Do your goals scare you, or excite you? Do your sales objectives motivate you, or stress you out?

If you're in sales, do you begin each month with a sense of anticipation, or a sense of dread? Do you attack your quota and objectives with zeal, or do you immediately fear falling behind?

We can argue the value of fear as a motivator all day long, but that's not really the point. No matter what job you do professionally, or what goals you have in your personal life, there are really two ways to think about what needs to be done.

You can see it as a pressure situation, or as an opportunity.

Pressure leads to stress, stress leads to anxiety, anxiety leads to physical breakdown and fear and resentment and a longer, spiraling list of reasons why things don't get done.

Opportunity is endless. It's all about what's in front of you. The past can only help, at worst it's context for what you need to learn to be better moving forward.

We're halfway through August, and most of us have set goals for ourselves that chronologically should be almost halfway completed. Are yours? If not, does that scare you - or motivate you?

How can you turn pressure situations, throughout your life, into opportunities? And how would that perspective change how you approach and execute upon those situations?