TGIF: Paul Carrick Brunson

Happy New Years Eve y'all! We wanted to kick off 2011 right with a TGIF interview of one of the most successful guys we know -- our friend and former business partner, Paul Carrick Brunson. If your goal is to be in a successful, healthy relationship this time next year, this is a man you NEED to know. He's a new dad (congrats!), so be sure to follow him on twitter to get the latest relationship advice as well as adorable pictures of baby Kingston. He hosts a weekly round of matchmaking (follow twitter hashtag #MDMW) and also flow dating (speed dating with a twist) events quarterly around the United States.

Need more inspiration? Read all of our TGIF interviews here.

Paul Carrick Brunson, also known as "The Real Hitch" and "The Modern Day Matchmaker." For the past ten years, I have played matchmaker and relationship coach to various friends and family members. After numerous successes in helping those close to me find happy and long-lasting relationships, I decided to turn my hobby into a full-fledged business.

Unlike many other relationship coaches and matchmakers who are single, I have been happily married to my beautiful wife for eight years. Not only does my knowledge of what it takes to have a happy marriage influence my matchmaking, but I'm also able to leverage my professional network to enhance the matches of my clients. Like all of my clients, I consider myself to be cultured, well-traveled, and well-educated--I hold a graduate degree from Georgetown's McDonough School of Business and am a certified life and relationship coach. My professional career started as an investment banker and most recently included a senior position with a top international investment firm.

You can find me online on my website and on Facebook, Twitter (@onedegreefromme), and YouTube.

My goal was to sign a television/talent deal with a top production company, which I achieved within six months of setting my goal with arguably the top production company in the world.

I chose this goal because it was Big, Hairy, and Audacious (shoutout to Jim Collins' fans). I'm hyper competitive, so I needed a target that appeared to be out of reach.

The first step I took was to [speak] the fact that I would achieve this goal into existence.

The top obstacle is the "hater" - who I have realized is someone that truly adores you but is simply intimidated. I have had MANY of these in my lifetime. My outlook on how to deal with the hater is this: it is all well and good if your "hater" is attempting to bemuse you from the sidelines, but the moment they step in your way, run them over!

I have never had an issue with motivation. It's internal for me--perhaps it's the Jamaican in me.

Family and friends...everyone in my 'circle' tirelessly helps me. I believe that we are the average of the closest people to us. Something I learned a long time ago is that it is critical to surround yourself with people much smarter than you are.

My wife took a picture of me signing the deal, I smiled, and then started working on my next goal!

Screw what everyone else thinks. If you believe in it, relentlessly pursue it.

Currently I am working on writing and publishing a New York Times Bestselling book by 2012.