Just a contrarian view to the old saying, ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,’ I would like to challenge us all that in some areas of our lives, there are opportunities ‘to fix it, even if it isn’t broken.’

What does that mean? It means that every one of us has the opportunity to improve our lives, our jobs, our health and our relationships. We can dig deeper and reach higher to make almost any area of our personal and professional life even better, richer, and more meaningful.

With the ski season upon us, I know many incredible skiers who would never consider their skiing skills broken, yet still push themselves to learn more. Some of my friends continue to take lessons and I would regard these folks as some of the best skiers I have ever had the pleasure of sharing the hill with.

Doctors are required to keep up a certain number of continuing medical education credits and again, we are blessed to be surrounded by some of the best right here in our backyard. Their skills are far from broken and yet they seek improvement and advancement every year.

Look at any part of life and ask yourself, “am I coasting, and am I comfortable coasting or can I get just a little bit better?” Maybe it’s a little better at being a spouse or a parent. Perhaps it’s reaching higher in a career or part time job. So many professional sales people I know are always reaching higher to hone their skills and improve their relationships with their customers and prospects. And for many of us, we know we just want to become better at some of the recreational things in life that bring us joy and pleasure.

There has been more information and data created in the past twelve months than has been created in the entire history of the world. Technological advancements afford us all the opportunity to access this information as we strive to get better even though we aren’t broken, we just have a burning desire to go bigger, reach higher, and dig deeper no matter what our current performance levels may be.

As many of you already know, I will be writing about goals and New Year’s Resolutions sometime in the next few weeks. Consider this a head start as you begin to think of the areas in your own life that you really want to take to the next level. What is it that you really want to get better at, or that you truly want to own?

And when in doubt, if you can’t think of anything where you have some room for improvement, just ask your spouse or significant other and maybe even ask your kids or close friends. I guarantee someone will have some ideas of where you might be able to start.

Thanks again for all of the emails and if I can help you fix something that isn’t broken, please email me at gotonorton@gmail.com and let’s make it a better than good week.

Michael Norton, a resident of Highlands Ranch, is the former president of the Zig Ziglar organization and CEO and founder of www.candogo.com.