In the army a soldier is given a mission and rules of engagement and is then is expected to complete that mission no matter what the cost. You have an advantage over the soldier in that you can pick what your mission is and what your rules of engagement are. The Questions I am going to give you will work and be beneficial for anyone. I am a believer in Jesus Christ and I view this from a Christian point of view. It is possible that you do not, yet this will still work for you.

What is your Mission Statement? Here are two questions you need to ask yourself.

1. What do you want?
2. What are you willing to do?

The question "What do you want?" is somewhat easy to answer in the short term but it gets harder in the long term. What do you really want? The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:33

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Again Jesus tells us in Luke 12:29-31

"And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you."

So to my mind, you need to give God a big say in your Mission Statement. You may disagree. Whether you want to follow the Bible or not, you still need to answer the question "What do you want?"

But then there is the ringer "What are you willing to do?" An important question. Let us say you want to race at the Isle of Man TT races. What are you willing to do to make that happen? If the answer is watch a lot of IOM videos and buy a real good set of racing gloves you might not get what you want. However, if the answer is to get a second job, start saving money for a bike, study the race course and how much it will cost to get you and your bike there, you might be on your way.

This is where a lot of people goof up. They make a decision as to what they want and then leap in without deciding what are they willing to do to make what they want occur. So here are four questions to ask of anything that you are considering doing.

1. What is the Best Thing that can happen if I Do this?
2. What is the Worst Thing that can happen if I Do this?
3. What is the Best Thing that can happen if I Don't Do this?
4. What is the Worst Thing that can happen if I Don't Do this?

Compare the answers. If the Best Thing that happens does not outweigh the Worst Thing that happens then you had better not do it.

Now we come to a simple question no one seems to ask. Perhaps the question its self is a bit too blunt but you still need to ask and answer it. Lots of young people don't ask this question and they need to.

• Can I get away with it?

  If you can't get away with it, why do it? Better yet don't do it!

  Perhaps I should elaborate on this a bit as this question seems to be ignored by a lot of people. Take for example the different school and work place shootings we have seen in the last few years. My High School days were pure purgatory for me. The thought of putting a round in the forehead of the vast majority of my classmates brings a smile to my face.

  It seems that my lack of reaction to verbal threats made some classmates think I would not defend myself. Two classmates actually tried to lay hands upon me whereupon they learned that while I ignore words if you physically attack me I will very cheerfully try to discover what color your liver is. It appeared red but maybe it was all the blood. Hard to tell. It hurts to loose a fight so after that my classmates left me alone and never talked to me again, which was fine with me.

  Yeah, I know, turn the other cheek. It's just that when you catch me off guard, sometimes I fall short. Sorry about that liver dude. Maybe we can stuff it back in or something. Oh well, whatever!

  So I understand the desire to even the score but really, there is no way I am going to ruin my life just to cap these losers. There just was no way I could get away with it. That is the way life is. You may want to do something but you will never get away with it so DO NOT DO IT. Kapish?

  Remember:

  Deuteronomy 7:9-10
  "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face."

  And trust Jesus.

  Romans 12:19
  "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

Here are some more statements that can be applied to ANYTHING we want to do. You may call them rules if you will.

• "Speed costs money. How fast can you afford to go?"
  The faster you go, the more money it costs and the cost rises geometrically. That is, a little bit faster will cost twice as much. A little bit beyond that and the cost quadruples. Each little step up in speed costs double or more then the step before. This is true for motorcycles and most everything else in life.

  The Super Green Environmentalists seem to forget this. If you really want to lessen your carbon footprint you need to slow way down OR spend a gigantic amount of money... maybe both.

  There are NO exceptions to this rule.

• "Things are never so bad that they can't get worse."
  No matter what place you find yourself in life, things can get worse. Why do people always think where they are at is the worst place they can be? I had lunch the other day with a man who works for an investment firm. He told me about a client who was very mad at his firm. Seems the client, a woman, had a father who set up a trust for her which paid her $350,000 a year. She wanted more. She just could not live on only 350,000 dollars a year.

  Well, my friend's firm could not change the trust, which I think was just what her late father wanted. If she had access to all the money she would burn through it in a very short time. This way she will have money for all of her life. Smart guy that father. This lady thought she was in a very bad place. Do you think she has anything to complain about? The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4:11-13

  "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

• "Good, fast or cheap. You can only pick two."
  If it is good and cheap, you will not get it fast. If it is good and fast, it will not be cheap. If it is fast and cheap, it will not be good.

  There are NO exceptions to this rule.

• "There is no free ride. EVERYTHING must be paid for by someone."
  My Free Motorcycle Repair Course is not really free. I paid for it. Our Salvation is not really free. Jesus paid for it. Why do progressive Democrats and even some Republicans not believe this? "But Dan," you say, "air is free and so is sunlight!" but you would be wrong. God paid for that.

  Again, there are NO exceptions to this rule.

• "Old age and treachery BEATS youth and skill."
  Folks, old codgers know a few things. Go against them at your own risk. Just surviving till you are old takes a lot of skill, persistence, hard work, knowledge and luck.

  There may well be exceptions to this rule. After all senility, Alzheimer's and dementia do sneak up on you sometimes. Just look at some of the senior Democrats. The question is are you willing to risk your life on it?

• "YOU are NOT average."
  All we ever hear about are the percentages. Yeah, yeah, an average American man is 34.4 years old, married with 2.3 kids, 1.6 dogs, 2.8 cars and weighs 175 pounds. They give you a bunch of numbers and say it is the average you. Are you like that? That is the thing. YOU are NOT average. YOU are unique. Got that? YOU are not a slave to a statistic. YOU can be better then average. YOU just have to want to be better.

  Whether you believe it or not there are NO exceptions to this rule unless YOU allow them.