Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow's Success

Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.

You don’t win an Olympic gold medal with a few weeks of intensive training,” says (Seth) Godin. “There’s no such thing as an overnight opera sensation. Great law firms or design companies don’t spring up overnight…every great company, every great brand, and every great career has been built in exactly the same way: bit by bit, step by step, little by little.” There is no magic solution to success.

Today Matters People create success in their lives by focusing on today. It may sound trite, but today is the only time you have. It’s too late for yesterday. And you can’t depend on tomorrow. That’s why today matters.

Most people want to avoid pain, and discipline is often painful. But we need to recognize that there are really two kinds of pain when it comes to our daily conduct. There’s the pain of self-discipline and the pain of regret. Most people avoid the pain of self-discipline because it’s the easy thing to do. What they may not realize is that the pain of self-discipline is momentary but the pay-off is long lasting.

Just for Today . . . Just for today . . . I will choose and display the right attitudes. Just for today . . . I will determine and act on important priorities. Just for today . . . I will know and follow healthy guidelines. Just for today . . . I will communicate with and care for my family. Just for today . . . I will practice and develop good thinking. Just for today . . . I will make and keep proper commitments. Just for today . . . I will earn and properly manage finances. Just for today . . . I will deepen and live out my faith. Just for today . . . I will initiate and invest in solid relationships. Just for today . . . I will plan for and model generosity. Just for today . . . I will embrace and practice good values. Just for today . . . I will seek and experience improvements.     Just for today . . . I will act on these decisions and practice these disciplines, and Then one day . . . I will see the compounding results of a day lived well.

The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda. "The only adequate preparation for tomorrow is the right use of today.

You may have a million reasons not to get started now. In a month or a year or five years from now, you may have only one regret - that you didn't start now.

The greatest handicap a person has is not realizing his potential.

In order to *do* more, I've got to *be* more.

Hell begins on that day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts we wasted, of all that we might have done that we did not do.

You have not lived a perfect day, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you. No man becomes rich unless he enriches others.

The best way to help people is to see the best in them. The 101% principle: Look for the 1 thing I admire in them and give them 100% encouragement for it.

Only by practicing and developing your thinking daily will your ideas get better. Your thinking ability is determined not by your desire to think, but by your past thinking.

A strong positive self image is the best possible preparation for success in life.

YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS OFTEN DETERMINES THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD YOU

On the card is this statement: “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.

Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.

Nothing is easier than saying words. Nothing is harder than living them, day after day. What you promise today must be renewed and redecided tomorrow and each day that stretches out before you.

Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.

improve my Today. Today. This moment. NOW. It is God’s gift to me and it is all that I have. Tomorrow with all its joys and sorrows, triumphs and troubles isn’t here yet. Indeed, tomorrow may never come. Therefore, I will not worry about tomorrow. Today is what God has entrusted to me. It is all that I have. I will do my best in it. I will demonstrate the best of me in it— my character, giftedness, and abilities— to my family and friends, clients and associates. I will identify those things that are most important to do Today, and those things I will do until they are done. And when this day is done I will look back with satisfaction at that which I have accomplished. Then, and only then, will I plan my tomorrow, Looking to improve upon Today, with God’s help. Then I shall go to sleep in peace . . . content.

You can't make the other fellow feel important in your presence if you secretly feel that he is a nobody.

Money is like manure. If you let it pile up, it just smells. But if you spread it around, you can encourage things to grow.

Anything worth having is going to be a struggle. Commitment doesn't come easy, but when you're fighting for something you believe in the struggle is worth it. 1. Count the price of the prize. 2. Decide if you're willing to pay. 3. Commit.

Any time you make a commitment to something, it will be tested. If something is worth doing, I will commit myself to carrying it through.

That no matter how often someone says you can't do something, by simply working harder and trying, you can prove them wrong and actually change your circumstance. Change your thinking and it will change your life.

Ideas have a short half-life: if you don't put them to action, they die off.

It takes quantity as well as quality to develop warm and caring relationships.