Make The Most Of Today

"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do and you've done it!" - Margaret Thatcher (Former British Prime Minister)

"Ah! But today is the only day you are alive. Today is the one time you have to face reality. Today is the only time you have to do anything constructive or destructive. Today before it becomes yesterday, is your opportunity to go forward and backward! Today, before it becomes tomorrow, is your chance to lay a better foundation for your future! What are you doing with today? Are you filling it full of your usual fears and worries, thus guaranteeing that tomorrow will be a repetition of today?" - Claude Bristol

What each of us is doing this minute is the most important event in history for us. We have decided to invest our resources in this opportunity rather than in any other. It is helpful to remember this when we consider the passage of time.

According to Dennis Waitley, "There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.

The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise, and poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendour or behind a mask of clouds; but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is as yet unborn. This leaves only one day: Today."

Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities -Yesterday and Tomorrow - that we break down. It is not the experience of Today that drives us mad, instead it is remorse and bitterness for something that happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore, live this one full Today."

Malcolm Forbes believed the important thing is "never say die until you're dead," and he lived that example up to the hilt. It is, as we realise when we suddenly attend our fortieth high school reunion, a short journey.

24 hours is never too small to achieve something. Great achievers have the same 24 hours unsuccessful people have. The difference is, while the former maximizes his 24 hours, the later misuses it. There is never a second chance for a day spent aimlessly. If we spend a day not maximising it or spending it on things that will take us closer to our destinies, we are most times doomed with no option of having to spend the same day again. It is always advisable to do the right thing at the right time. When the 'right time' is gone, there is usually no other chance for that right time that is gone.

It is therefore expedient that we make the most of - maximize - each day we have. Even if we have more than 24 hours in a day, there will still be the categories of the successful people and the unsuccessful people. Let us recognize the fact that a day is simply 24 hours, 1 hour into 24 places.

Learn to have a plan for each day. Have a Daily To Do List. This list is useful for you to write down the activities you need to do each day. Remember, in that list you must include something you will do that will help you in moving closer and faster in the attainment of your dream.

Also, take cognisance of the fact that time flies. A year is just a month in 12 places. And a month is just 30 days. Determine to do something each day as a small task in the actualisation of your goals. If you do that each day, it means at the end of a year you have done 365 (or 366) things in the realization of your desired goal.

Therefore, our ability to make the most of each day will not just get us closer to our destination, but will also make it easier and better to get there. I challenge you at this stage, to make the most of each day starting from today. Remember, it is never too late to do what you might have done.

It is difficult to be depressed and active at the same time. So get active! Live TODAY.

Dayo Olomu is a UK-based Motivational Speaker, Writer, Business/Life Coach, Trainer, Media Entrepreneur and Competent Toastmaster. His core belief is that we are all endowed with seeds of greatness, and his mission is to help individuals and organisations achieve their full potentials. He is the author of best selling "4 Indispensable Strategies for Success" and the President of Croydon Communicators Toastmasters. Get his FREE monthly Rise to the Top ezine by sending a blank email to subscribe@dayoolomu.com or visit his website at: www.dayoolomu.com