When Bill Gates and Warren Buffet first met, Gates’ mother hosted a dinner party for them.

She asked each person sitting at the table to share what they believed was the single most important factor contributing to their success in life.

Without missing a beat, Gates and Buffet gave the same one word answer: “Focus.”

So why am I sharing this with you? I think we can all learn from this even if we’re not among the richest people in the world.

You see, we have about another month of summer before we get into our routines again.

Before we know it, the kids will be back at school and our social calendars will slow down.

This isn’t at all meant to be a guilt trip but what you do in terms of nutrition and exercise will have an impact on your fitness level and goals for the fall.

Sure, you may not be as dialed in with your fitness in the thick of summer. But that doesn’t mean you have to let go of it completely.

Here are a few things you can do so you don’t go backwards.

Get workouts in where you can. Once or twice per week will go along way. I’ve made the mistake of thinking that because my workout schedule wasn’t perfect, I shouldn’t bother. That is a limiting and false belief. Even 10 minute workouts add up!

You can also plan in some healthy meals. Even if you indulge at parties, there are a lot of other meals where you can eat more supportively. Many people make the same mistake as I described above when it comes to nutrition. They lose momentum as a result of a chaotic schedule so they mail it in.

My challenge to you is to have some fitness goals in the month of August even if they aren’t as aggressive.

A couple of weeks ago we went on a family vacation. There were lots of cool activities where we were but honestly the best memories were just doing simple things like eating together and playing games.

One night in particular we went to a gymnasium where they had all sorts of games – table tennis, foosball, volleyball, basketball, etc.

After playing different games for a while we ended up messing around with a basketball.

While my kids are pretty active, they really haven’t played much, if any basketball.

We began playing “keep away” where I would dribble around and they would try to get the ball from me.

They got a huge kick out of me bouncing the ball around their backs, through my legs, etc.

Once we settled down, my daughter Alyssa (8) said something I’ll probably never forget.

Looking at me with her soft blue eyes she said, “Dad, can you teach me how to dribble?”

I was honored and began teaching her the basics that I learned 30 years ago – Use your finger tips, bend at the elbow, etc.

It took her a bit but she started to get it. At first she would mess up right away but in a few minutes she was able to bounce it 10 times.

I guess I wasn’t too shocked when after just a few minutes she said, “OK now I want to bounce it through my legs like you.”

“Slow down,” I told her. You just started learning. Once you get really good at these basics we can work on the fancier stuff. Thankfully she nodded in agreement.

It got me thinking that we all do that to a certain extent.

We want to get to the next level before doing the necessary work. We want results yesterday. We over complicate things. I’m the same way.

In fitness, this plays out with people looking for the perfect diet or fitness program.

How about just starting to drink more water, taking a vitamin, or going for 3 30 minute walks per week. Once you learn to do a basic dribble, you can then go between your legs and behind your back.

“I’ll start my diet Monday.” Have you ever said that or heard someone say it?

I almost fell into that sort of mentality recently. You seem I hurt my back and was out of BJJ for a little while.

I wanted to and was ready to go back but I had an easy excuse. I was getting ready to go on vacation in a couple of days. I said to myself, “I’ll just go back to it after vacation.”

Thankfully I caught myself. As easy as it would have been to push it off (I had lots to do), I’m so glad I went.

It was good for my confidence. I made a little promise to myself and kept it.

I got a little better. Of course I got better by going compared to if I didn’t go.

Perhaps most importantly I minimized the lack of momentum.

This is something people neglect to realize. There is power in ACTION!

So take action today, no matter how small, in the area you want to improve on.

After working with people to transform their bodies and lives for over 20 years, transforming different areas of my own life, and studying successful people, there is a common thread in terms of where to start.

People who want to transform themselves often struggle with what to do first. Is it a special diet? A crazy fitness program?

The first step is surprisingly simple.

Make a small promise to yourself and keep it.

It truly doesn’t matter what it is. At this point it’s all about creating a habit and building confidence.

It takes a healthy self esteem and a certain level of confidence to achieve lasting success in any area. A huge part of that self confidence comes from making these small promises to yourself and keeping them.

Sometimes these promises are verbal (“I’m going to start my diet Monday”) and sometimes they’re silent (“I really need to plan my meals”).

Either way these promises are absolutely crucial.

When kept we can become unstoppable and when broken we lose confidence and begin a downward spiral.

If you’re doubting me, think of any success you’ve achieved and I bet you can trace it back to a single promise that started a chain. And any “failure” can be traced back to a single promise that was broken. Maybe it was a first drink or one too many. Maybe it was a missed workout or a donut at the office. I’m not sure but it was something.

Most of you know that about 10 years ago Melissa and I began a journey of paying down over 6 figures (between 100-200K) of non-mortgage debt. I still remember the first credit card swipe that started it.

My challenge to you this week is to make a promise and keep it. I don’t care how small it is. The habit is more important than anything.

You can take it one step further by giving your goal a voice. Write it down or tell someone.

Making the little promise AND adding accountability to it can start you on your path of becoming unstoppable.

Much of our success and happiness is determined by our expectations.

Honest Abe said, “Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Here is a lesson on the power of our mindset that I was reminded of by our 1 year old Sophia.

Sophia was recently giving my wife Melissa a hard time with keeping her bib on while eating some pretty messy food.

In fact, she was constantly ripping the bib off.

After different attempts by Melissa to try to keep the bib on she decided she would keep the bib intact with a pin. This way Sophia wouldn’t be able to rip it off.

A very interesting thing happened from there.

The pin wouldn’t hold. Melissa couldn’t get it on.

It turned out that’s all that was needed though; her trying. Since Sophia thought the bib was pinned on, she completely stopped trying to pull it off.

What’s more is that the next day Melissa put the bib on her without the pin and she didn’t try to pull it off.

Since she believed she wouldn’t be able to get it off she didn’t even try.

I’m thankful Sophia stopped giving Melissa so many problems but how many of us are limited in a similar way because of a false belief?

We believe things like:

• I can’t overcome my “sweet tooth”

• Since I failed in the past I’ll fail again

• I’m too lazy

• I always give up

• I’m too busy

• I’m too old

• I’m too young

• I’m too ___________

I’m here to tell you that that you CAN move forward and need not be limited by any false beliefs.

What is the pin holding your bib on?

We know sugar isn’t good for you. Many people ask if they can eat fruit even though it has sugar?

This video answers the most common questions about eating fruit when trying to eliminate sugar.