When I was eleven, I was so fascinated with computers; building them, setting them up and troubleshooting them: you would have probably called me an obsessive nerd who woke up working on computers and sleeping with them. Everyday, I would read up on the latest new hardware, or the latest software so I knew exactly how they worked and exactly how to put it together. I felt that I was fairly competent to fix anything that was wrong with a computer.

Two years later, I decided that my life wasn't all about computers and I shifted my focus to business; I stopped reading and updating myself on the latest coolest things and I stopped building and repairing computers. When people would call me up to repair their computers, I politely mentioned that I was no longer in the business and that my interest was else well. A year went by and my dad needed a new computer; and because he wanted it custom built, he asked me to build one for him, I agreed.

I ordered all the parts, and I began to put it together: I was in the shock of my life, I haven't seen these new parts and I did not know how to put together the latest and greatest things. Instead of taking a few hours, it took a couple of days, I was disappointed about myself but I learned a great lesson.

You cannot expect to get back on the race track and immediately be number one when you have taken a pause or stopped. Your momentum is lost, your strength is gone and most importantly your drive and energy have weakened.

Right now, it is summer time and for most teens, they're out playing and generally having a good time and not worrying about school. If you expect that you can walk in onto your school campus on the first day be it high school or college and immediately get back into the rhythm of studying, working and keeping pace with the grueling work load, you're wrong. You must work it back, you must set a predetermined about of time during the summer to get your rhythm back, refocus and build back the determination you had prior to summer.

Smart teenagers that succeed constantly plan ahead; failure to prepare is preparing for failure. Life is built on momentum and smooth transitions; if you stop, your momentum is gone but you can always rebuild that rhythm back. It's not easy, you'll have to work, work and work at it. Today, I could probably fix any computer without too many problems, but no where like I was when I was really into it. But that's okay, I'm focusing on other things. Do everything you can to avoid bumps or pauses or stops in your life, because those are costly. Keep the courage, keep the faith and most importantly keep your momentum.