On the Fourth of July in 1776 we declared our independence from King George III, Britain and the tyrannical reign over the United States.

Declaring independence was not a simple matter. Especially when the greatest nation in the world believes that it should control your territory and resources. Britain engaged in a battle to “protect” what was “theirs”. It would take five years before the United States’ independence was acknowledged and granted to them. 140,000 lives would be lost due to illness or battle.

If you study the war, you learn King George’s strategy was to wage a war of endurance. He’d just throw more people and guns at us until we were exhausted and quit from fatigue. He underestimated the will of the Americans to have their freedom. His country was ultimately the one who surrendered.

Here’s what I love about this day:

I love that we celebrate the day we declared we would be independent rather than the day we achieved it.

In our lives, the great days are those where we make a decision to change course then follow that decision with committed effort, energy and will until that change is decided.

When we grasp the power to decide the change, we begin to harness our potential.

Happy Independence Day! Despite our issues, I believe our country is the best environment to achieve your dreams.