“Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service.”
Robert J. Collier
It is incredible how distracting the view over the horizon can be when there is lots of work to be done right now. The opportunity to serve exists every single day. Don’t worry about the big bright lights of the future; start precisely where you are. That’s how you get to those green fields…
“Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.”
William James
Today is the only November 21st, 2020, that you will ever have the privilege of living. How are you going to choose to spend this valuable gift of time?
So much of the precious time we have in our lives is spent waiting for some envisioned future to come true instead of realizing that the future we create in our minds is purely dependent on how we choose to spend our time today.
How do you want to live on 11/21/2020? Will you spend it waiting for something or working on what you want to become?
“Today is a brand-new day. A fresh start. Replace any negativity with positivity. Think happy thoughts. Exercise. Drink lots of water. Fill your body with fuel. Healthy is happy. Inspire yourself. Create. Laugh. Play. Love. Learn. Give someone a compliment. Make a new friend. Do a random act of kindness. It creates good karma. Take chances and finally start living life to its fullest. But no matter what’s thrown at you today, smile and remember, tomorrow’s always a fresh new start.”
Author Unknown
Start by looking at this list not as an exhaustive checklist of things to do, but as guidance on how life should be lived. Think of how different life would be if you just did these things every day. How different would it be one year from now? Why wait? Start today…
“Live today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Just today. Inhabit your moments. Don’t rent them out to tomorrow.”
Jerry Spinelli
Yesterday I had a great conversation with a trusted mentor and he shared with me an epiphany that he had in the last week about our desire to “get back to normal.” The realization that he shared is that we can spend all our time and energy now trying to get back to once was, without ever thinking through the more important question of “what should be?” We can also spend all our time worrying about what might happen, and comparing our tomorrow’s to the expectations of yesterday.
I really found his thinking to be both provocative and insightful. It caused me to reflect on and think about these verses from the book of Luke.
‘And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.‘ Luke 12:22-23,25-26,33-34
It is so easy to focus on what “we are missing out on RIGHT NOW” instead of reveling in the unique and special gifts of the current moment. It is also so easy to focus so forcefully on the promise of tomorrow that we see past the beauty right in front of us.
We are all experiencing a unique and challenging time, filled with uncertainty, the loss of freedom and disruptive change to almost every aspect of our lives. So many people have been affected in tremendous and tragic ways. It can be hard to see brightness and joy when so much of the conversation is dominated by the bad news and the comparison to “what was” and “what might be.”
If we all aren’t careful we could miss out on the precious gift of each moment that we are alive. We could lose the opportunity to make this current moment different and powerful. We put at risk the opportunity to make a difference and serve others. And that is a treasure that we truly don’t want to give away…
“Do the best you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Theodore Roosevelt
It is easy to spend the finite amount energy we have in our lives worrying about things we cannot control.
Instead of doing our best effort, we try to figure out what is the minimum amount needed to meet the expectations…
Instead of giving praise for what we do have, we compare ourselves to others and what they have…
Instead of focusing on what is right in front of us we worry about what might, or might not, happen…
It can be equally easy to focus on what is right in front of us if we choose to do so. We just have to make the choice to be grateful…
I am grateful that I have an opportunity to use the skills and talents God has blessed me with…
I am grateful for all the gifts and things that I have been blessed with…
I am grateful for the time I have right now to spend doing things I enjoy with people that I care about…
Amazing how gratitude can change your perspective on things…
“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.”
Napoleon Hill
Every day we have a choice to make. Do we focus on what is right in front of us or do we spend our time thinking about and chasing things that may or may not really matter? In our hyper-distracted world it is so easy to get lost in the myriad of opportunities for distraction that exist outside of where we are in a given moment or place in time.
Seizing the opportunities that are in front of you doesn’t mean to settle or limit yourself. It means fully exploring the path ahead and making informed and intelligent decisions about where to go next. Quitting is easy, chasing the shiny objects is easy, shifting focus is easy. Buckling down to do the hard work RIGHT NOW is tough, but when you do it, it creates opportunities and growth that perhaps you can’t even see.
There is a big difference between running towards opportunities and running from circumstances or challenges. Sometimes the biggest and best things in life are right in front of you but they are clouded due to either familiarity or perhaps a lack of newness. What if today was the day that you decided to focus all your energy on what is right there for the taking?
The big opportunity exists each and every day for every one of us. There is nothing worse than to live a life that is simply an existence instead of a life lived out with intention and purpose. The big opportunity is to use the day ahead as fully and completely as possible. Run towards the opportunity to use today in the most powerful and positive way. If you don’t, the time is going to pass anyway. Wouldn’t you prefer to have seized the day?
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
Lyndon B. Johnson
How easy it is to get lost fighting the battles from our past days. We can get so wrapped up in what did, or didn’t, happen in our lives. I know that I will find myself replaying a conversation in my mind and thinking of better responses or rethinking my actions in response to a certain situation.
I believe this can be a valuable, and extremely beneficial habit to form. But it has to be done with an eye clearly on the future and how one needs to grow and evolve towards building a better self. Taking the time to reflect and learn is a powerful way to grow forward into the next day.
How do you ensure that you don’t get lost in yesterday, forgetting that the time has passed and it doesn’t define your present day or the tomorrow that is yet to come? I find that taking 15 minutes at the end of each day to answer the following questions in a daily journal helps me process the day, and focus on creating wins.
I know these are a lot of questions to run through, and I fully admit that I don’t get to do this every single day. However when I skip a day I find the next morning to be a little less focused, a little less intentionally crafted.
Over the years I have played with the order of these questions, and with different questions, and on occasion I will replace one with a different inquiry to address a specific challenge or need in my life. For example, if I am taking time off with the family I will modify “What were my biggest wins” into “What were my biggest wins as a husband, as a father?” The point isn’t to get stuck on the questions themselves but instead to focus on learning from the day and very specifically shaping what you need to do to create wins tomorrow.
As a side note I do believe the order of the questions is very important. That’s why I end with “what did I learn” and “what do I need to do” questions. Those reset my head and help me focus on tomorrow.
To ensure that I follow through on my goals of daily reflection I use the journalling app “Day One.” I love that I can capture my thoughts in a simple to use mechanism that is always with me. I have used a paper journal to do this in the past but I found that it was too easy to forget or that it allowed me to create an excuse to not do the practice. There are tons of digital journals out there, so do whatever works for you. The key is to find a method that enables you to process today with a relentless focus on building a better future.
Be ready and mindful that today will be a ‘yesterday’ very very soon. Take the time at the end of the day to reflect and intentionally build a winning tomorrow. You’ll be glad you did.
“Aim to make a difference in someone’s life every single day, including your own.”
Doe Zantamata
I love the first word in this quote. To ‘aim’ means to “to intend or direct for a particular effect or purpose.” How many days do we start out so intentionally? How often is the purpose of making a difference in someone else’s life explicitly defined and measured? How about for your own life? Without aiming you are, by default, choosing to drift without direction.
Take 5 minutes in the morning and in as few words as possible write down the answers to these three questions:
Who’s life do I specifically want to impact?
What am I going to do today to impact the life of that person?
How will I enable my ability to make a difference in someone else’s life by taking care of my own mind, body or spirit?
At the end of the day simply read what you wrote down and give yourself a simple yes/no answer on whether you were successful. Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t meet your goal. But I’ll bet when you start doing this regularly you’ll have far more ‘yes’s” than ‘no’s.’
You can’t worry about what you did or didn’t do yesterday; but you can learn from it. You can’t worry about what you will or won’t be able to do tomorrow; but you can prepare for it. The key here is to AIM, and then look and see if you hit your target. If not, then start over tomorrow. Making a difference happens one day at a time.
Ready. Aim. Fire. Review.
“Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.”
Robert Kiyosaki
Maybe tomorrow will be the right time to start that project, but not today, I’m too busy…
Next week will be a better time to tackle that tough conversation head on, but not today, I just don’t have the energy to deal with it…
I’ll start reading that book on breaking bad habits next month, but not right now, there is just too much going on and I don’t have time…
I’ll start spending more time with my family when I get through this busy season at work, but I can’t right now, they’ll understand that I am doing this for them anyway…
It is amazing how many excuses we can create to put off or delay work that will make the biggest difference in our lives. In our “instant gratification” society it seems that all that matters is living in the moment. The easy things we embrace, but the hard things we put off or ignore. But if we want to create a tomorrow that we will be able to live in fully and completely, we have to do the work today.
Yesterday can’t be changed, fixed or undone. Tomorrow is just a dream. Today is the only day that matters if you want to make your visions come true. Live it fully and completely and do the work that will be the foundation for your future.
“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.”
John Wayne
How often do we start the new day with the thought that it is a brand new and clean day? A day that is ready to be embraced fully because we are a little bit smarter and better because of the day before? Think of the impact on our lives if every day we were to focus on the lessons learned from yesterday and seek to improve today based on those learnings. Talk about continuous improvement!
I journal daily and I am going to add this question to my end of day routine for a while to see how it impacts tomorrow: “What did I learn today that will make tomorrow better?”
“The future depends on what we do in the present.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Ten years ago what were your dreams for the future? Did you achieve them? What future did you want to create? How did you make it happen? 2009 doesn’t seem like it was all that long ago, yet a lot has happened over the past ten years. Did those years build up to create what you expected and desired? How will it look over the next 10 years?
Was there anything you did today that will create the future you want in five years? Ten years? Sometimes it might be the big things, others just the small things but the focus has to be on doing the right things today that will be meaningful in the future that you want to create.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Mother Teresa
How often do we spend our lives living in the past by lamenting what didn’t happen or trying to hold on to our previous accomplishments? Conversely, how much time do we spend living and thinking about the future and what we want or desire? I will admit that I am very guilty of the latter scenario, spending a lot of time and energy on what I think or want to happen. It is a constant battle to bring focus to what I need to do RIGHT NOW and put that same energy to use today.
Our supply of energy and time is finite. How we choose to invest it TODAY will create the future we want but only if we invest wisely. You have to start now. What is the very simple, finite, and clear thing you can start today that would impact the lives of others or yourself? Got it? Do it…
“Today is life — the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.”
Dale Carnegie
Remember the passion that you used to have to wake up on a Saturday morning as a kid? Perhaps it was cartoons, unlimited cereal, or playing outside all day long. There was such excitement for the weekend and the day of adventure that lay ahead.
Why does that feeling have to be relegated to a memory or a rare occurrence? The day ahead is an adventure, regardless of how old you are, or whether or not it is a day off or a day at work. The day holds promise and beauty if you simply choose to embrace it. Embrace today with gusto!
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Tomorrow’s dreams are dependent on today’s hard work. It is far too easy to get lost in what you want to have happen instead of focusing on what is in the here and now. I will fully admit that I have been guilty of this far too often. As a highly goal driven person sometimes it easy to live in the future instead of focusing on what has to be done TODAY.
When training for an Ironman race it is hard to think about the magnitude of the race distance when it was almost a year away. The key is to focus on the training needed to do for a specific week, and then the even more specific effort that you need to put forth on a given day. Having a plan, trusting that plan, and doing the work on a daily basis is the reason that you can go into the race without any fear or nervousness about completing the 140.6 miles ahead of you. If you have done the hard work then you are prepared for the day ahead.
Being prepared for whatever God has planned for us means that we have to put in the hard work each and every day.
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:34
One day at a time. Focus on his kingdom and righteousness first. That is the message Jesus was sharing in this verse during his Sermon on the Mount. I think it is worth reading the entire passage that leads into this verse to better understand the context of this specific verse.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34
There is a lot in this passage to really chew on and meditate on. I know that I for one can get lost in living for the future, planning for, and worrying about, things that aren’t even important in the broad scheme of things. Through worry I can also focus on the wrong things that aren’t the areas or things I should be focused on.
It is amazing that when you do what is written above, the worry ceases to be the idol that controls you. You can put it in the back seat, which is certainly where it belongs and put what’s important in the front…
