Since childhood, all of us, at one time or another, have thought about having a magic lamp and making our three wishes. Several years ago, I wrote a novel entitled The Lamp about adults making real-life wishes and then making them come true. Recently, my partner Tracy J. Trost and I have turned The Lamp book into a movie. Here’s a preview. (There is a link to the trailer, and this article includes Jim's Christopher Story - an absolutely wonderful video of Jim in action. ed.)

Unfortunately, the more we grow and learn, the more we seem to limit our futures. As small children, everything seems possible, but as we pursue our education and our career, we seem to narrow instead of broadening the future outcomes we are willing to consider. If anything is possible, we must realize that everything is possible. Both the limitations and the pathways to success exist in our mind and imagination.

Like many people in business today, I spend a lot of my time on airplanes, flying from point A to point B. I generally am among the very first people to board so I get to sit and relax as I listen to all of the other people scrambling to get on the plane, find their seats, and stow their carryon luggage. For most of us, the high points and low points in life are inevitable. But the average routine days are within our control.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension.” I believe one of the fastest and most efficient ways to gain new ideas is to read books. The most powerful, creative, influential, and interesting people who ever lived on this planet are waiting to share their best secrets with you in the pages of a book.

We live in a society that constantly focuses upon immediate rewards and instant gratification. We want microwave efforts with crock pot results. Nothing worth having ever comes quick and easy. There are three states that we can dwell on in our lives. These include being, doing, and having. In our world today, everyone is focused on having. They want to have everything now and worry about paying for it later. When we understand that success is planted on the inside and manifests itself on the outside, we begin to realize that the knowledge we gain and the wisdom we apply are the keys to our success.

I believe and have often said that we are all one quality decision away from anything we want. A quality decision is a certain state of mind. It is not the process of deciding to try, attempt, or pursue something until it becomes difficult. A quality decision means that you have firmly set your course. You are no longer flexible on your mission; however, you may be flexible on your method. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Once you make a decision, the world conspires to make it happen.”

All of us have opportunities where we can leverage our impact by taking the special areas of talent and experience we have and giving them away to people who need them. As you go through your day today, follow the example of a very special colonel who redefines and expands the definition of service to his country.

We do not go to work or live our lives to fill up every minute. Our goal is to accomplish things that matter to us in our personal and professional realm. As you go through your day today, remember: It’s always best to be working on the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason, and doing nothing is better than doing the wrong thing.

The longer I live, the more I believe that the great truths are the simple ones. We make them complicated out of our ignorance or self-serving motives. Simple truths endure. They cut through the clutter and bring us clarity. We need nothing else. Rarely do we fail because we didn’t know what to do. We, instead, fail because we didn’t do what we know.

Giving is the most misunderstood and complicated interaction that we face. Whether it’s giving our time, our effort, or our money, it’s hard to do the right thing for the right reason. There are certainly many needs in our own communities and around the world. We need to take some responsibility to find the appropriate place where we can make a true difference for other people. At the same time, we each have a need to become a giver. This is the complicated part of the formula because it requires us to fulfill a need in our own life while addressing the needs of other people.

As you may know, I have been dedicating a series of these columns to the memory of my friend and mentor, the late, great Coach John Wooden. Coach Wooden passed away earlier this year, just a few months before his 100th birthday. He leaves behind a huge hole in humanity but an immense legacy of wisdom. He was fond of saying, “Adversity is a state in which man mostly becomes easily acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.”

As a young man, one of my earliest business mentors told me that the secret to success is “Always do what you say you are going to do.” I was looking for the shortcut to riches, and this elderly multimillionaire continually frustrated me by spouting what I thought were proverbial platitudes. He went on to explain that if you commit to always doing what you say you will do, you will be known as an honest person, and you will be very careful what you commit to because you know you will be holding yourself to a higher standard.

It’s hard to find anyone, including myself, who gives advice through the written or spoken word that doesn’t at some point implore everyone to focus on the things that matter. I have written and said this many times, but I still realize that in my own life it’s easy to focus on what matters if you can ever define what matters.

Recently, I have been editing some recorded interviews I did with my friend and mentor Coach John Wooden. Coach Wooden passed away earlier this year, and we want to release the recordings featuring his wit and wisdom shortly on what would have been his 100th birthday. I believe that if you live on this earth nearly a century, you gain certain wisdom and knowledge that is priceless; however, Coach Wooden’s elite level of wisdom and perspective cannot only be attributed to his long life.

Most consumers would agree that choices are good when we are making buying decisions; therefore, we would assume the more choices we have, the better we feel. This is simply not the case. Recent studies have shown that consumers prefer a few choices over only having one item to consider. Too many choices, on the other hand, gives them the feeling of being overwhelmed, and they are paralyzed in their buying decision.

My late, great friend and mentor, John Wooden, was fond of saying, “Assume that your best is good enough.” Coach Wooden was far from an overoptimistic Pollyanna-filled dreamer. He was a realistic, down-to-earth man who achieved the highest goals imaginable by putting the right people in the right places and expecting them to perform at their best.

Abraham Lincoln often described maturity as the ability to perform vigorously long before the urgency is at hand. Most of us during our high school or college years allowed the deadline for the term paper or the date for the final exam to creep up on us before we were fully prepared. Successful people overcome this in their professional lives as they set their own deadlines and do not let outside forces or other people control their sense of urgency or force them into desperation.

This past weekend, I was out of town to give a speech. Just as they were preparing to introduce me to the audience, someone let me know that there had just been a news bulletin that Coach John Wooden had passed away. I was immediately struck by a flood of emotions. I was sad for the loss of my friend but grateful that he had lived 99 productive years. I was emotional about the loss of a great leader and mentor but thankful that the lessons he had taught me and so many others around the world would endure.

This week, a woman emailed me and said, “... Recently I was reading some of your quotes. ‘Take ownership of your life; you are where you are because of decisions you have made in the past.’ ‘You change your life when you change your mind.’ I have taken ownership in my past, but haven’t seen any difference in my life, just keep hitting walls. Do you have more insight on this?” Although I don’t have the answers, I do have some questions that will help to frame the answer that all of us have inside our minds, hearts, and spirits.

When it’s all said and done, the greatest joy you will receive from any dream is pursuing it. Success is a long journey, much like climbing a mountain. You will spend months and years mounting the expedition that will get you to the top of the mountain. You will only spend a few moments at the summit. Be sure you enjoy the journey.

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. For years in my corporate and arena speaking engagements, I have challenged my audiences by telling them that most people spend more time planning their three-day weekend than they spend planning what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. This accurate self-evaluation is extremely difficult.

Excuses are those stories we tell ourselves and repeat to others in order to justify our own lack of performance. I understand and am fully aware that bad things happen to good people. Current conditions and factors often get in the way of our plans; however, for every person experiencing an obstacle that uses it as an excuse to justify their failure, I will show you another person facing the same obstacle who has used it as a springboard to even greater success.

We human beings live with the interesting paradox that we seem to want that which we can’t have and despise that which is readily available to us in abundance. Scarcity becomes attractive, and quantity is ignored. Whether it’s a car, a club, clothing, jewelry, or travel, when we have acquired or experienced things that others have not, we feel the value. On the other hand, if everyone has experienced something, we take it for granted. This can be important to us both personally and professionally.

Recently, I was in a meeting of executives and business owners. The conversation turned to work ethic and the length of their work day and work week. I heard several individuals who were intending to brag state, “I haven’t had a day off in six months,” or “I haven’t taken a vacation in five years.” In my mind, these ludicrous statements are like someone discussing car maintenance stating, “I haven’t changed the oil in my car since 1998,” or “I’ve ignored a Check Engine light on my dashboard for a whole year.” There’s a big difference between working smarter, working harder, or working longer.

As you go through the holiday season this year, try to live in the moment and enjoy each experience one at a time. Avoid the temptation to become over-committed and learn the power of the amazing two-letter word: no. Try to take a few days off before January 1st to reflect upon where you’ve been and where you want to go. Try to get out of your normal environment and eliminate all distractions so you are forced to reflect.

The average American is 27 days from insolvency. This means that if you cut off their income, they will run out of cash within 27 days. As we face layoffs across the country and a very tight job market in which to find a new position, it is not surprising that people are going into a crisis mode. If you find yourself suddenly being one of these unfortunate statistics, there are several steps you can take that may help. First and foremost, don’t panic. Fear is never your friend, and panic always produces pain. Calmly take inventory of your current situation, and try to rationally and creatively answer the following questions.

If I had a dollar for every time during the past year I have heard someone say, “These are the worst economic times since the Great Depression,” I would have enough money to create my own stimulus package. I am well aware that there are many people hurting. With double-digit unemployment, the decline in the stock market, and the ongoing bleak forecasts, it can be alarming. As you go through your day today, commit to make these difficult times ones that you can look back on as the springboard to your future success.

When you have reevaluated both the top line and the bottom line, there is one more very fertile place to look for additional revenue, and this is in the area of productivity. Adding to the top line is like putting more fuel in the tank. Cutting expenses and adding to the bottom line is like throwing cargo overboard or shortening your trip. Increasing productivity is like tuning up your engine to get more out of the fuel you currently have while taking the same trip or even traveling farther.

Humanity, itself, creates an ongoing set of problems that are inevitably followed by solutions. These solutions create a new and ever-expanding set of problems. As you go through your day today, welcome opportunities disguised as problems, and seek the knowledge that is waiting to be known.

In our daily lives, you and I have the opportunity to perform any number of tasks. Many of these tasks are simple and even mundane. We can perform these tasks in a haphazard or mediocre fashion. On the other hand, we have the privilege of beginning to perform simple and unnoticed tasks with a degree of excellence. In doing so, we can begin to improve our lives and elevate our existence.

Balance has been a buzzword and popular topic in business circles over the past few years. There are any number of consultants, advisors, and life coaches that purport to help you find balance between your life and your work. I am somewhat skeptical of this in principle, because part of your life is your work, and your work should be one of the elements that makes your life rich.

Human beings seek to avoid the feeling of randomness; therefore, we want to establish blame or responsibility for everything that happens. Control is an illusion just as blame and responsibility are impossible to clearly establish. We judge our own intentions while judging everyone else’s actions. This gives us a skewed perspective on the world.