When you chase your dreams, you will fail often.

And failure strengthens you for the future.

In truth, today's challenges help you become the future version of you. But only if you embrace failure.

Forget the past and be present today. Life is a game of failure or opportunity.

It's all how you see it. Perspective is everything right?

How to Change Your Perspective

Consider baseball. After all, even a hall-of-fame player will fail to get a hit two out of three times.

And most players will fail to get a hit three out of four times.

A pitcher will give up hits and home runs and fielders will make errors.

Yes, baseball is a game where you fail often.

What if you change your perspective? Could your life be a game of opportunity?

I mean, you get so many opportunities in baseball right? After each play, no matter what happens, you get another chance.

"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

~ Babe Ruth

In many ways, today's failure brings you closer to tomorrow's win.

Meet "Unfocused" Mark

There are two people who are ready to lose fat and get strong. I'll call them Mark and Felisha (not their real names).

At the surface, Mark is a good guy. He recently celebrated his 45th birthday with his wife and kids.

He's financially successful and fun to be around. But he struggles with his health and this causes bigger problems in his life.

Let me explain.

Mark spends his time (and money) obsessing over short-term "cleanse diets" and "4-minute" workouts that promise massive results with little-or-no effort.

He's got the fancy "fitness tracker" wristwatch. He owns all of the "extreme" workout DVDs.

His podcast playlist is 100% motivational speakers and personal-empowerment experts. He even paid for the $15,000 self-help weekend super-seminar in Las Vegas, tweeting inspirational quotes (with fist-bump emojis) the whole time.

Mark desperately wants to lose fat and feel happier. But after all of this time and effort, he's still obese and unhealthy.

He's made forward progress with a few biohacks, only to backpedal and loose ground just when he experiences success.

Did I mention he's lost 50 pounds, only to gain it all back when he returned to his bad habits? It's almost like he's afraid of success.

He is always "too busy" with "not enough time" for the basics (think eating portion-controlled meals, training smart, and getting a good night's sleep).

He has nine different social-media accounts. He has a half dozen news feeds. He never misses watching "his teams" play on television, where he sits for hours mindlessly eating.

He drinks diet soda, juice, and alcohol. In fact, he drinks everything except plain water.

Mark says he works about 16 hours a day and considers himself a "go-getter."

In the past week, Mark's trying to reinvent himself with a "gratitude journal" which he will use for about two weeks. By week number three, he'll simply get too busy to write in it and then abandon the idea altogether.

Mark's frustrated and can't figure out why he hasn't "made it" yet. He "works out" and "diets." But why isn't it working?

Hint: Diets are short-term. Random daily workouts will leave you sore and broken.

Don't be like Mark. Instead, focus on habits to stay healthy for decades versus days.

Meet "Focused" Felisha

Felisha is also 45 years old, married with children, but she's the complete opposite of Mark.

She's not focused on creating dozens of new habits. She's never been to a $15,000-per-weekend self-help seminar.

She hasn't purchased workout DVDs. Her only mentoring is in a guaranteed-results coaching program.

She has ONE priority-one goal and makes incremental progress each week.

• ONE singular focus
• ONE meal-prepping habit
• ONE proven training program
• ONE recovery strategy (she gets eight hours of sleep every night)

And Felisha is respecting her body by keeping it lean and strong. Her strength gives her self confidence and, as a result, happiness.

Her athletic levels of bodyfat act as an insurance policy against preventable disease, like diabetes and heart problems.

Who will end up living the life they desire and deserve?

Who will inspire others?

Who will have more joy and fulfillment?

Who's going to come out on top? Mark or Felisha?

Of course, it's Felisha. She's focused on building the best version of herself.

By concentrating on the basics. And by staying accountable every single day.

Her success is contagious and she has a burning desire to share her healthy habits with others.

Yet, so many over-40 folks are like Mark. Running around like a headless chicken. Hopping from one thing to the next.

Believing that if you "hustle more" and "work harder," everything will automatically be okay.

You know what?

All successful folks follow nearly the same set of habits.

• Proactive versus reactive
• Mindful about training, nutrition, and recovery
• Stay accountable to a professional coach

Ask yourself this: How will this week, month, and year be different for you?

You want to finally have a breakthrough, right? You want to be leaner, stronger, and happier?

Then get honest with yourself.

Unsubscribe from all the no-value emails cluttering your inbox.Leave the distracting social-media groups that offer nothing but criticism, condemnation, and complaining.

Stop watching so much television news or Netflix or whatever you do for hours "to relax." Stop listening to podcasts which only distract you.

After that, focus on your ONE habit that brings you one step closer to your goal.

You do have a clear-and-defined goal, don't you? If not, determine your priority-one goal and share it with me here.

Focus on planning and prepping your weekly meals. Generally speaking, it means eating mainly fresh and unprocessed foods.

And you must be mindful of calories because you can't out-train mindless eating.

You schedule four weekly training sessions with an experienced coach. And then show up and give 90% effort all of the time... 100% effort is not sustainable over decades.

You prioritize quality sleep.

And then, almost magically, things begin to fall into place.

You get healthy. You achieve athletic levels of bodyfat.You get stronger and actually slow aging.

People start asking you for health-and-fitness advice because you actually inspire others to take imperfect action.

Because you are leading by example.

Is the formula simple? Yes.

Does it work? 100% yes.

You got this.

To your success,

Coach Joe

Joseph Arangio helps 40+ men and women get leaner, stronger, and happier. He's delivered over 100,000 transformation programs to satisfied clients around the globe. If you want to lose weight from home, with the best online age-management personal trainer, or you want to visit the best longevity personal trainer in the Lehigh Valley, you can take a free 14-day trial.