This issue is made up of the following sections:

1. Personal Effectiveness Tips
2. Questions for Growth
3. Reality Check

1. Personal Effectiveness Tips
1. Statistics are an important part of quantifying success in our lives. Some statistics that you NEED to stay on top of include blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and weight. If you don't know your stats in these areas, get them taken care of immediately. Too often we avoid doing so for fear of what we might discover (that our blood pressure is way too high, we are overweight, etc). However, this ineffective method of coping (akin to closing your eyes and wishing away the monsters at your door) only produces chronic anxiety. Visit your doctor, get the stats, and stay on top of them.

2. Stop comparing yourself to others. There are too many unique and individual factors within each individual to allow for direct comparison with others. It is a game that can't be won. If you're anything like me and love to compete, forget about doing it in this manner. If you must compare, compare within. Are you smarter/calmer/better off etc..than you were in previous years?

3. Laugh at yourself more. Sense of humor is a sign of someone who understands that life is not as serious an endeavor as we might make it out to be, and is actually a creative and healthy way to cope with life's stressors.

4. Learn what wrestlers already know: The only secret to success is the amount of time and work you are willing to sacrifice for any given endeavor. Far too many people look for the easy way out, the quickest way to results, etc. when their time would be better spent simply working more feverishly toward attainment of that goal. Thus, if there is a formula for success, it's good ol' fashioned blood, sweat, and tears. Apply this principle in any area of your life in which you are less than satisfied, and your productivity will increase dramatically.

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2. Questions for Growth
1. What are your three strongest personality attributes? (Creativity, honesty, work-ethic, etc)

2. In what ways do you consciously utilize these traits on a daily basis?

3. What ONE personality trait or habit could you develop to become more effective in your relationships?

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3. Reality Check

June's Reality Check centers around the notion of responsibility in society today. The term-literally a combination of response and ability-has become a oft-used but rarely understood piece of self-improvement jargon. What I have discovered is that personal responsibility is something that people both long for and simultaneously flee from.

True responsibility entails eliminating all excuses from your daily life. No longer can you lean on the notion that you are too old, too overweight, too uneducated, too skinny, poor, etc. No longer can your problems be something that are caused by someone else. No longer can you hide behind the facade of "if I just could get a break, I would be happy." Excuses only serve to buffer our fragile egos from a reality that we don't want to accept, similar to those goofy circus mirrors that distort our reflections to silly proportions.

I know that I can benefit from a spring cleaning in this area of my life, and I'm guessing you can, too. Work to reduce and then eliminate the amount and frequency of excuses in your life. Short-term, it is a painful process, but only because you are facing the reality that you have been so careful to avoid. Long-term it is refreshing, and an amazingly simple way to build integrity of character.

The next time you catch yourself using an excuse, stop yourself and face the music. Become more response-able, and consciously work to change that reality that you want to avoid. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find out about yourself.

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