There are perhaps a thousand success advice that we can take from the Internet, books or conferences. We can pick one and put it in our head, but the key is to actually apply it continuously in our lives until it becomes a habit. In 2011, I picked out 10 lessons that I promised myself I will consciously put into practice. I tell you that these work because it did work for me in 2010. So here goes:

1. Practice appreciation. Have a sense of  gratitude for what you already have and you’ll find yourself more at peace. What’s best, more blessings will come into your life!
2. Learn how to accept “what is”. Accept your present situation, limitations, and capabilities. Take the lessons, and learn how let go. I once heard of this saying “A bird once came into my life, my mother said let it go, if it comes back it’s yours. If it doesn’t it was not meant to be.” This is so true in life.
3. Take a stock of life and do what’s most important. Prioritize whatever you believe to be true for you. If today is the last day of your life, what would you prefer you would do and who do you want to be with?
4. Smile though your heart is breaking. At times you will be challenged, your world will seem to be crashing down. Rest if you must, weep to let it out, and then smile. Trust that it will eventually sort itself out and everything will be all right. Nothing is permanent, “everything shall pass.”
5. Have a sense of wonder and adventure like a child. “Unless you become a children of God you will not enter the kingdom of God”. We only live once, do what you want today and do not worry too much about tomorrow.
6. Do what’s hard. Speak your truth and what’s true deep inside your heart. Worry not what others may think and have judgment of you. What they think is their issue not yours. In the end you are the only one who will be accountable to yourself.
7. Be decisive, take action and trust divine intervention. Big things in life happen when we take the plunge and jump over the fence. We only regret the things we did not do, not so much the things we do. Do it now!
8. Nurture yourself and fall in love like never before. “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all” as the song goes. Unless you love yourself you can never love someone else. Savor the miracle of love just like the first time you fell really in love. Everything else are in vibrant colours. So why not color your life now and continue to share with others too?
9. Meditate, be at peace, and live a life of flow and ease. There is nothing like living in love, peace and joy.  Radiate love everywhere you go.
10. Connect to the past, live in the moment and let the event and circumstances unfold. Past is history, future may never happen, you only have this moment. Live the life you imagine now. Live your life today for tomorrow may never come.

So before the first month of 2011 ends, I hope that you will take to heart the importance of giving life the best of you – not tomorrow but today, the here and now.

So what are you going to do to make it happen for you this year? Take your passion and live and create the life you want. If you can imagine it, and believe on it it shall come to pass. We create our own life and that moment is now.

Cheers to the best of 2011! May all your wildest dreams and wishes come true because they do. Sending you my big hugs!

“Failure is only postponed success as long as courage coaches ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory.” – Herbert Kaufman

Do you feel discouraged when you fail at your first and second attempt?

I understand that feeling. Life simply presents us with challenges that may either make or break us, and lose our passion. Still, the choice whether to push further or throw in the towel is ours.

At a young age, I sold mangoes barefooted at the beach of a rural province in the Philippines. Not a pretty way to start my dreams, right? If not for the kindness of a priest, I couldn’t have studied in a school and received a degree. You can know more about my story in www.taleofjuliet.com and in my book The Tale of Juliet.

For a 5-foot petite lady from a less known Asian country, I had to overcome my limitations and harp on my abilities and talents, and what I can deliver.

My passion and persistence were tried and tested through all the difficulties I encountered in life. And if you ask me if ever I will choose to live a different life, I will decide not to. I am thankful for the trials – because it has and continues to serve like a refining fire to my character and values. Remember that:

• Trials test and strengthens our character.
• Trials give us the opportunity to learn.
• Trials push us out of our comfort zones.
• Trials make our life’s testimony more meaningful and significant.

Let you passion endure you through life’s trials.

Stay focused on your goal and purpose with a knowing that going through trials only makes you stronger and builds your character to win in life.

When the going gets tough, you just have to get going.

Has someone asked you, “What is your purpose?” It can be one of the toughest questions to answer. I know, I have been there. When I attended a Life Direction Seminar years ago I finally discovered how I would like to live my life with meaning and purpose. “To inspire and motivate others to use their God-given talent and reach their full potential.”

Did you know that Harvard Business School researchers found that 3% of people are successful, 30% are moderately successful and 67% just exist? 67! The majority just exist!

• The significant difference for the 3% who are successful is that they have written down, specific goals and purpose.
• The 30% who are moderately successful have a general idea of where they are going but don’t have any goals formalised.
• The rest are happy to watch the world go by. (Source: http://www.goalmaker.com/whyset.html)

Noted philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Each man has his own vocation. The talent is the call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him. Every man has this call of the power to do something unique, and no man has any other call.”

This is exactly what purpose is – a direction to which we set ourselves guided by our unique talent and capacity. Our purpose can be vaguely shown to us by others, but it is us who can clearly define what it is based on how much we know, understand, and appreciate ourselves.

It is important to know your purpose and set goals for your life. This way, you can live life more meaningfully, with clarity and direction. And when you have identified your purpose, the next step is to be passionate in pursuing and achieving your purpose.

Did you know that Academy award winning director Steven Spielberg adopted a personal lifelong conviction he learned from a 1954 Disney film where Davy Crockett said: “Make sure you are right and go on!” His whole career truly adhered to that advice. Though he got expelled from college, kicked out from shooting locations, and faced many rejections in the early part of his career, he never gave up and instead stick to his goals and pursued it.

Would you like to be part of the 3%, 30% or 67%?

Be part of the winning minority!

Live your life with a purpose, and run your race like a runner fired up with passion to win!