Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them. ~Orison Swett Marden
Few things in life are constant.
Small, constant changes are happening all of the time.
Your body, for example, is in a constant process of remaking itself.
The tree in your garden or flower in your window, they are not the same plants as yesterday.
Changes have happened.
This is true even while driving in a seemingly straight line down the highway.
You’re constantly making course corrections to avoid crossing over the lines in your car. Small, constant changes are happening all the time and everywhere.
The quality of your life is no different.
You can simply wait for changes to happen to it, and they do, or you can make small corrections, applied consistently, and take your life in a vastly different direction.
Are you choosing the direction of your life?
Or are you living your life by default and simply taking whatever life throws your way?
If you lived yesterday over and over for the next 10 years, where would you land?
• If you ate the same way for the next 10 years, what would your body look like? Would your health be better or worse?
• Did you exercise yesterday? Where will you be in 10 years if you don’t change?
• Your social activities? Should you expect positive or negative changes in your social life?
• What about your performance at work?
• Are you taking steps each day toward reaching your goals?
What is the logical conclusion you come to of living your average day repeatedly?
Does that outcome appeal to you?
Or are you filled with a sense of dread?
If you’re stuck, your average day is holding you back.
The things you do or fail to do, each day determine your destiny.
It’s logical to believe that big changes in your behaviour will lead to big changes in your life.
However, how many people do you know that have successfully made and maintained a significant change?
Losing weight is simple, but not many people are able to lose weight reliably.
Making 400 cold calls per day will make you rich, but how many people have the stomach to do it?
Small changes in behaviour can lead to huge changes in your results.
Patience is the key.
Consider what you could accomplish by creating a productive day and sticking with it.
Enhancing your life by designing a productive day to build a better future:
1. Find a diet that you can follow long term.
Eating nutritious foods will help your body to reach a healthy weight.
It isn’t necessary to follow a crazy diet to reach your weight goals.
People with spectacular bodies have an effective diet and are patient.
Are you impatient?
How much have your body and health changed in the last couple of years?
2. Exercise.
A little bit of exercise can go a long way if performed religiously.
There’s no reason to train as if you’re fighting in the next Rocky movie.
Gently pushing yourself a tiny bit more each week is more than enough.
Find a program that works and stick to it.
3. Communicate with those that matter.
Relationships crumble a little at a time.
Talk to the important people each day and have a meaningful chat.
Even a short text message can be better than nothing.
4. Develop habits that will enhance your employment.
Make a list of the things you could do each day at work to ensure your success long-term. It might involve speaking each day with the employees that report to you.
Maybe you need to ensure your work is done on time consistently.
Two of the greatest skills you will need to survive long term is, awareness and adaptability.
Without awareness of what’s happening around you and what might be coming, you cannot be prepared to adapt.
Adaption means preparing yourself and putting things in place that can propel you forward regardless of environmental changes.
Many people find their roles become obsolete and they were never even aware that it was coming.
Go back to school.
Take more courses.
Attend more seminars.
Read more books.
The marketplace only rewards us for the value we bring to it.
5. Remember your goals.
If you’ve always wanted to learn to speak French, set aside 15 minutes each day and get started.
You don’t learn something by just thinking about it. You need to spend time on it and be patient.
My challenge to you today is to address all aspects of your life.
Create a day that will ensure a positive, happy, and rewarding future if you repeat it over the long haul.
What could be simpler? If your life is less-than-satisfying, and you’re not seeing progress, take a look at your average day.
Create a day that guarantees success.
Don’t wait.
Tomorrow might never come.
