When is the last time you made your day a masterpiece day? Why so long ago, if at all? Tomorrow is a gift from God — don’t waste it. Plan how your will live that gift the night before. Stick to the plan from dawn until dusk. Does it not feel great to have such a good day? For one person it might be a day of awesome strategic progress on key initiatives. For another it might be taking the time to smell the roses and sit in the sun during lunch, the ringing phone and pinging email be damned. For a third, it might be taking the kids out of school and playing hooky while ice skating at the Galleria.

The key is that you decided, and therefore, it is so. Your masterpiece day is not up to the unpredictable winds of your boss, work associates, and customers. Your masterpiece day is not up to the unpredictable ocean currents of your family. You can set the sails, you can use the rudder, and you can steer how this day goes.

Make each day a masterpiece are words to live by. Once you live such a day, a day you forged from your own planning and will, you find you want to create another such perfect day, and then another. You learn you are free from other people’s urgency conspiracies and that those urgencies are usually man-made and mostly meaningless. Not every day will work out as planned, but most shall, if you have the will. Paul’s smile above comes from a life well lived. You need such a smile.

We live in the greatest time in the greatest country in the world. Don’t let other people’s urgencies shackle your horizon of what is possible. You are free to live as many extraordinary days as you desire. All it takes is pre-planning, courage, and the discipline to stick to your plans.

I.M. Optimism Man

There is no magic pill to take to overcome that moment where you don’t want to continue. It simply takes persistence and will power. Don’t forget that. Believe that you can persist, and you can. Don’t give yourself an option of stopping until you get to that first finish line. Don’t forget that no project’s first finish line really turns out to be the final one. There will be an unanticipated phase two, and phase three, and phase four.

Here are a few quotes to consider and remember:

Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning.
– Denis Waitley

The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.
– Napoleon Hill

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
– Calvin Coolidge

Zero to overnight success in seven short years.
– Optimism Man

All of us sometimes lose momentum on a worthy endeavor. Regaining the excitement and gaining momentum from a dead stop is very hard. I think the trick to get started again is to go to your personal fortress of solitude (mine is Starbucks because I just don’t have a nearby mountain peak to climb) and create a very detailed action task list to make a couple of first downs. Then pick a day to focus only on this one project and knock the tasks out in order, as though the deadline was just 24 hours away. Although I’m a big believer in the tortoise-wins-the-race formula, a big burst of action in one superhuman day is like a defibrillator that restarts the heartbeat of your project and establishes new momentum.

Stay Optimistic and Persistent, My Friends!

I.M. Optimism Man

Help one person this week, someone that doesn’t expect it, someone who will never know that you did. How does it make you feel to have made a little difference?

If you have never read about Mother Teresa, it is well worth the five minutes. Click here for the Wikipedia entry on this extraordinary woman.

Little things add up. Few people on earth make as big an impact as Mother Teresa. But what if you made one good little thing happen every week for the rest of your life? Would it touch some people’s lives? Would it make a difference for some number of people? I think it would.

Helping others is a key step on the road to your own fulfillment and happiness.

I.M. Optimism Man

A lot of my articles focus on happiness because I see that happiness, though sincerely sought, is often elusive to many. Too many people pursue happiness by seeking in the wrong places — most people do not find genuine happiness in money or the things money buys — but it is hard to see that fallacy when corporations spend billions to convince you that the newest BMW or a blue box from Tiffany’s is the ticket to happiness. Others seek happiness in the pursuit of power and influence, but it is exceedingly difficult to shoulder the responsibility that comes intertwined with growing power. As the truism goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. There are many other misguided pursuits and addictions but none reliably lead to true happiness.

An inconvenient truth is that you handicap your own pursuit of happiness if you focus on yourself. Focusing on oneself directly embraces the dark side of the force. Focus-on-self drives envy, suspicion, gossip designed to tear down perceived competitors, and greed. The bottom line is that focus-on-self invariably tears down the fabric of your own character. Over time, a person comes to realize that his or her character is no longer pure. When that happens, underlying unhappiness grows and festers even if a new Porsche sits in the driveway of your sparkling suburban palace.

We live complex lives in a complex society, but there is an antidote, a simple solution to become happier over time. It is to focus on helping others. The secret key to happiness is generosity. Genuine generosity, not convenient show-off-for-other-people — what’s in it for me — generosity, will make you happy, guaranteed.

Be generous with your time and attention. As I often observe, time is out most precious and scarce resource. In truth, money is much easier to give. When you give undivided attention and time to someone else, you have become genuinely generous. If you manage to inspire that person, to help that person in a meaningful way, without expectation of a favor returned, your generosity creates unexpected long-term results. You will find that if you do at least one selfless, generous act each week, your happiness will grow and gain momentum.

Consider these wise observations:

“Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing”
— Alexander Pope

“Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.”
— Frank A. Clark

“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”
— Albert Einstein

“When a man is wrapped up in himself he makes a pretty small package.”
— John Ruskin

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened.”
— Buddha

“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”
— Winston Churchill

“Happiness exists on earth, and it is won through prudent exercise of reason, knowledge of the harmony of the universe, and constant practice of generosity.”
— Jose Marti

Generosity leads to happiness and happiness leads to optimism. Optimism leads to success. Success allows you to be more generous, completing the perfect circle. Set a goal, look for your first opportunity to be generous, and jump at the chance.

Inspiring others is one of the easiest and best things to do. Lots of people doubt that they can accomplish something. Pessimists surround them, telling them they can’t or won’t succeed. Go out of your way to tell them that they can. Notice when a young person does something special. It takes a little time, a little attention, and can make a great difference in someone’s life. Do whatever is within your means to help, and be amazed at how the circle of success grows from your little seeds.

I.M. Optimism Man

Thomas Edison

Sure, we have some short-term problems, some of them serious enough, but they will be solved. I don’t believe all the progress we have enjoyed in the last 100 years will reverse — I believe progress will accelerate. I don’t believe we will run out of energy — I believe we will have abundant energy and that the price of Kilowatts will actually go down. We won’t destroy capitalism with too many regulations — and sooner than later, Washington will remember that a strong private sector is critical to having a strong country. We won’t abandon our seniors without income or medical care. Our country will not be destroyed by socialism, excessive taxation, terrorists, or even nuclear-tipped rogue nations. I don’t believe that my kids will live in a world that runs out of oil while the polar caps melt, flooding vast parts of an Earth that is too hot to bear from all the smog. We are not about to get hit by some huge asteriod.  I believe my kids will have a longer, better life than I will have — no matter if we are talking about health, opportunity, or wealth.

Here is a 15 minute presentation from Peter Diamandis that shines the light on our future of abundance, not scarcity — optimism, not pessimism. Peter is the founder and chair of the X Prize Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is simply “to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.” By offering a big cash prize for a specific accomplishment, the X Prize stimulates competition and excitement around some of the planet’s most important goals.

I believe.

I.M. Optimism Man

Within this vast multitude of dreamers are a minority of people who are both optimistic and action-oriented. These two qualities, more than any others, ignite the engine of achievement. Starting something is far easier to do than finishing a project with gusto. I’ve personally have plenty of experience at starting without finishing. I have outlined nearly a dozen great book ideas but only finished two. I’ve wasted dozens of business ideas without getting nearly all of them to first base, watching others create successful enterprises that I had imagined years earlier. We tend to regret what we did not do, what we did not finish. Finishing is priceless.

Our society rewards those select few who create something real, not just dream about it on a bar napkin. This one of the most  famous bar napkins of all time because it became real.

If you want to succeed more, start less projects — a lot less – but finish everything that you start. Nike made “Just Do It” famous, but I personally like “Just Finish It” better.

“We rate ability in men by what they finish, not by what they attempt”

Before you turn over a new leaf, forgive yourself and forget the past. All of us have started a lot of things that we did not finish in our past. Don’t regret. Learn and move on. Yesterday doesn’t matter. You must believe that you can and will become a finisher. Decide that you are a finisher. When you look in the mirror, you must see a finisher. If you can forgive yourself, you have seen the light.

You must become highly selective. Evaluate every idea and decide against nearly all of them. There are always many more worthy projects than a person can tackle. Opportunities are everywhere.

Less is truly more. The trick is not to start more projects. Don’t multi-task when you are chasing your dream — multi-tasking is over-rated while focusing is under-appreciated.  Refuse to procrastinate – procrastination makes simple tasks much more difficult.  Choose where you will invest your best time carefully — there are only a few hours of high-quality, sharp-mental-state time in each of our days. Get obsessed about finishing whatever you started like your life depends on it.

Plan to overcome. Count on every project requiring more time and effort than you imagined. Then there is pesky Murphy and his unescapable law: whatever can go wrong usually does, in fact, go wrong. You have to plan for things to be difficult. You have to decide to adapt, persist, and overcome. You have to anticipate that you will lose momentum but you must not stop until you finish. Become relentless.

If you have not been finishing in recent years, the trick is to start small. Pick small baby step milestones. Write them down and review them daily. Keep your promises to yourself. Be flexible. Setbacks are not failures but lessons along the road to final success. Your momentum will grow. Pretty soon, your bar napkin might turn one of the most profitable airlines in the world.

Don’t be one of the dreamers… the many who spend their life starting without finishing. Successful people get the job done after the excitement and the novelty have worn off. They get the job done when it is no longer fun. They get the job done when they run into roadblocks. They don’t use excuses. They don’t give up.

A few posts back, I mentioned that the gates of opportunity are often overlooked because three fierce guard dogs scare people away. Those guard dogs are risk, sacrifice, and faith. Perseverance is not easy. You will have to sacrifice to finish projects. You will have to put off things that you want. You will miss events that you will wish to attend. You will have to choose to work long hours and burn the midnight oil to finish what you start. Success only comes before work in the dictionary.

Optimism is the secret ingredient. It is optimism that sparks the successful, the extra energy that helps people get over the hump, even when it looks too difficult to see it through.

Believe in yourself, believe in your ideas, start less, always err to the side of action, always finish what you start, follow the commandments of financial success, and you will be rewarded with an awesome life.

I.M. Optimism Man

PS> Here is a great quote from one of the authors of the bar napkin above. Herb is one of the most optimistic, action-first, business leaders that I have ever met:

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The imbalance is unsustainable and taxes are not the answer. Here is the math in easy to understand terms:

For every $100 Ben Franklin that the United States government spends today, $60 comes from taxing hard-working Americans and American companies and $40 is borrowed.

Imagine that your 25 year-old daughter is gainfully employed at Bank of America and bringing home $60,000 a year. So far so good. But she is borrowing $40,000 a year and spending every penny of it, living in a swanky high-rise condo near the fun downtown district, taking lots of beach vacations, and driving around town in a new Porsche convertible. This year, she runs out of commercial lenders that will loan her the money, so she comes to you to borrow the $40 grand to keep her life rolling. What would you say? How long will her spendy lifestyle last?

In Washington, our Representatives are arguing about how to increase the income side of the ledger. Given the 60/40 reality, taxes would have to double so that we could meet this budget and start paying back the trillions already blown.

The answer is obvious: Spend a heck of a lot less. 40% less would be a great. Period.

Quit playing stupid games with raising taxes. More and more taxes sinks a country. There are always unintended consequences. Here is a good article that shines the flashlight on the unintended consequences of poorly thought-out taxation. Let Americans decide where they want to spend and invest their Benjis. More taxes simply means that the government decides where your money gets spent.

Even at $14,000,000,000,000 (wow!), our debt is still manageable because we have a big, successful country.  Lots of people have mortgages several times larger than their annual income. Our debt today is about equal to our annual GDP which isn’t great but isn’t the end of the fiscal world either. But it is high time to curtail the growth in the debt.

If our government spends a lot less, our kids will have a brighter future. I am optimistic that it will happen, because common sense says that the current 60/40 scenario is unsustainable.

I.M. Optimism Man

PS> By the way, do you ever wonder who we owe all the money to? Our representatives and the media like to yell “the Chinese” at the top of their lungs, because they know it will get a rise from the citizens. Just in case you are interested in facts over political spin, see a clearer picture below:

Who we owe doesn’t change the fact that government must spend a lot less per year.

But is America really a car wreck?

Yes, we endured a scary, stormy night. The United States financial system had dark days a few years ago, and we survived the difficult test. Today, banks and corporations have greatly reduced their risk exposure to derivatives while adding lots of cash to their balance sheets. They are much better prepared for another stormy night. America is capitalism and capitalism adapted and is moving forward.

What’s the state of our best corporations?

Strong companies make for a strong America, lest the Occupy people forget. Corporate earnings are solid and growing. Price / Earnings ratios are very low by historical standards. Yes, stock prices are up, but generally not because stocks have gotten more expensive as measured by P/E multiple expansion. Prices are up because business is solid. Prices are up because markets tend to predict the future.

The government is still a mess, but that’s not new news.

There are numerous challenges and our elected representatives seem unwilling to make any tough calls, choosing to procrastinate and defer all decisions time and again. No elected official wants to  fix the country if it means losing the votes of some constituents. The burgeoning deficit is a top topic and the politicians are all falling over each other with ideas to tax our way out of the hole. Higher and higher taxation doesn’t work. Few are willing to admit that the government simply spends way way too much and borrows $4 of every $10 that it spends. The budget “Supercommittee” is the poster child of everything that ails Washington D.C.

A friend of mine who is nearing retirement (not that I personally believe in retirement — my must-read post on that subject is here) approached me to discuss “where to invest” after he read numerous articles tearing down the prospects for the U.S. stock market. The market has been on a great run since the financial subprime uglies of late 2008 and all the pessimists are scratching their heads.

After thinking about it for several weeks, I have come to the one logical conclusion: right now, the U.S. stock market is the single best place on Earth to invest one’s money.  That is why the market is going up. I am comfortable that it should continue to outperform other investments for this decade to come.

To understand my optimism, you must first take a global view of rich individuals and organizations. There are many trillions of dollars in many countries around the world that must be invested if the capital is to be preserved. Wealthy individuals hire plenty of investment professionals to help them invest these trillions, so these funds know no borders.

Imagine that you are an investment manager with $20 B to invest, residing in oil producing Saudi Arabia. Where would you put the funds? Lets compare the countries that are viable options.

Invest in China? Well, China is looking to stave off a housing collapse. The economy is slowing. The Chinese stock market does not have a stellar record over the last few decades. Chinese companies do not do a good job reporting factual numbers. Government oversight is lacking and there is favoritism. The government is communist. No, investing the money in China is too much like gambling.

Invest in Japan? No, Japan has been struggling for decades and on life support. There is little reason to believe that a sustainable decade of investment growth is about to start.

Invest in Europe? Europe is in worse shape than the U.S.  The hangover from Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland is not likely to go away soon, even though Germany is flourishing. But Germany is tied to the common currency and they must keep it that way, as it favors their export-centric economy.

What about Great Britain? England is outside the Eurozone currency-wise, but its economy is just not growing at all. No, not there.

Invest in emerging markets? Well, Russia has corruption and the Kremlin to run off investors. If there is a place where you face the risk of investment confiscation, Russia is the place. Brazil has a lot of people, but now faces slowdown issues. They are just starting to cut rates so an instant turnaround is not in the cards.  India?  India has inflation problems and government controls up the wazoo. Australia? Australia is rich in natural resources, but it heavily linked to China and its current slowdown issue.

Compared to the rest, the United States has a stable government, low inflation, an economy that is improving, a housing crisis that is unwinding, corporate balance sheets that are strengthened, and better transparency and oversight than everywhere else.

The USA is the best choice, given the alternatives. Nothing else comes close.

Here is the U.S., the choice then comes down to stocks vs. bonds vs. cash. Keeping the money in cash is a fools game unless everything else melts down, and even then, cash is not a for sure winner. Bonds are paying so little that it makes the next decision simple. Real estate is now very affordable but not liquid or flexible — you have to have time and patience. U.S. Equities win. This is why the U.S. stock market continues to climb. If you have serious money to invest, you are far more likely to invest in America than any of the other usual suspects until conditions change dramatically. It is not that we don’t have issues, but that the alternatives are far worse, and our companies are definitely performing well.

Don’t listen to the pessimism of the writers. They are missing the big picture story. Few writers are good investors anyway. Buy good companies with low P/E’s and excellent growth prospects and strong competitive advantage / barriers of entry to competitors. Times are much better than Main Street believes.

I.M. Optimism Man