John Mawell wrote the book Make Today Count which looks at how the secret of a person's success is determined by one's daily agenda.
Essentially you are preparing for something; and the way you live your life today is preparing you for tomorrow. The idea is that you can play and take it easy and do what you want today, but if you do, your life will be harder later. However, if you work hard now, on the front end, then you will reap rewards in the future.
This short book - only 136 pages - is packed with lots of good advice. He focuses on 12 key areas or what he calls the "Daily Dozen": attitude, priorities, health, family, thinking, commitment, finances, faith, relationships, generosity, values, and growth. There are two ingredients necessary to make every day a masterpiece: decisions and discipline.
Determine what 12 decisions are important to you. Start with this list of 12 and modify it according to your own life. Then begin working on the decisions. Every month, decide which decision you will make and how you will manage it. In a year's time, you'll be amazed by how focused your life is and how it is going in the direction you desire.
Some of what I found especially interesting in the book follows:
ATTITUDE
- My attitude makes an impact on the people around me. I am going to keep a positive attitude and use it to influence others.
- One of the secrets of maintaining a good attitude is valuing people.
- Encouraging others means helping people, looking for the best in them, and trying to bring out their positive qualities.
- When Mother Teresa was asked the requirements for people assisting her work with the destitute in Calcutta, she cited two things: the desire to work hard and a joyful attitude.
- Have an ally to help you remain positive.
- Include positive comments in every conversation with others.
- Sincerely compliment, praise, acknowledge, bolster, raise up, and reward people whenever I can.
- Remove negative words from your vocabulary.
- Express gratitude to others daily.
Your attitude decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to your attitude today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to choose and display the right attitude daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your attitude discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
PRIORITIES
- I will prioritize my life and give focus and energy to those things that give the highest return.
- "Time is the most valuable coin in your life. YOu and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you." (Carl Sandburg)
- Your greatest possession is the 24 hours you have directly ahead of you. How will you spend it? Will you give in to pressure or focus on priorities? Will you allow pointless emails, unimportant tasks, telemarketers, interruptions, and other distractions to consume your day? Or will you take complete responsibility for how you spend your time, take control of the things you can, and make today yours? If you don't decide how your day will be spent, someone else will.
- What is required of me? What gives me the greatest return? What gives me the greatest reward?
- Plan your time carefully.
- "Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Your priorities decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to priorities today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to determine and act on important priorities daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your priorities discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
HEALTH
- Two major frustrations contribute to stress at work: doing work you don't think is important. If you do work that you believe adds no value to yourself or to others, you quickly become demoralized. To remain healthy, your work must be in alignment with your values. The other reason that some people don't like their work is that their jobs keep them in an area of weakness. Nobody can do that long and succeed.
- Strike a balance between your desire to maintain a healthy pace of life and your drive to accomplish all you can during your lifetime.
- "An individual's self-concept affects every aspect of human behavior. The ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change, the choice of friends, mates, and careers. A strong positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life." (Joyce Brothers)
- 85% of all heart patients quit their healthy regimen within six months.
Your health decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to health today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to know and follow healthy guidelines daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your health discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
FAMILY
- Anyone who neglects or abandons his family for fame, status, or financial gain isn't really successful.
- As a family, cultivate and maintain:
- A commitment to faith or spirituality.
- Write down all the Christmas and birthday gifts you received when you were a kid up until you moved away from home. How many are you able to remember? Now, list all the vacations you took with your family during those same years. Most people can remember only a few gifts they received. However, they can remember more vacations they took as a family. What makes families happy isn't receiving things. It's doing things together.- Continual growth- reach your personal potential and help your children to do the same.
- Common experiences - create as many positive experiences as you can.
- Confidence - in your faith, yourselves, and others.
- Contributions to life - leave the world a better place than they found it. Add value not only to the people in your family, but also to every other life you touch.
Your family decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to family today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to communicate with and care for my family?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your family discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
THINKING
- Read The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and As a Man Thinketh by James Allen.
- "All that a man achieves or fails to achieve is the direct result of his thoughts." (James Allen)
- If you're good at creative thinking, invest more time in that. To handle areas where you are not as strong, surround people around you who are strong in those areas.
- Find a thinking place - like being in nature.
- Find the right time to think - when you are most alert (e.g., mornings).
- Write down your ideas. In your thinking spot, use a legal pad. For the rest of the day, a small notebook is enough.
- Intentional thinking is not commonplace.
Your thinking decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to thinking today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to practice and develop good thinking today?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your thinking discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
Your commitment decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to commitment today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to make and keep proper commitments daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your commitment discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
FINANCES
- We will sacrifice today so that we can have options tomorrow.
- 10% to church/charity, 10% to investments, and 80% to living expenses
- People tend to value money and things over what's really important in life: other people.
- Seasons in life:
- Learn - Learning is the primary objective and that you shouldn't take shortcuts to financial gain and miss the big picture of your life.
- Earn - During your 30s, 40s, and 50s. Strive to take care of your family and prepare for your future.
- Return - If you've worked hard and planned well, you may enter a phase of life that is most rewarding, where you can focus on giving back to others.
- If you're older and you didn't lay a good foundation for yourself, don't despair. Keep learning and growing. You still have a chance to finish well. But if you give up, you'll never go up.
- "Every person in debt is suffering from some type of depression. Debt is one of the leading causes of divorce, lack of sleep, and poor work performance. It robs them of their self-worth and keeps them from achieving dreams." (Michael Kidwell)
- The difference between the rich and the poor is that the rich invest their money and spend what's left while the poor spend their money and invest what's left.
- Failing to plan is like planning to fail.
- Every day I will focus on my financial game plan so that each day I will have more, not fewer, options.
Your financial decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to finances today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to earn and properly manage my finances daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your financial discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
FAITH
- Read the Maxwell Leadership Bible.
- Faith gives you peace and strength only if it's not superficial. The deeper the faith, the greater its potential to carry you through the rough times.
- Every day live and lead like Jesus.
- You become more like the people you spend time with.
Your faith decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to faith today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to deepen and live out my faith daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your faith discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
RELATIONSHIPS
- If you have one true friend in life, you are very fortunate. If you have two real friends, it is highly unusual.
- In order to make friends, you must first be friendly.
- People are insecure...give them confience. People want to feel special...sincerely compliment them. People desire a better tomorrow...show them hope. People need to be understood...listen to them. People are selfish...speak to their needs first. People get emotionally low...encourage them. People want to be associated with success...help them win.
- People who disrespect others always hurt themselves relationally - and they often reap other negative consequences.
- Every human being deserves to be treated with respect because everyone has value.
- If you respect yourself, respect others, and exhibit competence, others will almost always give you respect.
- From Leo Buscaglia: "Always start a relationship by asking: Do I have ulterior motives for wanting to relate to this person? Is my caring conditional? Am I trying to escape something? Am I planning to change the person? Do I need this person to help me make up for a deficiency in myself? If your answer to any of these questions is "yes," leave the person alone. He or she is better off without you."
- Good relationships require a lot of effort.
- Have I been thoughtful toward people today? Would they express joy that they have spent time with me? If the answer is yes, then you've done your part.
- Show people they matter: walk slowly through a crowd, remember people's names, smile at everyone, and be quick to offer help. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
- Most people give away their relational energy on a first-come, first-served basis. Whoever gets their attention first gobbles up their time and relational energy.
- Your family provides the most valuable relationships in your life. They should come first as you plan to spend your time. After that should come your next most important relationships. It's a matter of practicing good priorities.
- "Life is an exciting business and most exciting when lived for others." (Helen Keller)
- Adding value to others is the greatest thing we can do in this life. Because of that, when I serve, I try to do so cheerfully and with the greatest impact.
Your relationship decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to relationships today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to initiate and invest in solid relationships daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your relationship discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
GENEROSITY
- Greatness is not defined by what a person receives, but by what that person gives.
- True generosity is about serving others and looking for ways to add value to them. That's the way to achieve significance in your life.
- "The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share." (Rabbi Harold Kushner)
- A person's level of income and desire to give have nothing to do with each other. Some of the most generous people have nothing materially.
- 80% of Americans who earn at least $1 million a year leave nothing to charity in their wills.
- Go out of your way to find reasons to give.
- "Do all the good you can, to all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as you can. " (D.L. Moody)
- What are you doing for others?
Your generosity decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to generosity today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to plan for and model generosity daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your generosity discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
VALUES
- Write down every admirable character quality you can think of. Narrow it down to 25-50 values. Eliminate anything that's superficial or temporary.
- "Try not to become men of success. Rather, become men of value." (Albert Einstein)
- Having values keeps a person focused on the important things. That leads to a better quality of life, a life of integrity.
- A person who identifies and articulates his values but doesn't practice them is like a salesman who makes promises to a customer and then fails to deliver. He has no credibility.
- If you talk your values but neglect to walk them, then you will continually undermine your integrity and credibility.
- Ben Franklin used to get up in the morning asking himself, "What good will I do today?" When he went to bed, he asked himself, "What good did I do today?"
- At the end of the day, reflect on whether you added value to anyone's life during the day.
Your values decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to values today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to embrace and practice good values daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your values discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
GROWTH
- Develop and follow a personal growth plan for your life.
- The greatest handicap a person has is not realizing his potential. What dreams do you have that are just waiting to be fulfilled? What gifts and talents are inside you that are dying to be drawn out and developed?
- To make something of yourself, you need to be willing to change, for without change, there can be no growth.
- Focus on growing in your areas of greatest strength, not your weaknesses. And grow in areas that will add value to you personally and professionally.
- If people live in a harsh and limiting environment, they stay small. But put them someplace that encourages growth, and they will expand to reach their potential.
- "If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject." (Earl Nightingale)
- Listen to audio lessons every week. (Listen to ones about creativity and leadership.)
- Read two books every month.
- Set an appointment with someone who can help you grow each month.
Your growth decision today: Where do you stand when it comes to growth today? Ask yourself:
- Have I already made the decision to seek and experience improvements daily?
- If so, when did I make that decision?
- What exactly did I decide?
Your growth discipline every day: What is the one discipline you must practice today and every day in order to be successful?
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