A quick note as you head off for BBQs and fireworks.

When our founding fathers declared independence from England, they didn’t have any career coaches to guide them on how to do it. Nor did they have angel investors willing to throw money at them in hopes of some gigantic payoff down the road.

They were on their own, using wits and smarts to chart their new country’s future. One thing they did have was a game plan — a set of ideals for what their new country would stand for — which became the Declaration of Independence 235 years ago.

When July 4 — Independence Day — rolls around every year, I think of two distinct things:
First, the different ways all of us celebrate our independence. For some, it’s the freedom that comes with having kids at sleep–away camp. (I’m definitely NOT in this group, which you’d understand if you read any of my daily letters and FedEx packages to Emma and Jake at camp.)

For others, it’s finally being free of an abusive person or a home that was financially draining or debt that was crippling.

I believe strongly that we all have the ability to create our own destinies, to carve out a positive and purposeful future for ourselves without much help from anyone — just as our forefathers did with the limited tools and resources that were available to them to create the United States of America.

The other thing I’m reminded of each year on this holiday weekend is that we’re at the half–way mark on the calendar. Just six months to go in 2011.

That means six months to realize your goals, dreams and promises. All the meaningful stuff you vowed to do this year. While “life” often gets in the way, and we find excuses, crutches, changes and challenges that hold us back, I know that you have it in you to make anything happen. You have the ability to see barriers and succumb to them. And you also have the ability to bust through those barriers to achieve big results.

Which path will you take? Barriers or results?

Ask yourself what you’re willing to do to honor your independence and secure your financial freedom?

Cheers to making YOUR sparks fly!