Tiffany's life-tini

It’s a New Year… Start Setting those Goals.

I am a firm believer in goal setting. Twice a year I sit down and create my goals and objectives. Unlike most people who merely make a list, I usually end up creating an entire book with chapters and comment etc. I painstakingly search for the perfect “nothing” book so that I can begin the process of evaluating, life, love, family, friendships, career and virtually every part of my life.

Many of you have heard the story, that I started setting goals on our Honeymoon. I’ve shared the following:

While on our honeymoon, when most couples are thinking about SEX, I made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish in order to change my life. (Oh yes, I’m sure that just tickled my new husband. Sex or goal setting – which do you think he would’ve preferred?)

My goals ranged from simple things, like having a wine and cheese picnic- to becoming a millionaire. Yep, you read correctly. At 21 years old, I’d decided I would become a millionaire.

Fast forward to today. I received a package from UndercoverWear, which included lots of photos, and unbelievably, my scrapbook, which included my goal sheet from our honeymoon. Yes, evidently I had it tucked away somewhere and it survived all these years to be brought back to me now.

So here is a quick look at some of the things I wanted to accomplish.

1. Lose weight
2. Stay in love and learn to love Jazz because Walter loves it
3. Have a family
4. Buy a house
5. Visit New York, Las Vegas, Hawaii and Paris
6. Enjoy a wine and cheese picnic in Vermont
7. Go to a ballet, a play and the Museums of Fine Arts and Science
8. Be successful
9. Become a Millionaire (I guess that would make me successful)
10. Continue to have to have a great relationship with my family Walter’s parents, my friends and my co-workers.

Isn’t that rather amazing? I was 21 years old with a lifetime ahead of me and yet my goals were pretty darn solid.

BTW, I do find it incredibly humorous that throughout my entire “goal setting life” whether I was 115 pounds or 135 pounds, my first goal was always, “to loose 10 pounds” or some variation thereof.

But I guess the real story here is that for no good reason, I decided that I wanted to be a millionaire. I can’t really answer why. And I sure in heck had no idea how we would make that happen. Thankfully both WJJ and I were consistent with wanting to change our lives and live our dreams.

I’m often asked, “How did you become so successful? “ Maybe it was because everything was just so easy for us. Well actually, in the first 2 years of our marriage, we invested our life savings into a modular home company that couldn’t produce the homes so we lost everything. Well actually, we then opened our first retail store that burned to the ground. We had no jobs, no money and no insurance! Well actually, our son had Reyes Syndrome and we were told he wouldn’t live through the night. Hmmm…maybe it wasn’t so “easy” after all.

So what made us believe that we could change our lives? Mohammad Ali said it best, “Champions aren’t made in the gym. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.”

Guess it’s fair to say, Walter and I had a deep desire to achieve. While others might think our dream was a fantasy, we were confident that we would make it a reality. We had the vision to look forward and continue to dream in color.

Helen Keller was once asked, “What could be worse than being blind?” She responded, “Being able to see, but not having a vision.”

We learned quickly that once you have the desire, the dream and the vision, it’s time to create the plan.

If you have a plan without a vision, you are a worker.

If you have a vision without a plan, you are a dreamer.

If you have a vision and a plan, you are an achiever!

From our honeymoon to today, we have followed that path. And I guess it has turned our pretty darn good.

Tj

PS. There are so many people to thank for believing in us, guiding us, helping us (especially our parents and my sisters) and working with us to not only help us live our dreams but being able to help thousands upon thousands of women and families across North America create a better life. God gave us an incredible gift, and it was our honor and pleasure to share it