Recently I wrote a column about Crystal Carson, a woman with a learning disability who has achieved amazing successes in the past five years since she chose to live independently after her mother was killed in an automobile accident.

Her successes, I believe, come from her choosing to live according to a number of basic life-lessons – Her secret is that she “lives” these life-lessons; she doesn’t just think about them or talk about them and then forget them.

Let me list a few of these lessons that Crystal lives by.

1. Never say “can’t”.
“Never say can’t,” Crystal repeats almost as a mantra, “just take the ‘T’ off.”

2. Don’t be afraid to dream big dreams.
Cheryl Myers, Crystal’s tutor at Literacy Nanaimo told me, “She dreams big and if life gives her just a little bit of a dream, she can be happy with that and then go on planning for the next dream … She’s learned to be happy, really happy, with simple things.” There are two lessons in one here.

3. Persistence -- Slow and steady wins the race.
A year of so ago, Crystal couldn’t walk up the Fitzwilliam hill without stopping two or three times for a rest. Her friend and mentor, Eve Reinarz, is a runner. Crystal asked for her support and persisted in her training until she completed a 5K run. She’s now training for a 10K.

4. Write you goals on paper and check them off as each is reached.
Eve says she honestly didn’t think that Crystal could come even close to achieving her “huge” list of goals but now she is almost there and adding more all the time. Some of Crystal’s goals were huge and some were small. One of the small ones was to hold a rat in her hands because she had a huge fear of rodents. That’s one of her many goals that she has achieved.

Another of Crystal’s goals since she was a child has been to see her hero, Rick Springfield, in concert. This June, along with her team of supporters, she will be going to see Springfield in Vancouver. It took 25 years but that goal too will soon be achieved.

5. Affirmations work.
Most of us know that there is power in affirmations, consistently repeating positive phrases to ourselves. Crystal has taken that one step further and repeats them many times over to all of her friends and it’s working because they encourage and support her as she makes those affirmations become reality.

6. Surround yourself with supportive friends.
Crystal has an ever-growing list of supportive friends. She calls them her extended family.

7. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Crystal’s friends are always there to help whenever she calls. Most of your friends would be too, if you asked.

8. Be open to positive criticism.
“Crystal is always asking for feedback,” Eve Reinarz told me, “because she wants to know how she can do better. I’ve never met anyone like her that way. She’s amazing.”

9. Celebrate your successes both big and small.
She’s truly great at this Eve told me. Whether it’s the anniversary of her moving into her apartment, her cat’s birthday, a successful test at Literacy Nanaimo, another completed 5K run, everything is celebrated with friends.

How many of us finish a difficult task and immediately launch ourselves into the next one without spending any time celebrating or at least recognizing our success? Gee I’m finding it hard to type with both hands up in the air.

Most of us know these simple life-lessons work. The problem is all too often we know it but we don’t do it.

Why don’t you pick one or two of these life-lessons that have worked for Crystal, incorporate them into your life consistently for the next month, and see what happens?