John C. Maxwell - JumpStart Your Priorities: A 90-Day Improvement Plan

H ow would you describe your life? Are you achieving what you desire? Are you accomplishing the things that are important to you? How do your prospects look for the future?

Everyone wants to be successful and fulfilled, but most people cannot define what success means to them, and even fewer people understand how the way they live today impacts their tomorrow. Why is that? The root of the problem is that most people misunderstand success, thinking it a mystical something that just happens, or that it comes from being lucky or working hard or making connections.

Heres the missing piece: The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda. It all comes down to what you do today. You see, success doesnt just suddenly occur one day. For that matter, neither does failure. Each is a process. Every day of your life is merely preparation for the next. What you become is the result of what you do today.

Growth, success, and fulfillment come from making wise decisions on the priorities for your life and then managing them well in your daily agenda. You begin to build a better life by determining to make good decisions, but that alone is not enough. You need to know what priorities to set for your life. Ive given the subject a lot of thought, talked to many successful people, and narrowed down the list of critical life priorities for success to twelve. I call them the Daily Dozen:

1. Attitude: Choose and display the right attitudes daily.

2. Focus: Think and act with focus daily.

3. Health: Know and follow healthy guidelines daily.

4. Family: Communicate with and care for my family daily.

5. Thinking: Practice and develop good thinking daily.

6. Commitment: Make and keep proper commitments daily.

7. Finances: Make and properly manage dollars daily.

8. Faith: Deepen and live out my faith daily.

9. Relationships: Initiate and invest in solid relationships daily.

10. Generosity: Plan for and model generosity daily.

11. Values: Embrace and practice good values daily.

12. Growth: Seek and experience improvements daily.

Please dont let the length of the list bother you. What Im suggesting is that if you make decisions in those key areas once and for alland then manage those decisions dailyyou can create the kind of tomorrow you desire. Successful people make the right priority decisions early and manage those decisions daily. The earlier you make those decisions and the longer you manage them, the more successful you can become.

Most people can make good decisions once they know what their priorities should be. But character and perseverance determine what happens after the decision is made. To help you follow through in each critical area, Ive recommended disciplines for you to practice for the next ninety days so that you can establish your personal priorities and manage your decisions well in your life. You will be provided with clear steps to help you tackle each of the twelve priorities and make it a success asset. Just focus on one area at a time to make the greatest progress. And remember, when it comes to the big decisions in life, once you make them, you wont have to keep dealing with them in that way again.