We can't sugar coat life for our kids.

What do you think needs to happen for us to move forward?

When will we accept the challenge?

Watch TV, read the paper, or listen to the news and life is riddled with challenge after challenge. Everyone wants to be heard but no one wants to listen to anyone. They want to be heard, so they can explain to you all the difficult times in their life, and recall with great detail each and every moment of pain. I am so sick and tired of people mistaking effort for failure and pain for depression. Individuals and organizations have opportunities to try different things every day. The problem is they try it for one day, one week or one month then say “well it doesn't work”.

The challenge I'm taking about is one that has been lost for a long time and that is a commitment to excellence. You see it from time to time in sports as well as in business. When I was growing up you played to win. It didn't matter what the game was: checkers, baseball, or basketball. No matter what, try to win. What happened when you lost? You tried that much harder to win. Why does this country lack leadership? Because more times than not we are teaching our kids to compete, be fair and everyone should get a chance to play. Does anyone see the gigantic flaw in that theory?

Life does not work that way and when those kids grow up, they expect life to treat them the same way. Then when it does not happen that way, they lack the skills to handle the challenges they face. We need to know now more than ever to challenge our youth, keep score and teach them what it takes to compete. If we don't think life is a game, we are missing a critical point. The point is we get no practice, no dress rehearsal, no editing in this game we call life. We get one chance, one shot to make the most of it. I have a 7-year-old son, and he believes he can do anything. I encourage that, but I also challenge him to be more, do more, live full each and every day.

We can't sugar coat life. It is full of challenges. What we need to do is prepare our kids and youth, by holding them to a higher standard each and everyday.

The definition of luck is: when opportunity meets preparation. Why do most people call the most successful people in the world lucky all the time? Because they don't realize that they have been preparing for that moment their whole life. Want to give more to your community, family and friends? Hold them to a higher standard in life, I guarantee you one day soon they will thank you for it.