Many of you have heard of financial guru Dave Ramsey. He has become famous teaching people how to change the direction of their financial lives.

I heard a talk he gave about those who do well financially versus those who do poorly.

He made an observation I would like to share. He said that people who are doing poorly are:

• Seldom excited about anything
• Seldom optimistic
• Frequently scared

I was reflecting upon those characteristics as it relates to my goal of having PalletOne people “happen to the world.”

To happen to the world, you must be frequently excited. The excitement comes because you know what you do matters. You can be excited because you know you have the ability to make a difference. You can be excited because you find yourself immersed in projects which are creating positive change.

To happen to the world, you must be optimistic. You can be optimistic because you have a record of achievement. You know that when you focus on something, it gets better. So, the question is focus. You focus, things get better. Having the confidence to know your persistent effort causes positive change creates a bias for action.

Finally, to happen to the world, you must be brave. Brave enough to try new things. Brave enough to confront shortcomings. Brave enough to put aside thoughts about risk and to focus on hard work and effort that yields results.

The outcome of “happening to the world” is confidence, optimism and courage. That’s the way to improve.