If you’re tired of your lackluster and boring life and are ready to shift out of neutral, here are 4 steps to get you motivated and on the right track.

1. Establish goals. Turn the X-Box off for 3o minutes and grab a pen and paper. Write down the goals you’d like to accomplish within the next year, next five years, and in your lifetime. Tired of living with mom and dad? Make it a goal to be in your own place by the end of the year. Want to make more money? Make it a goal to go back to school and finish within the next four years.

2. Discover the benefits. After you have established some goals figure out what the benefits are of fulfilling them. A good reason for moving out of mom and dad’s place is that women don’t want to be with a guy who hasn’t gotten it together enough to get a place of his own. Don’t be like the Entertainer from “I Love New York.” The guy was on his way to winning the love of Ms. New York (why he would want to win her love completely baffles me). But as soon as she found out he was still living with mom and dad, New York dropped him like a bad bait. A benefit of finishing school is more money. Study after study shows that men with college degrees make a ton more money during their lifetime than men who don’t.

3. Just do it, damn it. Don’t wait around for the right time or the right opportunity to appear. There never will be a right time or right opportunity. Just get to work. If you want to move out of your parents’ house, start looking at apartments today. If you want to go back to school, go talk to an admissions advisor today. As you start taking action, you’ll be surprised at how motivated you’ll feel to keep going. Opportunities that you would never have thought would be available to you will start showing up. What are you waiting for? Get to work!

4. Partner up. Don’t go it alone. Tell a friend about your goals and share your progress and setbacks with them. Having someone to talk to holds you accountable and can help keep you motivated. If you need help with something, ask for it. Your friends and family might know people who know people that can help you fulfill your goals.

There are many Learning Resource centers throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Talk to a teacher, police officer or some respectable person in the community. Start somewhere to get to the place you want or longing to reach. You will never regret making the move today.