Whenever you set a goal, life is going to send you all kinds of situations and circumstances to test you.  It's life's way of asking you if you're serious about what you want.

Most people don't get what they want out of life because they aren't serious enough about what they want.

The people achieving their dreams have a completely different mindset.  When obstacles crop up, they see them as opportunities to strengthen their commitment.  Their actions send the message of "Hey, look, I'm going after this thing and nothing is going to stop me.  Bring it on."  Other people see obstacles as a sign that they should just give up.  Their attitude sends the message of "Well, it's no big deal.  I didn't really want that dream anyway and I'd rather quit dreaming than be disappointed or challenged."

Winners make things happen.  Non-winners wait for things to happen to them.  There's a quote by Emerson (I think) and it goes, "Good things come to those who wait."  You've probably heard of it, right?  No surprise how people love to cling to this quote...as they sit on their couch watching tv every day.  But did you know that that is only half of the quote?  Here is the whole thing:

"Good things come to those who wait, but only what's left-over from those who hustle."

What do you want?  The glory or the leftovers? 

Raised by working class immigrant parents and exposed to Hollywood's most elite experts in every field, Maria Menounos wants to share her tips and secrets with the EveryGirl, on Everything: her systems to organize life, manage time and ascend the ladder of success, her lazy woman's workout, her method to lose weight (how SHE lost 40lbs and kept it off) and her guide to being your own stylist (how to do hair, make up and fashion as if you had a team of stylists).

Maria shares personal experiences and photos from her life and red carpet journey as well as the various mantras, mottos and philosophies she's adapted from the world's most successful women. Maria gives advice on health, career, relationships, renovations, recreation and so much more. From your carpet to the red carpet, she teaches the EveryGirl, on the "every salary", how to groom themselves like the stars, how to live healthier and happier lives AND how to set themselves up for success.

Pick one book that you're going to finish reading this week. 

I think the world and our education system has gravely underestimated the value of self-education.  The prevalent mentality among people seems to be that significant learning is something you do at a desk in front of a chalkboard with a teacher in a room (preferable air-conditioned) at specific times of the day with people of a specific age.  It is as if somehow the learning you do on your own does not count.  It does not qualify or quantify.  Now, I think this attitude is changing as people become more savvy about where and how to get information, but nobody wants to open their mouths and say it out loud.  So I'll be the brave one and say it:

"You no longer have to go to a specific school to learn things now that we have the internet." - Seth Godin

Okay, Seth Godin said it first - but hey, proof that I believe in being a good student.  Before you go crazy on me, know that I am not against going to college or having teachers or getting a degree.  I'm doing all those things...I'm just a little bit more creative about how I do it.  I want people to know that the way we go about acquiring our education is changing...for the better.

Just compare the attitudes.  This doesn't apply to everyone but it is a reality that the average person who graduates from college never goes on to read another book.  What does this say about the education system?  We have isolated the act of learning so much so that students have mentally placed education in a box - it is something that happens in an institution and not without the aid of someone "qualified" to teach us.

Yes, we need teachers, but we do not need to confine our positive experience of them to grade school or college.  Because of the internet, they are all around us, 24/7.  I can go on youtube and watch video after video of talks by Fulton J. Sheen or the Pope or anybody practically.  I can look up talks on TED of people who are leaders in a myriad of fields.  I can read the insights of entrepreneurs who are freely giving their advice about exactly what I am interested in...exactly what I need to know.  I can go on Oxford University's website and take their online course on Bronte Literature and communicate with teachers and fellow students via chatrooms and email as I sit at my desk drinking coffee on an island far, far away from campus.

The fact is that we are not teaching our kids the deepest, biggest, greatest and most profound lesson that they can possibly learn.  A lesson that has the power to serve them in every facet of their lives for the rest of their lives.  And that is that they have the power to teach themselves.  They have the power to create.  They have the power to be the Steve Jobs, Pablo Picasso, or Mozart at whatever they want to do.  Why don't we do this?  Maybe we are too busy and consumed with teaching facts.  In an interview I listened to recently, Seth Godin, a popular author who writes about the post-industrial revolution, stripped this problem down to the hard core issue when he spoke of how we are making kids memorize all these facts when we should really be teaching them how to look them up.  Dare we teach in a way that puts the power in the hands of the student?

Once upon a time, memorized knowledge of facts and mass conformity was a valuable asset.  However, that was during the Industrial Age.  The world has changed...but our education system has not.  It is beginning to, yes, but few are the schools and colleges adapting to meet the needs of students today.  Because of the internet and technology, the world and the way it works is changing at lightning speed and the new economy that is rising is in need of people who are brave enough to take risks, make mistakes, find answers, initiate, be creative, innovate, learn multiple skills, take responsibility for themselves and understand the value of life-long learning and self-education.  Is the education we are giving our kids effectively preparing them for such a world?

At the moment, the learning that I am receiving from the books on my shelf, my experience in the marketplace, my roaming on the internet is giving me eons more in value than what I am learning from my textbooks which are still bent on a student's capacity to memorize facts and follow the rules.  And maybe that is the way it should be.