sure that it would be delightful; but, since there’s no place to go, I am not worried about all this snow.

In Mid Ohio, where I sit, there is about eight inches of snow. Today is a great day to post a blog entry. It’s also a great day to put the finishing touches on the next issue of Ukulele Player Magazine. It goes “live” this evening.

When the weather keeps you indoors, it is great having something to keep you busy. I have a long list of things I enjoy doing.

As a writer and author I always have something to do, but play-time is just as important as productivity time. So, there are great movies to be watched, books to be read, music to be heard- and played, for that matter.

When snow and ice keep you indoors, that’s the time to open your mind to all the possibilities.

Ours is a world of instant gratification. People have become spoiled by it. There are even jokes about the four basic food groups now being “fast”, “instant”, “microwave”, and “take-out”. The pace of life is fast and constant connectivity is unhealthy.

I see people everywhere talking on cell phones. I even saw a guy in an outdoor recreation area talking business on his cell phone while his wife and children followed him up the trail in one of my favorite hiking spots. Hang it up, buddy!

If you take a day to unwind in nature’s playground, for your own health and well-being, either leave the cell phone at home, or take it for emergency use only and keep it turned OFF unless and until the need arises. Forget about business.

Working hard is good for you, but playing hard is vital for your physical and mental health. You need to unplug and unwind. Instant availability is not always a good thing. Remember this:  You have an incoming telephone call. That doesn’t mean that you have to answer it. You need to guard your play time.

Many business coaches will tell you that you must “learn to say no”. You must also set limitations in business. Learn to not answer your phone or turn it off when you are not working. That time is yours.

Many people are surprised when I tell them that my days begin at 2:00 AM. Maybe they picture themselves getting dragged from their warm beds earlier than the alarm is set and can’t imagine it. I really do rise at 2:00 AM, no kidding.

I had a friend that once said, “In this house, we rise at six, but we don’t shine ’til seven.”

Starting my day at 2:00 AM has advantages. Being up before the rest of humanity means that I can get a lot of work done before the demands of the day commence and the multitude of interruptions begin. I can get a lot of writing done before my wife is awake and I can enjoy a couple cups of my favorite coffee, drinking it leisurely.

Ben Franklin said this: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Doctor Franklin used the term “industry” quite frequently to describe individual effort, productivity if you will. From his writings, it is clear to me that he meant a person that is up before the sun and sets to work accomplishing a number of tasks before anyone else is awake has a clear advantage, a headstart, you might say, and has already completed a lot of work before anyone else even begins.

Put aside the notion of “industry” for a moment. There is another BIG advantage to rising early. Before the needs of the day pull you away, you have time to sit and think, you have time to day-dream, so to speak, and imagine yourself making all your dreams come true. That quiet time can be used for contemplation, as much as for industry.

Quietly sitting and sipping your morning coffee while your mind is “visualizing your success” just might be the most productive thing that you can do. Taking time to daydream is important. If rising at 2:00 AM enables you to think and dream about reaching your goals, then it is time well spent.

Rise and Shine, indeed.

The person you are today is the sum of your past mindset and experiences. You are who you were.

If you don’t feel successful but want to be a success, the first thing you have to realize is that you often shape your destiny by your attitude. If you want to be a success tomorrow, you start by being positive and considering yourself a success today. I know, it is easier said than done, right? Well, no, actually.

Your life has been filled with successes and you might not have realized it. You learned to walk, talk, went through potty training, learned to tie your shoes, even ride a bicycle. You learned to read and write, tell time, count, the list goes on and on. Those are all successes.

Being a winner starts with a winning attitude.

Success is accomplishment. Success comes much easier when you visualize it and believe in yourself. You might need some information and preparation, depending on the future you want, but you must first tell yourself that you are a success. Visualizing success is walking through it in your mind. Imagine yourself completing whatever it is you want successfully until you sail right through it and when you get your opportunity in the real world, you are mentally prepared for it.

Remember the old line: “You’re an accident waiting to happen!” Well, accidents are often self-fulfilling prophesies. Success is also a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you don’t believe you will succeed, you won’t.

To be who you want to be tomorrow, start by being that person today. You want success, start acting successful now.  A farmer cultivates and prepares the soil before he plants his seed. Like the farmer, you cultivate success by preparing for the seeds you plant. The better you prepare your soil, the more bountiful your harvest.

A lot has been said about time. I am sure that you have heard these time and time again…

There’s not enough time in a day.

Only time will tell.

Time has slipped away.

Time is of the essence.

…in due time.

My two favorites are “Take time to make time.” and “Time is on your side.”

Time is not your enemy. Time is your friend. Yes, time is, indeed, on your side. The difference between someone who gets things done in a timely manner and someone who never seems to get things done on time is self-discipline.

Knowing how to manage your time really boils-down to this. Things take time. If you know how much time is needed to complete a task, then allocate that much time to getting it done. Knowing what to do and when is a matter of priorities. If you have ten tasks that must be completed, they cannot all be done first. Set your priorities straight and recognize the time necessary to complete each task and work accordingly.

Multi-tasking doesn’t work and countless studies are now proving that. It doesn’t surprise me. Wearing multiple hats is a good thing, but you only have one head. It is best, therefore, to wear one hat at a time. Set your priorities in order and learn to delegate responsibility. A successful manager surrounds himself or herself with talented people and delegates responsibility.

When you treat your tasks in this way, time really is on your side. Use it properly and you don’t have to stress over it. There is one more thing to remember. Taking that first step is half the battle.

It’s the start of a new day and that means new opportunities.

Some people hate getting up each morning. Other people love getting up and going to work. The difference is how you see things.

Most jobs will have periods of stress and many are physically demanding. If you look at every meeting as an opportunity and every challenge as a chance to succeed demands of the job don’t seem so daunting.

I have heard many times that nobody loves to work and very few people actually like their job. Well, if that is the case with you, only you can change it. You can find a new job, but will that solve the problem? Ask yourself, What would I like to do?

Many people build a career around an occupation for the wrong reason. I know doctors with very large incomes, huge homes, luxury cars, and they are miserable. Why? Because, they don’t really love what they are doing. They are stressed, overworked, tired all the time, and their marriages are suffering. Their lives turned out quite different than their expectations.

I used to teach fly fishing for a living. Many of my clients would tell me they wish they had my job. Most laborers see the doctor’s homes, cars, fat wallets, and they would love to have the doctor’s lifestyle rather than their own. I realized that these doctors seemed to have everything they could ever want, but they were not happy because the path they took in life was not chosen for the right reasons. If they truly loved what they were doing things might be different.

If you don’t like the path you have chosen, it isn’t too late to take another path. You can wake up tomorrow and decide it is time to change. You can start planning a different future.

If you like what it is you are doing, but the challenges of the job are stressful, try looking at them in a different way. Look at each challenge as another opportunity to overcome adversity and grow. Add that experience to your resume. It makes you that much more valuable. Remember, a good employee is hard to find and hard to replace.

You are the sum total of your experiences. Each new challenge brings a new accomplishment. The more challenges you meet, the more valuable you become. If you decide to choose another path at some point, great, your experience goes with you.

Indeed, you are what you dream. What you become is the product of the vision you have of yourself, for good or bad. Dream well and success will follow you where you lead.

Dreams are important. When you have dreams for your future your heart is telling you your inner-most desires. If you were like most of us, your childhood dreams were about happy times, fun and excitement. As you grew to adulthood, the dreamer was pushed aside by the day-to-day cares of this world. Dreams are not bad things, they are good things. Thomas Edison was a dreamer. The Wright Brothers were dreamers. If not for dreamers we would be living in the dark and flying would be something that only birds can do.

Dreams can help you find and unlock your full potential, if you let them. As for me, before I leave this world, I long to hear the words, “You have dreamed well.”

Be Yourself.

I know a lot of people that have tried to be someone they are not. Typically, it doesn’t work. That’s not to say that it can’t work, but, to quote my dear friend, the late Bob Nastasi, “It Ain’t Easy”. Those of you that knew Bob remember it well.

Henry Fonda once told Jimmy Stewart, “Never let ‘em see you act.” In other words, if the audience perceived that the actor was just “acting”, then the actor was not convincing enough. When you try to be someone you are not, you just might not be convincing enough.

If you don’t know how to be yourself, then try to remember the events of your life, the everyday tasks, the friendships, and think about your decisions and the feelings you had. Those are a starting point. From there, try to focus on your hopes and dreams as a child. Think about the things you have done, things you wanted to do and have not yet done, and things that you always thought would be cool to do and never thought the opportunity would come your way.

Your life has been a series of decisions, some good, some bad. The good news is that “it ain’t over ’til it’s over” (thanks Yogi Berra). If your first attempt at something was not successful, fine, learn from it, and do it again. Whatever you do, though, just remember, be yourself, nobody is better suited for the job.

Don’t wait for opportunity to come to you… go to it.

…well, actually, everything is just about the same.

Many is the time that I have been greeted in the morning with this question: “Howzit Going?” And many mornings people greet me with “Morning” as opposed to “Good Morning!”

The title of this post and subsequent line are from John Prine’s song titled “Pretty Good”. I am not a big fan of John Prine, but this song’s title always caught my ear. When someone asked me how it’s going, I respond with that line. The vast majority of people then respond to me with something about complaining doesn’t do any good anyway.

Ah, but it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. It is simply a matter of knowing when to squeak.

It’s all about attitude. Like the glass that is half-full or half-empty. You can choose to start your day on a positive note or not. What you expect from your day will be a self-fulfilling prophesy. Expect trouble and most likely you will get it.

It’s up to you.