Nearly three decades ago, I wanted to give our hard working employees a day for themselves. A day that would celebrate not my advertising agency’s dreams but theirs. I landed on March 4th because the date had in it the most important directive of life—MARCH FORTH.

Only when we March Forth can we turn ideas into “I did its”.
The best ideas are in graveyards buried with the people who had those great ideas when they were alive but never took action. Winning ideas that stay in our heads are losers. All of us have a book, a movie, a dream house, a prince charming, a great job within arms reach, but we don’t grab it.

The literal definition of power is the ability to act.
This new holiday would send that message: “Don’t take the day off, take it on!” Those who want to take action celebrate March 4th. Action is the great separator between whining and winning, loners and lovers and the happy, the hapless and between living your dream or someone else’s.

March 4th is New Year’s Day for your heart. Heart comes from the French word “Le Coeur” which means courage.
March 4th is Valentine’s Day for what you really love. A day to turn you hobby into a job. It is Mother’s Day and Father’s Day of new ideas. March 4th is Independence Day to declare your authenticity.
March 4th is Halloween for what scares you. It is Election Day to vote for yourself and Christmas because you get to open the greatest gift of all–yourself. March 4th is your day to take the first step towards a better you.

The first year I gave people off March 4th was also my first year in business. My colleagues went skydiving, to cooking schools, one signed up to build a hospital in Guatemala, one got engaged, and another separated. People forgave others and others called those forgotten.
That year was a tough one financially for me. Like many entrepreneurs, I was strapped for cash. I was living off my Visa card.

That morning, I decided to fly standby– that’s all I could afford– to my hometown, NYC.
Arriving in Manhattan, I made my way to lunch with my talent agent. I showed her the work my fledgling company had done. She asked if I would be interested in sharing it with a gentleman who was in New York just one day, today, March 4th.
He looked at my new agency’s TV reel. Three weeks later he acquired our company, made me a millionaire and catapulted me into a life you only see in the movies.

So what will you this March 4th?