Stretch Yourself with ACTION and CONSISTENCY

There is great power in taking ACTION and being CONSISTENT. One of the things I have learned is that you have to expect the unexpected. So many of us have long-term plans, but life happens and we keep taking action toward those plans and being consistent to make those plans into reality. Yes, planning is important. And remember that this day will never come again and your actions and consistency in the remaining hours of this day could move your life in a whole new direction.

For example, today is the day you can revisit those resolutions and take the first action by asking yourself "what can I do realistically, consistently that will help me achieve this goal?"

Today is the day you could pull out your journal and reflect on what’s not working for you in your life.
Today is the day you could articulate a new set of personal standards that resonate with your core values.

Understand the actions and consistency you do in your days makes up your life.  As you live each of your days in the present, fully, with action and consistency in your endeavors, you are crafting your life.
So what am I saying?
I am saying that if you manage your time, you'll master your life.

That's how the best succeed.  What I learned through writing Stretch Yourself and interviewing successful people is that success comes from taking action not on a large scale, but from the consistent practice of simple fundamentals and being disciplined in your consistent action.  In other words, the best of the best take ACTION and are CONSISTENT.

All too often we think success is complicated. And through interviews and discussion with some successful people in business and in life I realize that they are using very simple practices but that they execute around these principles religiously.

One of the most important of these fundamentals is that they are meticulous about protecting their time.

The first step in protecting your time is to know where you are going.
Knowing your destination increases your focus.
Knowing your destination allows you to make wiser choices.
Knowing your destination saves you precious time and energy. If you don’t know where you are going, any road is going to get you there.

Let me give you a analogy for this. If you need to drive from Toronto to New York City, what do you do? The first thing you are going to do is locate the destination. Then you are going to plot your course on your GPS. You’d laugh at someone who said I’m going to drive to New York City and just hopped into their car without GPS, map, or a plan. That would be recipe for disaster.

Most people spend more time planning their summer vacations than they do planning their lives. You would laugh at a business that had no business plan. You would laugh at a business that didn't reflect on strategy. You would laugh at a business that did not clearly articulate its mission and its guiding values. Yet most people don’t have a plan for their lives. Most people have not clearly articulated a philosophy for their lives. Most people don’t have a mission for their life. And one of the most important things I’ve discovered is that if you don’t have a plan and a philosophy for your life you will end up living someone else’s life and working someone else's passion.

I had lunch a month ago with a long time friend/mentor of mine and he told me that his focus for success was one thing and that is his OVERALL GOAL the BIG VISION, the LONG TERM GOAL.  Then He plans and bases all his small actions on his LONG TERM VISION and that keeps him focused as he gets closer to his goals.  WOW!

My mentor uses the Law of Linkage. The Law of Linkage states that if you want to live an extraordinary life then link everything that you do to your vision. For example, if a meeting is not aligned with your vision then have the discipline to say no to it. Because that meeting will take time away from pursuing your goals.

Stay focused as best you can, and don't let things happen to you - not when you can MAKE things HAPPEN.”