Great people throughout history often fail, quite miserably, before finally reaching their goals, says international business strategist Dan Waldschmidt.

"Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime; Winston Churchill lost every public election until becoming prime minister at age 62; Henry Ford went bankrupt five times; Albert Einstein was a terrible student and was expelled from school; Sigmund Freud was booed from a stage," says Waldschmidt, author of "Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success," (www.EdgyConversations.com).

"Ideas, brilliance, genius - they all mean nothing without the guts, passion and tenacity necessary to make your dream a reality. But often, people fall back on excuses and give up on trying to reach their goals."

Most of us have dreams, and many of us have big ones, but few of us actually see them through, he says.

He offers six tricks for jumping off the excuse train and forge the path to your goals.

• Avoid the need to blame others for anything. Mean, small-minded people know that they suck. That's why they are so cranky and eager to point out others' mistakes. They hope that by causing others to feel inadequate, everyone will forget about how woefully off the mark their own performance is. Don't blame anyone, for any reason, ever. It's a bad habit.

• Stop working on things that just don't matter. Not everything needs to be done in place of sleep. If you work for a boss, then you owe them solid time. You can't cut that out. You can, however, cut out television time, meetings and anything else that gets in the way of achieving your goals. Replace entertainment with activity toward your goal.

• Refuse to let yourself wallow in self-doubt. You're alive to succeed. Stop comparing your current problems to your last 18 failures. They are not the same. You are not the same. Here's something to remember: Your entire life has been a training ground for you to capture your destiny right now. Why would you doubt that? Stop whining. Go conquer.

• Ask yourself, "What can I do better next time?" And then do it next time. If you spend a decade or two earnestly trying to be better, that's exactly what will happen. The next best thing to doing something amazing is not doing something stupid. So learn from your mistakes and use the lessons to dominate.

• Proactively take time to do things that fuel your passion. Exercise is a great example. Living in the moment requires you to live at peak performance. A huge part of mental fitness is physical fitness. A sparring or running partner is a great way to refresh physical competition. Physical activity accelerates mental motivation.

• Apologize to yourself and those around you for having a bad attitude. Do this once or twice and you'll snap out of your funk pretty fast. When you start genuinely apologizing for being a bad influence on those around you, you learn to stop whining and start winning.

About Dan Waldschmidt

Dan Waldschmidt is the author of "Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success," (www.EdgyConversations.com). He is an international business strategist, speaker, author and extreme athlete. His consulting firm solves complex marketing and business strategy problems for savvy companies all over the world. Dow Jones calls his Edgy Conversations blog one of the top sales sites on the internet. He's been profiled in BBC, Fox News and The Today Show, and he is a sought-after media source.

By now, it has become apparent to academics, administrators, parents and teachers that, in general, boys are underperforming in school, says Edmond J. Dixon, Ph.D, a veteran educator and international expert who offers enhanced teaching techniques for boys.

And it may get worse, he says.

It will take some creativity to teach some elements of Common Core, the educational initiative set to be implemented throughout most of the United States, in a way that's conducive to how most boys best learn, Dixon says.

Common Core has been criticized by educators and other experts as demanding standards that are static, arbitrary and generally antithetical to creativity and innovation. Yet initial results in Kentucky, the first state to use the program, have been positive. The state's graduation rate increased 6 percent from 2010 to 2013, and the percentage of college-ready students increased 20 percent.

"Any parent or teacher who wants a boy to be successful with Common Core must understand two crucial ideas: motivated engagement and discretionary effort," says Dixon, who has more than three decades experience as a teacher, is a parent of boys, and is the author of "Helping Boys Learn: Six Secrets for Your Son's Success in School," (HelpingBoysLearn.com), which features tailored editions for parents and teachers.

Because the new curriculum is designed to improve critical thinking, which requires a deep understanding of the material, boys must be both motivated and deeply engaged to learn, he says. That's what it will take for them to independently put in the necessary hard work involved in learning - discretionary effort - without nagging, he says.

"Only by doing this will they be able to meet the new learning requirements; we are already seeing the negative consequences of not doing this with boys, and I fear it will just get worse," says Dixon, adding that his approach inspires a boy's motivated engagement.

He offers two real-life examples that reveal volumes about how the male brain works:

•   Boys need a worthy challenge: Larry Bird and "Magic" Johnson, both NBA greats, who have also become great friends, are eager to talk about their former rivalry. Both say that they simply would not have had the same legendary career without that individual competition; it made them better. When Johnson left the NBA, Bird said he just wasn't as interested in the game.

The male brain responds to a challenge it deem worthy. A student, who daydreams during algebra class and appears lazy, may also pour attention and effort into mastering a skateboarding trick. Constructing a challenge for the male student will do wonders to engage his learning.

•   Boys crave legitimacy. Think about all the colleges in the United States; now imagine trying to craft an NFL playoff-style system that fairly selects the No.1 college football team. Does it seem impossible? Aren't there too many teams?

The NCAA has been trying to figure out a system for establishing a legitimate No. 1 team for decades, and it's finally going to implement one next season. Whether or not it'll work, the effort put into such an endeavor has been considerable. Why so much time and energy for a game?

Because the male brain craves legitimacy; boys will only agree that something is meaningful or valuable if there is a valid process for establishing that value. In the classroom, helping boys understand why and how learning a concept, skill or calculation has value for them will go a long way toward motivating them to learn.

About Dr. Edmond J. Dixon

A pioneer in the field of cognitive-kinesthetics for learning, Edmond J. Dixon, Ph.D., is a human development specialist with more than 30 years of experience as a teacher, administrator, writer, researcher - and parent of boys. He is the founder of the KEEN Differentiated Learning Group, an organization dedicated to helping struggling learners, and the creator of KEEN 5X, a series of strategies for classroom engagement and learning that were have been used with more than 50,000 students and teachers. His previous books, "KEEN For Learning" and "Literacy Through Drama," have been used by educators to improve classroom learning. A dynamic and popular presenter, he has spoken throughout North America on education and human development topics. 

Award-winning singer-songwriter Gary Chapman and his wife, Nashville Wives star Cassie Piersol Chapman, say they're so in love, one wedding just wasn't enough.

"We got married Dec. 22, 2008 in a very small ceremony my father performed," says Gary, 56, a five-time Grammy-nominated, seven-time Dove Award-winning artist who recently released his first album in a decade, The Truth (www.garychapmanmusic.com).

"The next year, we had a mountaintop wedding with our friends in Breckenridge, Colo. Cassie's grandmother married us at a Renaissance fair, and last year, we tied the knot in Las Vegas. What can I say - we like getting married!"

It's just one of the ways the couple keeps the romance alive, says Cassie, 33, who stars in the new TNT show Private Lives of Nashville Wives, premiering Feb. 24.

"Weddings are a beautiful celebration of our love for each other and a reminder that this is serious!" she says. "So many people get married and they're divorced two years later. We don't plan to be among them!"

What are some of the Chapmans' other secrets for keeping their romance burning bright?

• Discover and embrace your partner's cultural perspective. Gary grew up with black-and-white TV and The Andy Griffith Show. He remembers the first time he heard The Beatles on the radio. Cassie watched Fraggle Rock and The Goonies, and played computer games on the family's Commodore 64.

"I've definitely been exposed to things I never would have experienced without Gary in my life, from music to great old movies," Cassie says.

Adds Gary: "A younger person can teach an old dog new tricks, too. I've got a window on pop culture that I would never have without Cassie. Next...she's gonna teach me to dance."

• Identify and enjoy your shared cultural experiences. Both Gary and Cassie grew up fans of Willie Nelson's music, so Gary was thrilled when he got the opportunity to introduce his wife to the country singing legend.

"He's a man who doesn't disappoint when you meet him, so Cassie was blown away. She loves him," Gary says. "I think if I weren't around, she'd marry him! We look for those shared memories - timeless Christmas music is another - because they add to the bond we have."

• Anticipate criticism -- and ignore it. "Simply put, there are going to be haters out there - a lot of people carry around stereotypes about relationships where there's a significant age difference, whether the man or the woman is older," says Cassie. "We're so happy together, it just doesn't bother us. I don't think either one of us even notices it anymore."

• Stay in shape! It's important for everyone to take care of themselves, but if you're the older partner, you owe it to the love of your life to stay fit and healthy, Gary says.

"I plan to be hiking, biking and singing - and more! -- with Cassie when I'm 100," Gary says. "So I exercise regularly and I don't abuse my body by drinking too much or eating a lot of junk. I'm careful because I love her, and that alone is a romantic thing to do."

The two also both see at least one more wedding in their future - not counting the times they quietly exchange rings and mouth "I do" while attending friends' and family weddings.

"We hope to have a real ceremony soon," Cassie says. "I want my dad to walk me down the aisle and mom to button me up."

About Gary & Cassie Piersol Chapman

Gary Chapman is a veteran musician in the contemporary pop, country, Christian and southern gospel genres. His Dove Awards include Male Vocalist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year, and he's written hits including I Prefer the Moonlight for Kenny Rogers and Finally for T.G. Sheppard along with songs for Alabama and Wynonna Judd. He was the host of TNN's hit show Prime Time Country for four years and founded the record label that launched current Disney music mainstays Everlife, among many top performers.

Cassie Piersol Chapman stars in TNT's new docudrama Private Lives of Nashville Wives (from the Real Housewives creators). She grew up on her family's West Virginia farm and was active in 4H and other agricultural activities. She also sang in a choir, modeled and became a star cheerleader in high school. She won two national cheerleading titles at Morehead State University in Kentucky. She has appeared in music videos, commercials and printed work. She works with her husband, Gary, on A Hymn a Week, a popular online devotional.

More confidence, less stress, discovering inner resources, improving relationships - there are thousands of self-help books to help us accomplish these, but do they work?

"Self-help strategies can work, as far as they go, but they don't address a key component that affects everything from how we feel about ourselves to how successfully we interact with others," says award-winning film director, producer and writer Dr. Richard R. Reichel.

"That key component is the fact that we're all actors -- at work, school, home, even alone in front of the bathroom mirror. We're always playing the character of 'Me,' but we also have to play other characters. The better we are at it, the happier and more successful we'll be."

But just like anyone who steps before an audience, sometimes we're paralyzed by stage fright, says Reichel, author of the new book, "Everybody is an Actor," (www.everybodyisanactor.com), a guide to achieving success in the film industry and in life.

"Stage fright undermines concentration and we lose our character objective," he says. "Why do so many people cower in light of their dreams? Why do they procrastinate on getting their degree? Why do they tremble at the thought of approaching Mr. or Ms. Right? It's because of stage fright."

To overcome it, Reichel offers these tips from the Psychophantic System he developed to mold both life and film actors:

• Control stress with a "mind walk" and "confocal contemplation." Today, stress is associated with a variety of chronic illnesses. In addition to regular exercise and sleep nourishment, consider a "mind walk," or a pleasant thought that stops the stress and replaces it with something positive. In the same vein, practice "confocal contemplation" by allowing your mind to wander into a cloudlet of peace and relaxing your body. Then, while thoughts are peacefully drifting, flex your feet, ankles, calves, shins, knees, buttocks and hips - and release. Feel the weight of your entire body while your mind remains free, and repeat the exercise.

• Practice projecting your emotions. How many times have you daydreamed about how you will express yourself when a particular situation arises? In the same way, we need to rehearse how we project our emotions in social situations. Try practicing emotional expression in front of a trusted friend or loved one. If someone has made you happy and joyous, rehearse how to show them in the moment. Showing love and laughter can strengthen bonds, and learning how to express anger, sorrow and fear in appropriate ways will improve your ability to communicate and foster understanding. 

• Winning your audience by emphasizing character strengths. No one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something. In order to get what you want in life, you simply need to do what you're good at. Your audience may be an employer, coworkers, family or a potential date. Can you make them laugh, understand or otherwise feel deeply what you're expressing? Appealing to their emotional responses can go far. Keep in mind the hearts and minds of your audience, including the setting and what they must be experiencing during the "performance." Be aware of your vocal projection and body language. You will be remembered for your performance, which will lead you to better roles and, in the case of daily living, better relationships.

About Dr. Richard R. Reichel

Dr. Richard R. Reichel has a long and varied experience in the film and TV industries, from actor and director to casting and cameraman. He holds multiple degrees, including one in film production and a doctorate in counseling psychology. Reichel, the author of "Everybody is an Actor," (www.everybodyisanactor.com), was the first to produce a TV program about Asian cultures in America, and the first to present a TV show about all aspects of organic living. He is credited with persuading film star Jackie Chan to come to the U.S. to make movies. Dr. Reichel created an innovative and comprehensive acting system that immerses participants in the culture of film production while helping them actually become the character with impressive time efficiency. His system is also excellent for those who would like to have superior confidence and be more dynamic and assertive at work, social situations, school or even at home.