It’s never fun saying good-bye to summer. You had a great time. Maybe you went to the cottage, or maybe you traveled abroad. You probably had a family BBQ where you had to tell your grandma that you actually liked her potato salad even though she mistook onions for potatoes and mothballs for eggs.

Whatever you did this summer, chances are, it was a good one. Summer usually is.

That brings us here. September. Not only is it the month that Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Hilary Duff, Keanu Reeves and Dr. Phil were born in, it’s usually the month that school starts.

We all know Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix Trilogy and since he was born in the month that school starts, I decided to ask Neo if he had any advice for this upcoming year.

Hey Neo, any advice for people starting a new school year?

I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid… afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.

Wow, that’s deep. Isn’t that a quote from The Matrix?

I know kung fu.

That actually doesn’t make any sense at all.

Okey dokey… Free my mind. Right, no problem, free my mind, free my mind, no problem, right…

Ok, now you’re just quoting random lines from The Matrix and this isn’t working how I thought it would. Thanks for nothing Neo.

I’ll take it from here.

This year is your year. You get to decide what kind of year you are going to have. If you had a crappy year last year, you can make this one better. If you didn’t make many friends, you can change that now. If you weren’t as involved as you’d like to be, this year you can be as involved as you want.

There’s one thing you need to do to make this year the best year ever… decide.

Decide this year will be different. Decide that you will get involved. Decide that you will try-out for the team or audition for the lead role. Decide to volunteer for an awesome organization or decide to put your photography skills on display for the yearbook committee.

There are four decisions you can make, right now, that will help this year will be the most awesome school year of your life.

Decision 1: Decide what you will have

What do you want to have this year? Do you want 90% in your chemistry class? Do you want a new group of friends? Do you want a sick part-time job to help you pay for University?  Do you want the reputation of being a leader?

What are the physical and measureable things you want this year? Decide now. Don’t talk yourself out of the things you want. Don’t tell yourself that these things aren’t realistic. Set the bar high.

There’s no magic wand to wave to get the stuff that you want. There’s only decision. The decision to have something, the decision that it’s realistic to have and the decision to start now.

Once you’ve made the decision, stick to it. Cut off every other option until you have these things. Decide how you will stay focused. Decide what you will sacrifice to have these things. Decide that you will not lose focus until you have them.

Decide.

PART TWO COMING SOON…