The greatest threat to excellence is complacency; being satisfied where you are. Complacency cultivates a sedentary lifestyle that opposes doing those things we know we should do.

Satisfaction is on the opposite side of the street of goals. It creates an overt disregard for choosing the difficult right over the easy wrong. Our problem is we want to do what we feel like doing when we feel like doing it, but we don’t particularly like the result of those decisions.

NBA great Dewayne Wade just made a big decision. He decided to retire from the game of basketball after this his 16th NBA season. Unlike ninety percent of the NBA, Wade did not make the varsity team as a tenth grader. That summer he had what he called a summer of separation. Michael Jordan and Chris Paul are also two other guards who were late bloomers playing junior varsity as sophomores in high school.

What happened? What changed in their lives to cause them to ascend to the top of their profession? I believe their keen focus caused them to separate themselves. In an interview with NBA Champion Kevin Garnett, he said the summer between his sophomore and junior season in high school, he was in the gym every day and had a focus that took him to another level.

You would be amazed at what could come from twelve weeks of focus. In a world of multitasking it is hard to fathom full focus. Could you imagine going a day with no cell phone, no distractions, no social media, no side conversation; just complete focus. The opposite of multitasking is focus.

My first book was written over Spring Break. I spent ten hours per day for seven days writing the first of many drafts. That one week of focus helped me accomplish a goal and set me up for success in later years. Spring Break is one week, Summer Break is twelve weeks. What could you do with twelve weeks of focus?

You could transform your body in twelve weeks. You could work a second job and make good money for twelve weeks. You could plant that garden, build that shed, visit your loved ones, start that YouTube channel, write that song, grow in your faith, paint that room or start that business.

Will this be the summer you write that book? Could this be the summer you get that life insurance policy so your family won’t have to start a Go Fund Me when you pass away? Maybe this is the summer you travel to see your sister or brother, mother or father. Could this be the summer you start to live a more healthy life?

Don’t wait until the summer is here. The summer is coming, plan now. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. What is your plan?

We have a plan when we order a steak at the steak house. We have a plan when we post on social media. We have a plan for things we care about, but do we have a plan for our life? Do we have a plan for success? Do we have a plan for this summer?

What will you do this summer? Could the summer of 2019 be your summer of separation? That moment in time that separates you from average, ordinary, or common and benefits you forever.

Separating yourself by doing something or defeating procrastination is one thing, but what about utilizing your time by separating yourself from people who don’t bring out the best in you?

New York Times bestselling author Brene Brown says, “Time is the big precious nonrenewable resource.” If this is true, why waste the time we have trying to fit in with the crowd like an insecure middle school student?

Don’t waste your time in an unhealthy situation. Use this summer to severe unhealthy relationships.

Walk away. I know it is hard, but anything worth having is hard. Have the courage to free yourself from your unhealthy situation.