LEAVE THE COOKIES OUT FOR SANTA - PART THREE

In this final installment of "Leave the Cookies out for Santa", the lesson that binds it all together like a well-assembled Christmas toy is the preparedness for success that children exhibit by placing those cookies on a tray. If you can place yourself in the mind of that child as Christmas Eve nears, you would undoubtedly be thinking about which cookies to leave behind, will they be freshly baked or store bought, how much milk you will pour into the glass, where you would leave the tray with treats so that Santa could see them, and any additional details that would make it perfect for your deliverer of gifts. I vividly recall that me and my brother a detailed plan. I mean, we knew Santa was coming so we left nothing to chance. We figured if he was coming to visit us then he was going to be so impressed with our preparedness that he would leave extra stuff. Our preparedness did not just involve the overnight visit from Santa, it also extended into how we were going to spend the actual Christmas Day and the next few days thereafter. We knew that with all the new toys and games we were going to have that we needed to have a toy and games schedule so that we could fit in all the fun before school started again. What a valuable lesson! I have always believed what I heard a very long time ago, that success seeks the prepared mind. If your goal is to achieve a level of success in one area of your life or another then you must be prepared to receive it's arrival. It has been my experience that many people who proclaim that they are desiring success never take the necessary steps to prepare. In other words, they are either nonchalant about it or flat out indifferent to the well-thought out and calculated actions that success demands of them. Let me submit to you that to the degree you take achievement seriously in how you prepare will determine the quantity and quality of how that achievement will be attracted to you. So, let me ask you then, how prepared are you for success? Are you pre-planning your next day's activities whether work, fitness, academic, household, or entrepreneurial related? What are you doing to become a better version of you? How much time and money are you investing in getting better in the key areas of your life where success can be impressed by, or are you just winging it? Where are you making sacrifices for the achievement of your goals? These (and many more) are excellent questions to ask yourself and should illicit an honest answer. It is my hope that as I wrap up this blog trilogy you begin to see the deeper ramifications and lessons to be learned from the next time you see those cookies and glass of milk around Christmastime.