Motivation and Change: Creating Your Daily Success Program

I get some of my best ideas for my column from my clients.

One idea that really seems to work for one of my clients is having a daily success program. What's a daily success program? It's simply a daily routine designed to create a successful, well-lived day, and a successful well-lived life as a result. More than a daily schedule or day planner, a daily success program is designed to help you create a compelling day, keep you on track with your goals, wake up each day excited to begin the day, and go to bed at night feeling like you have had a day well-lived.

I realize that's a fairly bold statement, but read on to see if, and how, it could work for you.

What do most people think of when they first wake up in the morning? Usually something like, "Is it Saturday yet?" or "How many times can I hit the snooze button and still be to work on time?"

Not a great way to start the day.

I wonder what would happen if you awoke each day and asked yourself questions like:

What's great about today?

What am I grateful for today?

What am I looking forward to today?

What can I contribute today?

What small steps can I take today that will have a lasting positive effect in my life?

If nothing else, it breaks the pattern of waking up like a grouchy grizzly bear.

After a positive start to the day, how do you keep your momentum going?

Answer: Think small!

What's that you say, how do you achieve anything thinking small? Because that is the only sure way to achieve any lasting long term change.

Here's what I mean: Most people set out thinking big, try to do too much at once, can't do it all, get frustrated, and then give up. Sound like anyone you know? Perhaps like the person who stared back at you in the mirror this morning?

The Power of Persistence and Thinking Small

In the battle between the rock and the river, the river always wins. Not because it is stronger than the rock, but because it takes persistent small actions. By taking small actions each day, momentous change can take place.

So here is another tool to add to your daily success program: pick a small action to take each day to improve your life. If you just do 1% better each day, you will build incredible momentum, and become virtually unstoppable.

But what if I don't know what to do? First off, as I tell my 2 kids, stop whining! Now that I have got your attention, it's crucial to get it that you do not have to know what to do before you get going. Try different strategies, if they work, keep doing them. If they don't, keep trying other strategies.

Remember this

success comes from good judgement
good judgement comes from experience
experience comes from bad judgement.

One of the quickest ways to be successful is to get a lot of experience. Sure, you may blow it every so often, but that's just another lesson in what not to do.

Another tool to add to your daily success program is what I call "the must do's" and "the must not do's." What are three things, unique to your own situation, that you must avoid each day? What are three things that you must do each day? Once you get into the habit of thinking this way, it becomes a success habit.

At the end of your successful day, it can be helpful to reflect back on what you have noticed and learned that day. Ask questions such as:

What did I learn today?
What did I contribute today?
How can I improve on today?
How can I make tomorrow even better?

If you practice and install these four simple routines:

wake up questions
small actions
"the musts", and
day-ending questions,

you will notice an almost immediate difference in your attitude, your energy, and your results. So what are you waiting for, get going and get growing!

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