Take a moment and look over your shoulder. What do you see? If you look closer, you will realize there is something quite sinister looming there: your own mortality.

You are going to die.

You might die today, next week, a year from now, or 75 years from now, but you are going to die. It is entirely up to you what you do with your remaining time on this earth. What are you going to do?

The terrorist attacks in India over the past few days [November 2008] got me thinking. I travel to India several times a year. In fact, I was about to go there today. My flight was going to leave at 9:00 p.m. out of Los Angeles.

I have also stayed in the hotels where they are currently holding hostages– the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Oberoi. A couple of years ago, I stayed in the Oberoi for four nights or so. A year later, I spent two nights in the Taj Mahal Hotel. Over the past three years, based on the number of nights I have spent in these hotels, I figure I had a 1 in 200 chance of being there when the hotel was taken over. If I had been there, being the way I am, I would have created trouble and fought back or tried to negotiate. That’s just the way I am. The terrorists probably would not have liked me too much….

Several years ago, a robber came to the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Detroit where my stepsister was working. He shot her in the head and killed her.



A few years later, my uncle was flying an ambulance helicopter, going to pick up a drunk driver. He crashed into a tree and died.

My grandmother found out about this tragedy and died the next day in her sleep.

When I was in high school, a man who was going to write a college recommendation for me was blown up on a Pan Am flight over Scotland.

The list of lives I have seen come to an abrupt end is quite long. I am sure you know of people whose lives suddenly ended as well. Lives can end quickly and without notice. This could be the case for your life as well.

So when are you going to start living the life you want? When are you going to go after the career and job you want? When are you going to take charge of your life?

The time to have the career you want is right now. Not tomorrow, not later, but now. You need to take charge and have the career you want. No one else is going to do it for you. Your entire life and the quality of it is a product of your decisions. You can have, do, or be anything you want.

Everywhere you look, I am sure you see people who refuse to be what they want to be. These people comprise the majority of people in the world. What separates the best and happiest people is the ability to stop making excuses. This is the type of person I want you to be.

In Chapter 15 of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, he lists several “ifs” people use to explain away their inability to take charge and live the lives they want. I think this is one of the most inspiring passages I have ever read. Which of these excuses apply to you and your own life?

Live your dreams. Do not wait for tomorrow. Do what you wish to do today. Take charge of your own life and career, and make your decisions based on what you want. Stop making excuses and never compromise your pursuit of the life you want.

IF I didn’t have a wife and family…

IF I had enough “pull”…

IF I had money…

IF I had a good education…

IF I could get a job…

IF I had good health…

IF only I had time…

IF times were better…

IF other people understood me…

IF only conditions around me were different…

IF I could live my life over again…

IF I did not fear what “THEY” would say…

IF I had been given a chance…

IF I now had a chance…

IF other people didn’t “have it in for me”…

IF nothing happens to stop me…

IF only I were younger…

IF only I could do what I want…

IF I had been born rich…

IF I could meet “the right people”…

IF I had the talent that some people have…

IF I dared assert myself…

IF only I had embraced past opportunities…

IF people didn’t get on my nerves…

IF I didn’t have to keep house and look after the children…

IF I could save some money…

IF only the boss appreciated me…

IF only I had somebody to help me…

IF my family understood me…

IF I lived in a big city…

IF I could just get started…

IF only I were free…

IF I had the personality of some people…

IF I were not so fat…

IF my talents were known…

IF I could just get a “break”…

IF I could only get out of debt…

IF I hadn’t failed…

IF only I knew how…

IF everybody didn’t oppose me…

IF I didn’t have so many worries…

IF I could marry the right person…

IF people weren’t so dumb…

IF my family were not so extravagant…

IF I were sure of myself…

IF luck were not against me…

IF I had not been born under the wrong star…

IF it were not true that “what is to be will be”…

IF I did not have to work so hard…

IF I hadn’t lost my money…

IF I lived in a different neighborhood…

IF I didn’t have a “past”…

IF I had a business of my own…

IF other people would only listen to me…

If … I had the courage to see myself as I really am, I would find out what is wrong with me, and correct it.  Then I might have a chance to profit from my mistakes and learn something from the experience of others, for I know there is something WRONG with me, or I would now be where I WOULD HAVE BEEN IF I had spent more time analyzing my weaknesses, and less time building alibis to cover them.

Building alibis to explain away failure is a national pastime. The habit is as old as the human race and is fatal to success. Why do people cling to their pet alibis? The answer is obvious. They defend their alibis because THEY CREATE them! A man’s alibi is the child of his own imagination. It is human nature to defend one’s own brain-child.

Building alibis is a deep-rooted habit. Habits are difficult to break, especially when they provide justification for something we do. Plato had this truth in mind when he said, “The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”

I want you to realize now is the best opportunity you will ever have.  There will never be a better time to live your dreams and find the job you want, a life and a future that will inspire generations. You are capable of it, and you deserve it.

When the economy gets tough, people in all positions suddenly find themselves challenged. However, when people are losing their jobs, companies are tightening their belts, and people are looking for new ways to save money, there is also massive opportunity. In fact, there is never a better time than a recession to really make the most of your opportunities. A recession is like a big sign from the world saying it needs innovation and change. There is a cycle of creation and destruction going on everywhere around us. As old businesses and ways of doing things crumble, they are typically replaced by new ways of doing things. New ways of doing things are being created right now. You should be a part of this.

Now is the time to live the life you want and have the career you want.

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