When I was young I moved a lot. By the time I was 12 we had moved 15 times. I came to a small town in upstate NY as the new kid. I had moved into the school about 10 weeks after it started and was not happy with the idea of leaving my friends in Illinois for upstate.

I did not start off well. I got into trouble and received horrible grades. I remember by the midway point of the second quarter I had a 1 in history; literally a 1.

Needless to say I did not make a good impression. But by the end of the year I had pulled myself together and started to take things seriously. I was able to pull all of my grades up but English. I had the opportunity to take summer school, but could not imagine being in school in the summer and virtually all year long.

I never liked school. It was always the necessary evil.

To start the next year I immediately started talking to the school guidance councilor about doubling up. Obviously he did not take me seriously, but he made a deal with me anyway. If I passed 8^th grade English I could double up the next year.

I passed 8^th grade English and went on to pass both 9^th and 10^th grade English the next year. I graduated on time and with a decent GPA.

I remember in the reception line directly after graduation my guidance councilor came up to me and said “If someone would have told me you would graduate, let alone on time, I would never have believed them.” I took that as both a compliment and later in life a challenge.

I did not want to go to college, but my girlfriend was going and I decided I had nothing better to do. She would be attending school three hours away and I did not want to be that far from her. I attended a school one hour away. They had a new finance program there and I would enroll in the two year program.

In this program I found something I truly enjoyed. Business and Finance. It was something I enjoyed learning about and knew I was placing the foundation for my life and career.

With graduation approaching my girlfriend and I talked and decided we should get engaged and I would transfer to Keuka for my bachelors. Looking back it all went so fast. I was a kid who had no college aspirations and now I was a college graduate with a bachelors degree.

Later that year, after graduation, I figured why not get my MBA. I loved business and all the things that came with running a business. I also loved to teach and knew one day I would love to be a professor. I also knew I wanted kids and should get my MBA before that. Well kids came before I completed my MBA, but in December of 2010 I graduated.

I thought I would be done with school, but the feeling of accomplishment that came with completing that MBA and knowing I could do it had me wanting more. I realized after completing my MBA I felt like I wasn’t moving forward anymore.

I have been exploring several opportunities  I have looked at my Doctorate Degree, Law Degree, Six Sigma Certificates, other professional designations and also just auditing classes at the local college. I read everyday and am usually working on at least two books at a time. I have a thirst for knowledge and look forward to learning new things and diving deeper into topics that interest me.

While I am not sure what I am going to do next; I know I have to do something and I cannot just stand still. We all need to continue to push ourselves and develop our strengths and weaknesses.

As I talk about all too often on this blog, you have to do what makes you happy and what you enjoy. Everyday we have to be taking steps to get what we want. If you have that nagging feeling you aren’t doing all you can to reach your goals, decide today what it will take to do so and do it.

What will you do today to ensure you are taking steps to reach your goals?