Halfway!

I LOVE the 4th of July!  I come from a small town in New Hampshire and our town always went ALL OUT for the 4th; the first one I remember was 1976 and being the BIG BICENTENNIAL year, it was quite a huge deal.  We were members of the Andover Snowmobile Club and all of the various organizations in town sponsored a float in the big parade that went all the way through town (about 1 mile total!) and it was a MAJOR competition to capture the glory of 1st Prize for the best float!  The Snowmobile Club came up with some pretty awesome ones, one year we had a larger-than-life Mr. Peanut and one year was a Civil War theme, here's my Dad dressed up like an old war hero:

(My sister took a picture of a picture, she doesn't know how to scan -- don't judge!  Haha!)

Anyway, now that I'm older living in a state in which I do not have such longstanding roots and a city that's a little too big for an old-fashioned hometown parade, the holiday has a little different meaning for me beyond the natural feelings of patriotism and love of All Things America. . . of course I still make sure we do something cool and fun that usually involves pyrotechnics, propane and partying with friends, but I mark the Fourth of July from a little different perspective now as a coach and business owner . . .

I'm not shy about poo-pooing "New Year's Resolutions" because I think they're kind of like excuses (which are like a$$holes, if you've ever heard that joke!  "Everybody's got one and they all stink!"  I know, totally inappropriate, but true!) and you only see a small percentage of the population in February or March still rocking out their fitness, financial, family or fulfillment goals that were so passionately professed to on January 1st.

So I like the "do-over" that July 4th, Independence Day, brings.  There's lots of sales on personal development products, (and cars, oddly enough) the days are longer, the weather is fabulous and it's the perfect time of year to renew those goals and ideals that you tried to set for yourself in January, without all of the overwhelming holiday debt and letdown to contend with.  This is the ideal season to take those books, courses or other personal development items you invested in 6 months ago, and make the second half of the year count before you get caught up in holidays again!

So, proclaim your independence from the monotony or possibly mediocrity of your life and resolve to some GREAT things with the rest of your summer and the 3rd and 4th quarter of this year!  Make it like Christmas in July!  Goal-set, create a DMO and a vision board and use the longer days to dive into those personal development materials you've got sitting around.  If you don't have any, check me out on Facebook or Pinterest or comment and ask me what I'm reading and working on!  I've got lots of ideas to get you going!

Happy Independence Day!