In Robin Sharma’s book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, he speaks about it taking 21 days to make anything a habit. In John Maxwell’s books, he often talks about making things habits and how leaders always create habits that last. In Seth Godin’s book Outliers, Seth talk about the 10,000 hours rule (you need 10,000 hours at any craft to be an expert). I could go on for the next 2 hours just listing books that I have read that given merit to the idea that is contained in the title of this passage!
Robin reminded me of this 2 days ago that if we want to happiness in our lives then we should treat every day like it is the last day that we will live in this planet. Stop for a second and ask yourself, if this was your very last day on this planet, what would do you? Who would you talk to? Where would you go? Would you find time for your wife? Would you take a few more minutes for your kids? What would you do?
Okay, here is a point that we cannot refute. If we are going to excel in life and accomplish all of those things we wish to, if we are going to have a life of abundance, then we have to become leaders. WHY? We have to become Leaders because Leaders are the only people who accomplish those things. 99% of people on the planet are putting the cart before the horse right now. The masses think that if we get what we want then we can focus on being better. Those people just don’t get it. What I have learned studying Pastor Keith Craft’s words, John C Maxwell’s words, Seth Godin’s words, Robin Sharma’s words is that to get what we want, we have to become better first. I will save the becoming better stuff for another blog.
Lets talk for a couple of more minutes about living every day as if it is the last. First of all, if it was the last day and you knew about it ahead of time, you would get up early, you would take time for some exercise, you would pray (trust me if it was the last day, YOU WOULD PRAY (Wink)), you would take time to tell your spouse your love him/her, you would spent a few minutes with your kids and make sure they knew how much you cared, you run around all day sniffing flowers and enjoying the suns rays, you would not let any negativity steal even a second, you would get the things done that you had to do as you wouldn’t want to leave that hanging over someone else’s head and you would treat every person you came across with the utmost respect and love.
So, if you would do that on the last day and you are truly interested in living a better more successful life now, then live that way TODAY!
Here is what my day looks like every day:
6:00 am wake up (very weird, I used to set an alarm clock to do this but now it happens naturally)
6 am til 6:10 am reflect on how thankful I am of everything that I have and remind myself that today is last day
6:15 am til 7 am ride a recumbent bike in my office and read a great leadership book (I read 3-4 books a month)
7 am til 7:10 am reflect on the book I am reading and what I learned
7:10 – 7:30 am I read the bible and prepare for the day. (Body, Mind & Spirit prepared by 7:30 am)
7:30 am til 8 am breakfast, shower and hanging out with Kids
8 am – 8:30 am Hanging out with my best friend Julie
8:30 am and onwards taking on the day with a smile on my face and always remembering it is my last day.
In life’s crazy space, you can’t expect to get everything right everyday but you have to create habits.
At the end of the day, I finish my last call, clean up my last email, then I jump on that exercise bike again and read for another 30 minutes.
As my body cools down after the exercise, I think about how grateful I am for having another wonderful day.
You can do the same thing, maybe your time line is different, maybe you have to walk outside for 10 minutes instead of ride for 45. Maybe you have to get up earlier or go to bed earlier. It dosnt matter. Its just my example.
The bottom line is that leaders live every day Like it is the LAST! if you start by establishing some daily habits that are wrapped around body, mind and spirit and you treat every person every day like it is the last time you will ever see them, you will be amazed at the differences you will see in your life!
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Great tips Ken. You ROCK!
Wow, I knew I was on track with building my business. This is powerful Ken, True to the fact that by creating a simple discipline over time, does create habits. Good ones too.
This is something I share with my organization and the funny thing is, those who follow it, have more success then those who don’t.
Thanks for sharing your morning with us.
Judith
Hey Judith,
Its the Slight Edge that you and I live by that creates the success we are all looking for. you are a very welcome leader….
Great blog posting and so true. Looking forward to your next post.
Hey Carlos, I am so privileged to know you. You are an amazing leader. I think everyone should stay tuned in to http://www.carlosapontejr.tv
Ken! Great tips on how to categorize your day and make every moment count. It really brings home something that I think I’m FINALLY starting to let sink into my head. You truly need to cut the junk out of your life and completely fill your days with good stuff, and more good stuff will come.
Thanks for your amazing leadership my friend!
Debbie, I am just a conduit. you are the leader that is making ELT work! Thank you so much for your leadership!
You’re so right Ken! It’s so funny that we as humans expect things to improve in our lives when we are not ready to improve ourselves first. If I think back to the times in my life that I have been successful and of the things I have become an expert in, this is all a result of applying myself and creating great habits. If I also take a look at the flip-side of when things are not going well in my life, this is usually a result of some bad habits that I have had.
Thanks Ken!
Chris, you are an amazing leader. John Maxwell says its about inside-out leadership. Now that you have defined who you are inside, you will blessed the lives of millions on the outside.
So very true, Ken!
Creating positive habits is really one of the most effective ways to ensure success…not only in your business, but in life as well!
As always, you provide amazing tip and tools that are super powerful. Thanks so much for posting this!
Heather
Ken;
You are so right 98% of the people will do nothing! When you find the 2% willing to follow and imput them into your system you will create something that you can not stop if wanted to. Everyone has there own dreams,goals,desires and if we can just be the wheel that turns them in the right direction then we have done what we have set out to do.
Thanks Ken!
Thanks for getting on the “inside” of the real story behind leadership and success. It’s great to grow with such a wonderful group of leaders.
Throughout my 12 plus years in this industry, I have been blessed to be around some of the best leaders in the business. This community however, due in part to your vision and leadership, is doing things I have never seen! I am truly thankful for the leadership you continue to exhibit. Thank you Ken!
Great line by Seth Godin ” step back or step in but don’t stand still”. Action! taking control of your future. I think I’m really starting to like the book Tribes.
Hi Ken,
Thanks for sharing these pearls of wisdom with the rest of us. I think it is so true that so many of us so get wrapped up in all of the small details in life that we forget to stop and experience to the fullest extent possible all of our senses, sight, smell, touch, and sound. We forgot to notice all that is so beautiful in the world. If we only stopped for a moment to realize how short life truly is, then I think we would take stock of our life and grab the bull by the horns and start living it as if it were our last day on this earth. Actions are the lifeblood that propels us through time so that when it is time to meet our maker, we have no regrets, instead we celebrate what an amazing life we have had, all the great experiences, memories, friendships, and family.
I enjoyed this a lot Ken.
Spending your days (especially last day) like that is about being in the present – truly with whatever you are doing. We should be there all the time.
Love the videos Art has been posting with you and Orjan Saele. They have taught me so much.
best wishes
Charlie Holles
[...] of my mentors, Michael Dlouhy, talks all the time about being in the now. Ken Dunn recently posted a great article about how he would spend the day if he knew it was to be his [...]
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Richard
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