One day when I was around my early to mid twenties, I went to the hairdressers for my monthly trim. This woman enquired about whether I had heard about the tragic car crash that had recently occured. I hadn’t and she then went on to describe what had happened.

Three young men who were all aged twenty-two, were on the way for an evening in the local public house. One of them decided he would drive and on the way there, partly due to the fact that he was driving too quickly, he lost control of the car. His vehicle had then careered straight into a large tree, all three of the people in the car had died at the scene.

She continued that one of the men which had died, had worked in the butchers, which was only two doors away from her shop. She described the man in question, which turned out to be a person that I knew, just to say hello to. I actually saw him on most mornings and we often smiled at each other, and would say something like, hi there.

Later on when I was at home, I started to think even more about this particular person. Even though he was friendly, he always looked quite stressed and did not seem that happy. If he had known what was about to happen to him, I am sure he would have made the most of the time he had left.

It should not have taken this kind of tragedy to bring me to my senses, but it did. Morbid as it is I pondered on the thought that we all have to die at some stage and that none us know when that day will come. I am sorry if that is a bit morbid, but it is true. Not all of us will live until retirement age and our lives could end tomorrow.

I have always been a bit of a worrier; mainly about my speech I suppose as I had a stuttering speech impediment. I did eventually manage to gain fluency via an intensive one-to-one stuttering therapy course but even then I started to worry about business; I work for a composite door company and for a business cost reduction specialist on a part time basis.

I now have learnt to stop stressing so much – life, I have now learnt, is just too short.

I personally believe that it is essentail that we set ourselves personal targets over various periods including a lifetime goal. It should not be purely a case of making personal targets – we need to make sure we attain them.

Write down your goals

I have always wanted to be a success and to have a happy life, I am sure this is the same for most people. In the early part of my life I was unable to achieve both of these aims; this was partly because I had a stuttering problem. In my early to mid twenties I decided to attempt to learn about ways in which I could ensure that the future would be a lot better, than what the past had been. I soon began to read literature about these subjects in my quest to improve my life.

I soon realised the importance of setting goals and targets and was hopeful that this could help me to stop stuttering. I thought about what I wanted to be and which course I wanted my life to take. I wrote out three different lists of my aims for the future.

The first list included what I wanted to achieve within the next twelve months. The second list contained what I wanted to achieve within five years and the third list was my lifetime goals – one of which was to own my own company selling composite front doors.

Avoid negative people

There are people out there who try to bring me down. Nasty comments, dirty looks and gossiping were all things that these nasty people would do. They would treat me as if I was some sort of freak and as if I was one of life’s losers. These type of people have caused me many sleepless nights and have had a negative affect on my self-confidence.

I knew that I had to steer well clear from these bad influences; this can however be easier said than done.

I am pleased to report that I have now overcome the speech impediment – life is now far much happier for me.

I also own a business and also work on a part-time basis working along side a business cost reduction specialist.

As you can see life is now so much better for me and I am sure that it could be for you.