Night Rituals that will set you up for a successful tomorrow

Attached below are 10 night rituals  that I believe will set you up for a successful tomorrow:

1. Do not go to bed until your next day is completed in paper. Review your calendar for the next day (early in the evening) identify three must-do tasks and set a start time and the next day plan to begin with the toughest task.   

2. Wash dishes/load and start dishwasher. Wipe down all counters  and shine the sink. 

3. Set up the breakfast table and prepare breakfast food items ie. wash and fruits, bake scones, boil the eggs, preset the coffee maker to start brewing coffee at a specific time. etc 

4. Get the kids’  lunchboxes ready.

5. Choose the next day’s clothes to expedite morning preparation.

6. Tuen off all electronics an hour before bedtime and play calming music..( for me it’s classical music). 

7. Set a timer for 15 minutes to tidy up so you wake up to a neat space.

8.Dim all lights an hour before lights out.

9.Read a book 20 -30 minutes before sleep. I refuse to go to bed until I learn something new.

10.Review the day that was, record wins and lessons learnt. Let go of hurts, Forgive ALL that wronged you and commit the night and the day ahead to God in prayer. The 5 minute journal is my something I don’t think can live without. Check it out FIVEMINUTEJOURNAL.COM

BONUS: Go to bed early!  Early to bed early to rise. For me bedtime is at 8:30pm since I am an early riser. 

Source: 10 Things to Do Before Bed Each Night

Your mind is your garden. Watch what you plant in it.

What are you planting in your mind? What kind of thoughts are you entertaining? When learning  something new the Conscious mind is in control and after you get it the subconscious mind takes over.

Think about it: When you first started driving, skating or riding a bike you were 100% there, learning and trying hard not to fall or fail. When you learnt how to operate that vehicle or ride that bike you  became an expert. It got  so easy that You didn’t think much about it. There are times I have driven from work to home and wondered how I got home. When learning  something new the Conscious mind is in control and after you get it the subconscious mind takes over.

Watch your thoughts dear ones!  Once planted in a fertile ground (mind) they grow and become our governing systems. They will empower or limit you and it all begins with what you entertain. Any idea once planted will stay in place unless challenged or replaced.  If you don’t challenge it,  it will grow strong and stronger and even grow seeds

That quote “Mind your own  business” has never been truer. Your mind is your main Business. Watch what goes in it. Say no to anything that’s not in sync with your purpose.

We think 60,000 thoughts a day according to Deepak Chopra.  Which most of it we can control..
Challenge your belief system by asking yourself these  questions:
Is it ....
1. Logical
2. Reasonable
3. Helping me

Remember, Who you are today is where your thoughts have brought you. Who you will be tomorrow is where your thoughts will take you. You are a product of your thoughts!! PROVERBS 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he".

Imagine you hear a  knock on the door. It is your responsibility to not only walk toward the door, but to know for sure who is at the door.
You just don't open the door,  you peek through the “security hole”in the door and see who’s at the door. Then you make a decision to let them in or not.

The door is your mind and it is your BUSINESS TO CHOOSE what You are going to welcome in. When  you identify what is trying to GAIN ENTRY to your MIND, You  decide whether you are going to ALLOW It to COME IN,  take a sit, offer it a drink and entertain it or whether you reject it.

It is your responsibility to take every thought captive. (II Cor. 10:5); to resist the devil (James 4:7); to choose to think on pure, lovely, wholesome things (Phil. 4:8).

It is extremely important  that you protect your mind and hear  and not expose it to damaging things that produce negative thinking within you. (Proverbs 4:23)
Because what you think is what you are. You are what you are today because of yesterday's thoughts.
Your tomorrow is being shaped by your thoughts today.
Be intentional about what you think about.

You got dreams? How about aspirations!!

✨You got dreams? How about aspirations?
(An aspiration is a strong desire, longing, or aim; ambition)

Go after your dreams like your life depends on it because it does. Do WHATEVER it takes to make it happen! Life is NOW in session! LIFE IS HERE AND NOW!! Remember you will miss 💯 % of the shots you don’t take. ~ Wayne Gretzky
Mae West said,  “You only live ONCE, but if you live it right, once is enough.”
Be willing to bet on your self and have faith in God. ALL things are possible🙏🏾

✨ MAKE Failure your friend not your enemy!
Failure is not the opposite of success but part of the success.
The first time you try something new chances are, you’ll  fail! Get up, dust yourself and try again! Fall again, pick yourself up quickly and try again.

Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success. -Napoleon Hill

✨Consider Mentorship/Coaching
We all need a Paul(Mentor), Barnabas(encourager) and a Timothy(mentee). Never underestimate the power of this three people in your life!

✨Who is in your circle of influence?
Keep a jealous eye on your circle of influence. You become like the 5 people you associate yourself with. They will make you or break you! Your success is heavily dependent on that circle!

✨Protect your time!
Given the choice, would you rather save time or money? Time is and should be our most valuable commodity. Money mistakes can often be corrected, lost time cannot be recovered.

Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back. -Harvey MacKay

#Spend your time with people that matter, doing the things that make a difference. One of those things is growing yourself!

In conclusion, go out and make it happen, you can do it! A year from now you’ll look back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

#IBelieveInYou!
#LeanOnMyFaith until you can stand on your own. #Mentorship
#Dare2BDifferentin2019
#PayingItForward

Dare 2B Different in 2019

🔸Be willing to fail 1001 times in 2019!!
The more times you fail,  the closer you are to
success

Reach for things you desire! You could fail but Pick yourself up, try again and again. No matter what and how you feel, keep moving.  Make the best of every detour and interruption. Every Failure teaches you something if you let it.  Turn adversity into advantage.

For you that is in the game and feels like giving up remember:
The day you plant a seed 🌱 is not the day you eat its fruit. Be patient, Keep moving forward.The hard work you are putting in will produce the results you’ve been looking for.

🔸Measure your success not in the results you get but by the seeds you plant and the lives you touch.
#IDare2Be DifferentIn2019
#IDare2ServeHimWholeHeartedly.

Hello 2019

In 2019 focus on the simple things that make life beautiful. Laughter, smiles, love and Gratitude. ~Whitney English

🔹1. Start with the Big picture
Imagine it’s 1 year from today and when looking back over the past year , you realize that it was the best year of your life. What does that look like to you?

🔹2.Set Goals
a)Personal Goals
B)Family, friends and relationship Goals
C)Personal Development & Spiritual Goals
D)Financial Goals
E)work, Career or study Goals
F) Health Goals.

🔹3. Design your Days
Have morning routine(Morning ritual)
A)Plan your day early-Do not begin your day until it is complete in paper.
B)Identify your top 3 priorities (top 3 To-Do)
C)Family Time
D) Fitness Time- have your gym clothes including shoes and bottles water prepared so you are ready to go.
E)Offload the Dishwashwer
F)Personal Time(PT)

Have an Evening routine(evening Ritual)
A) Take time to be grateful
B)Reflect on the day that was
C)Celebrate progress
D)Prepare for  tomorrow
E)Lay out your clothes for the next day including shoes
F)Set the table and plan what’s to be eaten for breakfast.
E)start the Dishwasher

 🔹4.Stay on Course
-The blessing is for the consistent and persistent.
-Motivation will get you started but Displine will get you going.

🔹5.  Journal
The 5 minute Journal is a great tool. You can download the app on your phone. It has taught me to be grateful everyday.

🔹Menu Planning-
Your Health is your wealth. Be intentional on what you take in. Take care of the Lords Temple.

Finally:
*Be organized with your time and intentional with your actions. Your success in 2019 will be determined by your daily agenda.

*Watch your inner circle. 95% of your success or failure will determined by who you spend most of your time with.  You are the CEO of your life, Hire, Fire, promote and Demote as needed.
95% of your success will be determined by how well you execute this right here☝🏾

*Theres a special space just for God. Put God where He belongs. Allow Him to order your steps(make that your prayer daily)
Dare to serve Him whole heartedly in 2019.🙏🏾

💃🏽2019 will be my best year ever! I will create my Happiness, Peace, I will attempt things SO great that if they get accomplished only God will get the credit.

#Dare2BeDifferentIn2019
#Dare2ServeTheLordWholeheartedlyIn2019
Heb.11:6
Happy New Year awesome people!!!

DESIRE GOD, living for the will of God🙏🏾

Today while Decorating the church Christmas tree  I  remembered a powerful quote by T.L. Osborn, “Success in life is wanting what God wants for you.”
We all want to be successful , but do we want what God wants for us?🤔

Do You Want What God Wants?or Do you just
want what you want and ask/command God to bless it? 🤔 many times we want what we want because we are afraid God will fall short providing for us.

God desires a relationship with Us, when I have His heart, I have His hand.  He reminds us in Jer 29:11 He knows the plans He has for us, plans of good and not evil. Plans to give us a hope and a future.

How do you want  what God really wants for you and what does it really mean to surrender our lives to him.

1.  I seek His Kingdom first . Matt. 6:33
Seek Him with all diligence-Heb. 11:6

2. Study His word & practice Obedience 1Sam.15:22
Hide His word in your heart Psalm 119:11
((To keep off sin, hide His word in your heart))

3. Trust His unfailing love  Psalm13:5
Take him at His word Proverbs. 3:5-6

4.Total Surrender of my plan to His Proverbs 19:21

A couple of months ago My Pastor Dr. Gacengeci  shared a powerful statement during Bible Study that has stayed with me.....
“Even if there was no Heaven, it would still be worthy and fulfilling to serve God”

Want what God Wants 1Peter4:2
🙏🏾DESIRE GOD, live for the will of God🙏🏾

Essie’s Testimony of Gods Preservation, Protection and provision

This morning FB has reminded me exactly where I was last year and how I felt! 😢

I was grieving for the loss of a smile , but I chose to have faith and you prayed  with me.  Look at what God has done. The pic above shows the progression of my healing both physical and emotional healing. To God be the Glory!🙏🏾

Lessons learnt:

1. Faith- it is a substance of things of things hoped for and an evidence of thing not seen.  We have to have faith in God for we live in a life where things are unpredictable.  I’m encouraged to know He that holds the future has my name engraved in the palm of his hands. 

2. The Power of the speaking things into existence(Prayer)  Pray and go to work. Seek the first the Kingdom of God.  The power of life and death is in your tongue. Be careful what you speak, the moment you speak it, creation starts. 

3. The sorrow may last for a night but His Joy comes in the morning. It is darkest before dawn. Recently the spirit of God whispered this  clearly to my, “Hang tight my child, Be still! When things seem to be falling apart they are actually falling in place” 

4. There is power in writing down your wishes, desires and prayers.  Journal, audio record, or keep a prayer book. I have one  and right below each prayer item I leave 4 blank lines so that I can come back with a colored pen and enter the answered prayer. 

5. The law of association.  Surround yourself with people have a like mind. 

🔹95% of your success or failure will be determined by who you spend your time with. You cannot afford to take that lightly. 

6. Personal Growth-ALWAYS BE PREPARED.

Keep growing yourself, nothing should stop in life.  The sun still rises and sets, time is still moving. Get up and keep working on your goal. Even when things are falling apart, get up, get dressed and keep moving.

You do not know when an opportunity will knock on your door!Prepare yourself, grow yourself.

It’s better to be prepared and not have an opportunity than have an opportunity and be unprepared.

Dig Your wells before Your get  thirsty! -Chinese proverb.

🔹God put me in this amazing world and gave me limitless possibilities in my life. I will make each day count.

🔹Attempt great things so great that when they get accomplished only God will get the credit. 

7. PRACTICE GRATITUDE EVERYDAY

Count your blessings...They are more than your needs.

-Be positive and look for good in every situation.

-Use bad experiences as stepping stones  for success.  

-When tough times come do you become better or bitter?

Always be grateful! It could have been worse. In ALL things we have been asked to give thanks.

Everyone is a genius

For a fair selection  everybody has  to take the same exam: please NOW CLIMB THAT TREE! Does this sound familiar? 8-4-4 system maybe? Did you have a teacher that told you that you’ll never amount to anything? How about parents that called you a failure because you failed your final exam thanks to one or two mandatory subjects?😔

Parents and teachers let us encourage our children/students to focus on their strengths and give them guidance and support! Don’t see them as a mini version of what you could have been. Allow them to discover their own path and pursue their passions🙏🏾

EVERYONE is a GENIUS! But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it’s going to go through life  feeling like a failure. -Albert Einstein

Please share your views on the comments section below...
That monkey’s facial expression though 😁

5 Minutes Early Is On Time; On Time Is Late; Late Is Unacceptable

Brent Beshore ,  

 CONTRIBUTOR

I provide a Midwest view on entrepreneurship, VC, and private equity.  

I have a magic pill to sell you. It will help you make more money, be happier, look thinner, and have better relationships. It’s a revolutionary new pharmaceutical product called Late-No-More. Just one dose every day will allow you to show up on time, greatly enhancing your life and the lives of those around you.

All joking aside, being late is unacceptable. While that sounds harsh, it’s the truth and something that should be said more often. I don’t care if you’re attending a dinner party, a conference call, or a coffee meeting - your punctuality says a lot about you.

• Disrespectful: Being on time is about respect. It signals that you value and appreciate the other person. If you don’t respect the meeting’s participants, why are you meeting with them in the first place?
• Inconsiderate: Unintentionally being late demonstrates an overall lack of consideration for the lives of others. You just don’t care.
• Big-Timing: Intentionally being late is about power. It’s showing the other person, or people that you’re a “big deal” and have the upper-hand in the relationship. It’s also called being a dick.
• Incredible: No, not in the good way. When you miss meeting times or deadlines, your credibility takes the trajectory of a lead balloon. If you can’t be counted on to be on time, how could you possibly have credibility around far tougher tasks?
• Unprofitable: Let’s consider a scenario where five people are holding a meeting at 2 p.m. Your sauntering in ten minutes late just wasted 40 minutes of other peoples’ time. Let’s say the organization bills $200/hour. Are you paying the $133 bill? Someone certainly is.
• Disorganized: If you can’t keep your calendar, what other parts of your life are teetering on the edge of complete disaster? Being late signals at best that you’re barely hanging on and probably not someone I want to associate with.
• Overly-Busy: Everyone likes to equate busyness with importance, but the truly successful know that’s BS. Having a perpetually hectic schedule just signals that you can’t prioritize, or say “no,” neither of which is an endearing trait.
• Flaky: Apparently some people just “flake out,” which seems to mean that they arbitrarily decidenot to do the thing they committed to at the very last minute. Seriously? That’s ridiculous.
• Megalomaniacal: While most grow out of this by the age of eight, some genuinely believe they are the center of the universe. It’s not attractive. Note, this is also called Donald TrumpSyndrome. Do you want to be compared to Donald Trump?

As I said earlier, I’m occasionally late. Sometimes a true emergency happens, or an outlier event transpires. When it happens, I try to give a very detailed account of why I was late, apologize profusely, make sure the other person knows that I take it very seriously, and assure them it won’t happen again.

Paying attention to punctuality is not about being “judgy,” or stressed. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It makes room for the caring, considerate, thoughtful people I want in my life, whether that’s friends or colleagues. Think of how relaxing your life would be if everyone just did what they said they’d do, when they said they’d do it? A good place to start is with yourself and a great motto is something I was taught as a child:

“5 minutes early is on time. On time is late. Late is unacceptable.” 

From the Forbes Magazine. 

“5 minutes early is on time. On time is late. Late is unacceptable.” 

The Parable of the Talent

Lessons from the Parable of the Talents 

——————————————————-

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods. Matt.25:13-40

1. Success is a product of our effort. We must put in work. It is the effort that we “put in” that the master is looking for. We cannot put in effort and energy into something  and the situation remains the same. 

💡God measures our success by our effort. 

2. We were have all it takes. We have greatness within us. You have all the tools you need within you to produce a successful life. 

💡I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13

3. We are gifted differently and according to our abilities. The  bible states clearly the master gives to each servant talents, “…each according to his ability.”

💡Make the best out  of what we have. Make it count.

4. God has entrusted us His property! We are stewards. Our talents, gifts, children, spouses, parents, our own bodies, the air we breath and everything we are and we have belong to our master. He has allowed us to borrow them, one day he’s coming back for his property. What will we present back to him? 

💡Honor God by doing your best with what He has given you or where he has-placed you. It is not a coincidence it is for a divine purpose.

We are responsible for what we do with what’s entrusted to us. One day we will stand before Him and give an account of what we did with our lives.

What is your Passion

===>Long post alert<===

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ~ Confucius

Have you discovered what you were meant to do,  what your true passion is ? Your life doesn’t get better by chance, it gets better by change.
 
A good place to start is

1. Write down talents you are  good at including inherent gifts. Don’t limit this to your play time, think of everything to include work, and at home.

2. Add to your list any skills that you have developed either for work or for your personal life.

3. Write down anything that you are interested in learning about or may want to pursue.

NOW ask yourself the following questions and write down your answers:

DOING THIS – gets me excited so much that I can talk about it all day long?
DOING THIS – makes me excited to get up in the morning?
DOING THIS – I would be willing to do it for FREE?
DOING THIS – can make me lose all sense of time?
DOING THIS – gives me extra energy?
DOING THIS – makes me smile?
Answer them in this manner, replacing the word “DOING THIS”…

Question #1 – “Watching the progression of my friend losing weight gets me excited so much that I can talk about it all day long.”
Question #2 – “Working at the hospital makes me excited to get up in the morning.”
Question #3 – “Designing websites is so much fun I would be willing to do it for FREE.”
Question #4 – “Working with animals can make me lose all sense of time.”

You get the idea for the remainder of questions… hopefully your subject will be the same in front of each question.

Now take a bold step, Follow Your Passion – Don’t and don’t Settle for less… Do What You Love!

 Article: Your Ultimate Source Of Motivation – Start with Your ‘Why’ – Is Your Why Big Enough?

You are a Queen

Ladies, listen to me. You are a queen!!
You could trip, or even fall but don’t dwell there..
GET BACK ON YOUR FEET, ADJUST YOUR CROWN AND KEEP MOVING. Life is a journey not a moment.

 Your status, career, background, outward appearance(btw beauty is skin deep) , level of education etc  do not count here!! STEP UP INTO YOUR POWER AND OWN IT!!
Say NO to being ordinary, quit playing small, raise your standard of doing things, compete with no one but yourself, invest in yourself and remain confident. Keep God first and just BLOOM! 😊
You were made for greatness!!

It is time to leave or start working on leaving an outstanding legacy for our  daughters and mentees?” Someone is always watching you and secretly admiring how you do things and carry yourself.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us RUN WITH PERSEVERANCE THE RACE MARKED OUT FOR US. Hebrews 12:1

Also remember every one of us has a race marked out for them. Constantly ask yourself how you are running your race. Did you fall and remain there?  GET BACK ON YOUR FEET QUEEN!!
Even those of us that seem “always” standing, it is only  by GOD’S GRACE we are still here! We fall down and we get up.

Now fix that crown and let’s make it a great day!!

Personal growth

Long post alert! Happy MLK day y’all!
—————————————————-
Have you ever wanted something so bad you  that you are willing to do whatever it takes to get it?

Every single day the last several  years I  wake up early and focus on my personal development.
Every day I push myself to be better than I  was yesterday.  Some mornings I can hardly keep my eyes open like this morning. As a mom, wife, and entrepreneur unless I become disciplined and be intentional towards my growth I will never have “the perfect day and  time”.

My body wants to sleep, procrastinate, watch LMN movies, spend the day at the mall window shopping, but I must put in the work now so I can play later!!! I must beat myself!
I share this on FB  today not to impress you but to impress upon  you that personal growth is something  we have to be intententional about.
We have books, songs, businesses etc that are 5-10 years overdue.  One of my favorite Chinese proverb says, The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now.
When you become intentional on this,  ain’t no telling what you could become. Inside you lies a HERO awaiting to be unleashed but you must put in the work. A little  disciplined baby steps will get you there. At first I didn’t see any change in my life and almost gave up. I’m glad I didn’t!

You probably think you don’t have time  and for sure you may not  but guess what, you can replace some “not so important” activities on your “to do list” with small daily habits that will help you grow. A few things that could help are;

▪️Waking up an hour earlier than usual  and dedicating that time  to your growth.
▪️Simple things like listening to audio books when driving “university on wheels”,
▪️Listening to the Bible or TED talks when getting ready for work or while making breakfast.
▪️Reading atleast 1 book once a month and Practicing what you read. Maybe even do lunch  while reading a chapters a book in an area you want to improve.
▪️Catching your “time thieves” and investing that time in something with a better and bigger return.
▪️Get a coach... research shows every successful person has atleast one coach.
▪️Attend seminars...
DO SOMETHING, anything...

✨MLK said
If you can’t fly,  then run
If you can’t run, then walk
If you can’t walk, then crawl but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward!!

Food for thought ✨✨✨
What were you put on this earth to do?

Happy Martin Luther King Day y’all! Let’s Keep moving forward.

Confidence Booster

✨✨Confidence booster✨✨ 

Ladies, without self confidence you’ll not go far. Self confidence is something only you can cultivate.Lets look at ways to do that,

1.Don’t criticize yourself and don’t let others either  (nonconstructive criticism) 

People will say “anything” but you don’t have to let them in. Really, you don’t have to open every package sent your way! 

Feed the hero within you and starve that chattering voice that  whispers to you things like “what makes you think you deserve that?” “you can’t do that!”  “you are not good enough!” Starve it and it will eventually die.

2. Love yourself.. be your own best friend. Treat yourself like you treat your best friend. Be nice to yourself.

3. Live a life of gratitude. Be positive and Look for good in every situation. Trust me you will always find it.

4. Focus on yourself, dont compare yourself with anyone else. You are a beautiful flower,  do what flowers do. Just bloom

5. Can’t pour in an empty cup. Be intentional on your personal growth.. do it daily. Read  books and listened to audios /watch videos  in an area you want to improve.

6. Let go of things that don’t serve anymore. Detach yourself from bad influence. You must keep a close eye on who’s in your inner circle. 

“With whom you surround yourself with is who you become” let go of battery drainers, keep close the battery chargers.

Blessings,

Essie 

You are a winner and Winners never quit

Go after your dreams, they will not come to you! Push your self, nothing good comes easy. Involve God in all you. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Prov. 16:3

Do something everyday that brings closer to your dream/goal. Success  is for the consistent and hard working. You've got to Keep moving, don't stop. If you skip a day it's ok, just don't make it a week..  get back on track the next day. Research shows If you do something consistently for 21-30 days, it becomes a habit and a part of you. 

 Work on your goals daily, every day do something that brings you closer to achieving it. 

Read what successful people in that field say?  Read their success stories,  you'll be amazed the challenges they've overcome along the way. 

Never give up. Quitters never win and winners never quit. 1000+  sure is a lot of times to try something... As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." 

Have a blessed day and keep working on those goals. Dreams come true!

It's not what you do for a living that makes a difference but how well you do it. Every job is a self- portrait of the person who does it.  Autograph your book with excellence.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Colossians 3:23

Proactive vs. reactive

Spent the day  with the little guys planning the new week. We made pastries for the week, selected clothes to wear all week, made breakfast and lunch menus, a program of activities from 6am- bedtime, prayer items for the week etc... 

 

I'm so glad they are enjoying reading this awesome book "7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens"     and Willingly revising their way of doing things. 

Today we learnt being proactive vs. reactive 😊 

The recipe for success=

Work smart, Plan/prepare, set goals and work on them(long term & short term goals)

Be proactive not reactive. 

Plan your time, day, week, month, year(s), meals, clothes for the week etc.  use your phone calendars and reminders.... Put down all tasks on paper and check them off as you go.

~Failing to plan is planning to fail!

~Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. 

-Abraham Lincoln

~If you aim at nothing you'll hit it every time.

Time

Be productive with your time and focus your days on what really matters to you.

Take 5 minutes every day to write down your schedule for the next day  and it will help you stay on track towards your goals, decrease time wasted on unimportant activities, and help you make sure you are spending your days doing what matters most to you.

**You must tell your time where to go**

Our days are identical suitcases. All the same sizes.  But some people can pack more  into them than others. 

Do a self analysis  nightly, of how well you packed your suitcase.

Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Eph. 5:15-16

So teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

How to Read Like Your Success Depends on It

Tom Bilyeu

I credit my success to reading. And I read a lot. A LOT. So the question that I naturally get asked all the time is how I manage to read as much as I do while still keeping up with the demands of running a company. So here is my definitive guide to reading like your success depends on it, because, well, it does.

1. Start with why.

Why do I read so much? Beca1use there is a critical math equation at work here and it goes like this: Ideas In = Ideas Out. I actually used to have a sign hanging over my desk that read II = IO to remind me. What I mean is I’m not worried about thinking new thoughts. I’m simply trying to make unique connections between old ideas. I believe that’s what makes all of us unique: We make different connections than the next person.

That’s important for two reasons:

1. It means I don’t need to memorize facts from the book; I’m just trying to truly understand the overarching themes that will then act as reactive molecules in the chemistry of my mind.
2. I always read the whole book (versus an abridged or CliffNotes version) because I’m looking for the ideas that stand out to me, which might be very different than the ideas that stand out to someone else. So I don’t skim, but I don’t get hung up on things that don’t resonate or I don’t understand.

2. Improve your reading speed.

I am a ridiculously slow reader. I once had a teammate at Quest show me something he had written. I read it and told him I liked it, but he didn’t believe me, “Something must have bothered you; you read it three times.” I had to laugh out loud, because I had only read it once. That’s just how slow I read.

Reading that slowly, however, simply wouldn’t do. So I had two choices:

1. Learn to speed read. Tried that, and though I could move my eyes across the words faster, I couldn’t understand or retain the information.
2. Use audiobooks.

I went with audiobooks. I use the Audible App. So when I say I “read” something, I actually mean I listened to it. The advantage here is that I can assimilate information aurally, very, very quickly. Also, the magic of the Audible app is that it allows you to speed up the playback—allowing you to go all the way to 3x the normal speed. That’s where I live: 3x. To be clear though, I had to work my way up to that. I started at 1.5x, then pushed myself to 2x, then ultimately to 3x. So don’t expect 3x to be intelligible from day one. But like anything, if you push yourself and stick with it, you will get better. So push yourself

3. Always be reading. 

There’s a saying in sales that I hate: ABC (always be closing). But I live by the mantra ABR—always be reading. Audiobooks are a huge help with this, because as long as I have my phone and headphones, I can read literally anywhere. As such, I not only read during stretches of free time, I also read in the transitional moments of life. Here is a nearly exhaustive list of the times and places I read:

• Driving
• In an Uber
• On an airplane
• Walking the dogs (or walking, period)
• In the shower
• While brushing my teeth
• While getting dressed
• While waiting anywhere (if I’m alone)

Without a doubt, I prefer to read when I can read for long stretches of time, but I’ve just found that all of the little moments add up to a lot of reading (especially at 3x), and thus a lot of new and exciting ideas.

4. Cover a topic from all angles. 

I don’t memorize books; I get the big ideas and move on. Don’t get me wrong, I lament that I don’t have a naturally prodigious memory (Kim Peek, anyone?), but since I don’t and I continue to get great results from simply focusing on the big ideas, I haven’t invested the energy into improving my memory, or felt it necessary to back off from digesting books at 3x.

Another thing that keeps me from worrying about remembering certain facts is that I usually read as many books on a given topic of interest as I can. When you do that, you’ll find that themes emerge, and those themes become very familiar. And when you collect them from many different points of view, they firm up in my mind in a much richer way than they would if I slowed down and read a book like I was preparing for a final exam. This approach also ensures that I don’t fall prey to the confirmation bias (reading only ideas that agree with what I already believe).

This is how I read and these are the hacks I use to absorb as many new ideas as possible. May those techniques serve you as well as they’ve served me.

The 3 Habits Productive People Find Time for Every Day

Daniel Dipiazza

Founder of Rich20Something

1. Become an early riser by going to bed early.

There was probably a period of time in your life where it was easy stay up late into the night (or early into the next morning) trying to get things done.

For me, however, that period was over a long time ago. Recently, I’ve come to realize that all eight-hour periods just aren’t created equally.

Going to bed at 10 pm and waking up around 6 am is EXPONENTIALLY better than going to bed at 3 am and waking up around 11 am, even though number of hours you sleep is the same. I’ve tested this over and over again, and the evidence is pretty clear: I don’t perform well if I stay up past 11 pm-ish. 

Early risers really do have a distinct advantage when it comes to mental clarity, acuity and energy.

Simply put: waking up early works better than any other strategy for becoming more productive. But you have to make sure you get enough sleep to back it up. So get to bed!

I’ve had to give myself a bedtime and be my own parent by ruthlessly enforcing it. It was harder than it sounds, because I’ve been programmed to stay up late for so many years.

2. Start every day with an intention, focus or meditation.

Starting your day with  a clear idea of what you want to do changes EVERYTHING.

Have you ever had a day where as soon as you woke up, there were already missed calls, text messages and emails screaming for your attention? You felt like you were struggling to stay afloat before breakfast. Oh, that sounds like every day, you say? That needs so stop.

 

3. Physical activity. Do it.

Working out is probably the highest-leverage tool in your arsenal. It predictably and reliable makes you feel  better and keeps you both physically and emotionally healthy, year round.

To have the mental energy to take on the full calendar of to-do’s that people want from you, you have to be in the gym.

Period.

Training yourself physically not only gives you benchmarks to hit on a regular basis, but it also creates a predictable backbone in your daily life that you can count on, even if everything goes wrong. Mentally, that’s very comforting.

Trust me, I know that integrating these habits into your life won't be easy at first. But if you're not healthy, your business can't thrive anyway. Consider them a long-term investment in your business.