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Generate

“We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.” Frank Tibolt

What matters most needs attention now.

What needs initiating, today?

Object

“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” Samuel Johnson

Be willing to listen but not to give up the dream.

Is it time to move forward, even without everyone on board?

Avoid the trap

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." Peter Drucker

Efficiency alone can be a trap.

Where do you need to pair purpose with efficiency?

Be Routine

“Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.” W. H. Auden

Anyone can be heroic for a moment. Consistent action is what builds character and creates value.

What new routine or practice would propel your life and impact forward?

Fail Forward

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.”  Henry Ford  

We can choose how deeply failure affects us.

What recent failure can become a launching pad?

Disciplined attention

“A disciplined person is one who can do the right thing at the right time in the right way with the right spirit.” Ortberg, Pederson and Poling

There is power in bringing these four elements together.

What right thing needs your disciplined attention today?

Achieve

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” Zig Ziglar

Though the accomplishment of a goal should be celebrated, when it’s done it’s done.

Who do you want to become and what goal will help you get there?

Talk

“Great minds talk about ideas, average minds talk about events, and small minds talk about people.” Eleanor Roosevelt

It’s good to speak positively about the people and events that matter to us, but ideas could use some extra airtime.

How can you elevate a conversation to the idea level today?

Disturb

“There is no improving the future without disturbing the present.” Catherine Booth 

It’s difficult to choose between what is going well and the hope of something better.  

What future result is so important to you that you’re willing to affect change to get there? 

Focus

“Excuses can be a sign that distractions control your life. Focus on direction… not distraction, and excuses lose their power.” Carson Pue

Excuses take a lot of energy and upkeep that could be employed elsewhere. 

What direction could I take that will clear away excuses? 

Spend

“You will always rejoice in the evening, if you spend the day profitably.” Thomas A’Kempis 

There is surprising satisfaction in living a day well. 

What can you do today that will make you glad this evening? 

Become

“You will become as small as your controlling desire, as great as your dominant aspiration.” James Allen 

Whatever we give our attention to controls the outcomes we experience. 

Small or great, the choice is yours. 

Open up  

“Save energy by choosing to not have a preference on everything.” Michael Hyatt 

Defining and defending your preference on every topic may not be necessary. 

How could not voicing your opinion open up doors to new understanding? 

Take

“The thing about responsibility is that it's most effectively taken, not given.” Seth Godin 

Personal choice is what moves faith, relationships, and meaningful work forward. 

What will you willingly take on today? 

Ignite 

“Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made nothing happens.” Wilfred A. Peterson 

 Much has been lost while we’ve lingered in indecision. 

What will you ignite today through a simple decision? 

Believe the best

“Not taking things personally is a superpower.” James Clear

Think about the emotional energy you can save… and where you can invest it! 

Believe the best, and rest. 

Surround

“The easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people who are more passionate, compassionate, giving, and outward looking than I am.” 

We become like the people we spend time with. 

What enriching personal connection can you plan today? 

Give energy 

“Identify your problems but give your power and energy to solutions.”  Anthony Robbins

Naming our problems brings the clarity we need to enact solutions. 

Which solution will you give energy to today? 

See

“The most important person is the one in front of you right now.” Yizhao Zhang

Not the task to be done, not the argument to be won.

How would my interactions change if I saw the person in front of me as incredibly valuable? 

Choose

“You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.” Harry S. Truman

Accomplishment or credit: it’s a difficult choice, but only if we value our advancement above what’s best for others.  

What matters so much to you that you don’t care about your name in a footnote? 

Push

“Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.” Bertrand Russell 

Indecision is a horrible place to live. Consider prayerfully, then push through to action, even if at times you need to backtrack and take a new direction. 

How could making a decision lighten your life? 

Think

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t… you’re right.” Henry Ford

This is true at a foundational level because if we think we can’t, we’ll never try.

How will what you think change what you do today?

Get better

"It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time." Julia Cameron

When we care more about learning than looking like we know it all, we advance not only in what we know or can do, but in who we are.

Do you want to look good or learn?

Flow

“Gratitude is a dialysis of sorts… it flushes the self-pity out of our systems.” Max Lacado

That’s powerful, and there’s more: when we express gratitude, the person on the receiving end benefits as well.

Where should gratitude flow today?

Live by priorities

“Live by priorities, not pressures.” Dewy Burtolini

Some pressures are real and force the breath out of our lungs. Many are perceived, yet the effect can be the same.

What priority must take precedence over pressures today?

Do what you can

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt

Effectiveness does not depend on optimal conditions.

What situation are you in? What do you have to offer? What will you do? 

Run in the right direction

“Don’t run away from mistakes or people, run towards calling.”

While mistakes can often be redeemed and we can learn to interact with people in healthy ways, running toward what we are called to do is what makes our lives purposeful and compelling.

You can manage one sprint today. Where will you run?

Focus

“Fitting it all in is impossible – but designing a plan to do what matters most is very possible!” Tammy London

You can’t have it all, but maybe you can have what’s even better – an undivided focus.

What could your focused attention accomplish today?

Scan challenges for opportunity

“When patterns are broken, new worlds can emerge” Tuli Kupferberg

Struggling to keep things the same leads to disappointment and eventually, loss.

What does this circumstance make possible?

Be specific

“I always wanted to be somebody. Now I know I should have been more specific.” Lily Tomlin

Effort is important, but without an end in mind it loses its value. 

What deserves the focus of your energy today?

Start now

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” Nido Qubein

Seen in this light, circumstances lose their power to weigh us down and instead become starting blocks in today’s sprint toward the future we want to create.

If your circumstances aren’t holding you back from taking action, what is?

Let go

“The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears.” David Whyte

Fears accumulate and weigh us down.

What will be set free when you let fear go? 

Don’t pay too much

“Is the life I am living worth what I am giving up to have it?” Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

We can end up sacrificing the love and joy of the moment to pay for a lifestyle that leaves little time for what matters most.

What are you missing in your drive to have it all?

Forgive  

“He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he, himself, must pass.” Lord Herbert

Openness, forgiveness, restitution… they all create new possibilities.

What bridge do you need to cross that starts with forgiveness?

Need

“Your people's greatest need is your own personal holiness.” Murray McSheyne

Your family, your co-workers, those you lead…what they need has much more to do with who you are than what you do.  

What one thing will you give attention to today that will help you become that person? 

Show up

“80% of success is showing up.” Woody Allen

Not much can happen if you’re not there.

Where would showing up today make success possible tomorrow?

Act

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”   Theodore Roosevelt  

Unless the outcome isn’t important to you, inaction is most often damaging.

What decision do you need to act on today? 

Push/pace

“Push yourself and pace yourself.”

Being open to challenge as well as making wise decisions about how much you take on do not have to be mutually exclusive.

Where do you need to pace yourself this week? In what do you need a push?

Rest 

“Rest is an antidote to fear.” 

It sounds counter intuitive, but sleep renews not only our bodies but our courage. Choosing to rest rather than react opens up new possibilities. 

In what way can you face fear with rest today? 

Decide 

“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” F. M Alexander 

Go after what you can control. 

What habit can you begin today that will lead toward your desired future? 

Be unreasonable

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”  George Bernard Shaw

For progress to happen, conviction and persistence must be unwavering. 

In what way do you need to be unreasonable today? 

Paint

“As an artist, you must never forget that your principal canvas in life is relationships.” Erwin McManus 

Every directed look, spoken work, kindness given or withheld, they all leave a colour or texture.  

What kind of a picture are you painting in the lives of others? 

Feel

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will NEVER forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Emotions live on. 

How do I want people around me today to feel tomorrow? 

Run

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” Jim Rohn 

We feel powerless when we give our authority away. 

What choice will you make today that will increase your agency? 

Be patient 

“Be patient, but not passive. Active patience." James Clear 

Being patient can mean being proactive when you know what you’re waiting for and why.

In what way could active patience pay off for you today? 

Be

“Be where your feet are.” Scott O’Neil  

Living anywhere else means we’re not present to anyone. 

How would being present change the way you experience today? 

Value people 

“Perfectionism is the enemy of grace.” Reggie McNeal  

Being perfectly right or getting the job perfectly done may mean settling for second best. 

What do you value more: perfect or people? 

View 

“Failure is an event, never a person.” Zig Ziglar

Get this turned around and there’s no room for redemption. 

How will you view failure today? 

Makeover

“We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us… and that is what really counts in the end: how to take the raw stuff of life and make it a thing of worth and beauty.”  John Fort Newton  

In this we can all be artists. 

What unattractive circumstance in your life needs an internal makeover? 

Amplify

“You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a lot more of who you already are.” Tom Rath

The key is to choose that part of us that is worth amplifying. 

What strength do you want to build on today? 

Simplify

“Maintaining a complicated life is a great way to avoid changing it.” Elaine St. James

When maintenance demands all our energy, we can’t see what is missing. 

What’s one thing you can simplify today? 

Watch 

“Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” Robert Fulghum 

The truth of who we are in unguarded moments is what has the most power to influence. 

What are people learning from you? 

Don’t look back

“Don’t look back - you’re not going that way.” Mary Engelbreit

But it’s so tempting… to keep mulling over the past, even when it means robbing the present of that wasted energy. 

Direction follows attention. Where are you headed? 

Give

“All that is not given is lost.”  Rabindranath Tagore

The value of a life is measured by how much of it is given away.

What can be gained by giving today?

Infuse

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou

Because inspirational ideas are such a precious resource, we tend to use them sparingly for fear they will run out.

Where can you infuse creativity into a relationship or project today?

Be in the Now

“Always be asking yourself, “What is important now?” Robert D Smith

Our ability to hold many things in perspective is often a gift, but not always.  

What matters most, right now?

Move

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” Les McKeown

Growth comes from being with people you have much to learn from.

What conversation do you want to become a part of? 

Give ego the slip

“When ego slips away, the best idea wins.”

Wanting an excellent mutual outcome even more than wanting our ideas to be embraced can lead to what is remarkable.  

What do you want more?

Decide

“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” Carl Jung

The gravitational pull of the past does what you would expect… it takes you down. The possibilities of the future are inspired by choice.

Who will you decide to be, today?

Blame is unproductive

“When there’s something to blame there’s nothing to work on.” Tim Cooper

It’s so much easier to attribute our lack of progress to circumstances, cultural factors, or people than it is to take action. 

What will you work on today?

Be habitual

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”   Aristotle

As mundane and routine as habits sound, they have the power to take us bit by bit to where we want to be. 

What do you want to be excellent at? Initiate a habit that will take you there.

Listen up!

“As long as you’re talking, you’re not learning anything you didn’t already know.” Susan Scott

Words are powerful. They affect how we think and live. Interestingly, the words that most impact our lives are seldom those we say.

Are you listening to impress or to understand?