I saw this on Facebook last week and shared it on the Art Licensing Info page… within an hour it got 19 likes and a share.  I decided it was worth putting on the blog so no one misses it!

Something to think about for 2012: …..”The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are. Analyze your life in terms of your environment. Are the things around you helping you towards success or are they holding you back? You are not planted in the ground like a tree… you can change. What part of your environment needs to change?”

 – Keith J. Cunningham

I’ll be doing so much moving in 2012 it is making my head spin… and as if I might forget everything that will be happening, my mom reminds me at least once a week.   “Tara, you just have so much going on and coming up…”  Really?  I had forgotten! (Okay, I really hadn’t but you’d think I might with all the well-intentioned mentions.)

• I’ll be changing my physical environment – selling the house my son and I have been in since 2004 when I got divorced and moving into the house I’m remodeling with my oh-so-fabulous fiancé.

• Who I hang out with will change drastically as my son graduates from high school in June and heads we-don’t-know-where-yet for college.  He’s been my sidekick for over 18 years – talk about a change!

• I’m getting married in August – hence the change in environment and it will be a change in day-to-day life.

These are all givens… but I’m going to give more thought to the ideas put forth by Mr Cunningham. (Not sure who he is, by the way) Have I optimized things to be happy, to lead me to the success that I want on all fronts – both business and personal?

Just because things are what they are doesn’t mean you can’t change them.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read that you are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with – and usually have similar wealth, health and attitude.  So are you hanging out with whiners who just complain about the status quo or people who actively try to live life in a positive way and do things to get them closer to their dreams? What do you watch on tv, read or listen to on the radio?  Is it uplifting and motivating or demoralizing and making you want to go back to bed because “what’s the point anyway?”

I’ll be taking some quiet time to think about these things and recommend you do too.  We only have so many days on this earth so why not make them as happy and fulfilling as they can be?

Here’s to your creative success!

– Tara Reed