Make Today Matter

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

  1. Make Today Matter
  1. Today Matters!
  2. (Ps. 90:12; Eph. 5:15-17 NASB)
  3. How would you describe your life? Are you achieving what you desire? Are you accomplishing the things that are important to you? Do you consider yourself a success? How does your future look?
  4. “The secret to your success is hidden in your daily routine.” “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.”
  5. (Ps. 118:24; Prov. 27:1; 2 Cor. 6:1-2; [Jam. 4:13-14 NLT])
  1. You Are Preparing Daily For Something
  2. You are preparing daily for something. The question is, what are you preparing for?
  3. “The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes.”
  • (Matt. 25:14-29 AMP)
  • How often do you have a great day? How would you rate your day today? Everyone wants to have a good day, but what does a good day look like? How do you define success for today?
  • People create success in their lives by focusing on today. “The only adequate preparation for tomorrow is the right use of today.”
  • Today is the only time you really have. Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow’s not guaranteed. So today matters!
  • We over-exaggerate yesterday.
  • Some people never get over their past accomplishments.
  • There are some people whose negative experiences shape them for their entire lives.
  • We overestimate tomorrow. Over the next 2-3 yrs.
  • Do you expect your annual income to go up or down?
  • Do you expect your net worth to increase or decrease?
  • Do you expect to have more or fewer opportunities?
  • Do you expect your marriage to get better or worse?
  • Do you expect to have more or fewer friendships?
  • Do you expect to be in better or worse physical condition?
  • Why do you think that? Hoping for a good future without investing in today is like a farmer waiting for a crop without ever planting any seed.
  1. Decisions & Discipline
  2. (Prov. 12:24; 13:4; 20:4)
  3. Decisions help us start and discipline helps us finish.
  4. The most successful people in life are the ones who settle their critical issues early and manage them daily.
  5. Most of us want to avoid pain and discipline is often painful.
  • Pain of self-discipline (short-term) or the pain of regret (long-lasting).
  • 12 things to decide once and manage daily:
  • Attitude: choose and display the right attitudes
  • Priorities: determine and act on important priorities
  • Health: know and follow healthy guidelines
  • Family: communicate with and care for my family
  • Thinking: practice and develop good thinking
  • Commitment: make and keep proper commitments
  • Finances: make properly manage dollars
  • Faith: deepen and live out my faith
  • Relationships: initiate and invest in solid relationships
  • Generosity: plan for and model generosity
  • Values: embrace and practice good values
  • Growth: seek and experience improvements