Did you know that the space shuttle used more fuel in the first sixty seconds after liftoff than it would consume during its entire voyage around the circumference of the Earth?

This is because at the beginning, it had to overcome the terrifically strong forces of gravity that wanted to keep it on the ground. So it took a ton of energy and a large degree of work to push the vehicle higher and higher--at that early stage--until "escape velocity" was reached. The forces of gravity had then been transcended. The spacecraft was free. To Soar.

When it comes to you making the changes that you must make to lead the life you most desire, you're sort of like that space shuttle.

You need to exert a ton of energy and do hard work to overcome your previous ways of operating. To leave behind your gravitational forces (the ones that have restricted your original greatness).

You have only this life to live. Your happiness, healthiness, greatness, and wealthiness depend on using your days well. So shift from focusing mostly on the things you need to do into a a clearer and more concentrated sense of what you need to strip out of your hours. Mastery is far more about the pursuit of simplicity than the seduction of complexity. And a meaningful and satisfying life is sometimes more about what you take out of it than what you put into it.

Jimmy Iovine, a titan of the music industry, wanted to woo Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame away from a small independent record company that held the right to his music. The owner of that outfit was tough--and not at all interested in letting his prized artist leave.

Iovine's solution was to rise early every morning and perform a ritual. He's walk into his bathroom, where he had a phone, shut the door and called the owner. He did this each morning at 6am for nearly an entire year.

Eventually, the owner relented--because Iovine was unstoppable. When Iovine was later asked why he wouldn't give up on acquiring Reznor and called almost 365 days in a row, he said that it's important not to let your ego get int he way of the result you're committed to achieving.

If others do laugh at you because of your relentless belief in yourself and your ambition to get a brave dream done, recall what Dr. Seuss once wrote: "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mid don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

(the above has been edited for brevity)