Today is the only day you have. Give it the attention it deserves. Work with what's right in front of you, right here, right now.

Today's TQ Challenge: Put a Value on Time Invested.

1. Choose to be VIGILANT! Do you conduct your daily life knowing that after this day is gone, it's gone forever?

2. Choose to be ACCOUNTABLE! How would you be different today, if you knew this was the last day of your life?

3. Choose to be WATCHFUL! If yesterday's gone and tomorrow never comes, what is today?

Time is the most precious gift of all. Ask anyone facing a serious accident or illness, or an important deadline. Ask any parent watching their little girl all grown up and graduating from high school. You must learn how to become accountable for every minute in your day, because each day spent, is a day gone forever. Concentrate your time on only those things that produce the greatest reward and satisfaction to you.

"Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Read Today's TQ, and find out how to improve this aspect of your Optimize Color.

Know what you're going to say, before you begin to say it.

Today's TQ Challenge: Get Fully Engaged Quickly -- Or Get Out Gracefully.

1. Choose to be PREPARED! Did you get the response you wanted the last time you spoke at a meeting?

2. Choose to be RESPONSIBLE! If you are confident in the ideas that you express, won't others be more likely to agree with them and you?

3. Choose to be INVOLVED! Do you need to persuade anyone tomorrow? Do you have the background information to persuade yourself first?

A meeting can either be valuable and highly productive or a complete waste of time. It all depends on the attitude and the preparation of everyone in the meeting. The key to a successful meeting is a highly focused agenda, advanced preparation, a skilled moderator and follow up on items requested and promises made.

"Neither can the wave that has passed by be recalled, nor the hour which has passed return again." ~ Ovid

Read Today's TQ, and find out how to improve this aspect of your Synergize Color.

The energy to get things done comes from knowing that what you're doing right now is what's most important.

Today's TQ Challenge: Focus on just ONE Role at a Time.

1. Choose to be APPROPRIATE! Is there something else beckoning your attention right now?

2. Choose to be EFFECTIVE! Are you constantly fatigued by all the responsibilities tugging at you?

3. Choose to be ATTENTIVE! Can you take a moment to be certain you're attending to what is most important right now?

Roles are the parts you play in the different areas of your life. A role includes a specific identity, unique responsibilities and a defined relationship with others. How you act, and what you do, are always dependent on which role you're in at the time. The key is to know which role you are playing -- and to confirm that it's the right one -- at that moment.

"It's how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it." ~ Wieder Marcia

Read Today's TQ, and find out how to improve this aspect of your Prioritize Color.

Put your goals in writing. Today!

Today's TQ Challenge: Pick up Pen -- Write Out Details.

1. Choose to be EXPLICIT! In what special place do you keep all your written goals?

2. Choose to be FOCUSED! Have you reviewed your written goals recently?

3. Choose to be DETAILED! What area of your life is in need of a written goal today?

Writing down exactly what you want, and by when, is the first step to success. If you won't commit to writing them down, you'll never do what it takes to reach your goals. Writing your goals in exquisite detail helps define them in your mind -- and provides the exact specifications for what you want to accomplish. The more desirable qualities you add to the goal, the greater will be your satisfaction when you attain it. Be sure to write SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible -- and don't forget a target date. (Because the difference between a dream and a goal is a date!)

"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend." ~ Laertius Diogenes

Read Today's TQ, and find out how to improve this aspect of your Set Goals Color.

The line drawn between your list of values and universal principles represents the shortest distance to your ultimate satisfaction and happiness.

Today's TQ Challenge: Check Mission Compass -- Align Today's Direction With Core Values.

1. Choose to be PURPOSEFUL! If you think principles are universal, shouldn't they apply to you too?

2. Choose to be PASSIONATE! Your values are your single most important asset. Treat them seriously, and they'll take care of you.

3. Choose to be COMMITTED! Why not make a note right now of the value you feel most confident about?

A short list of values is all you need to design a well-lived life. Your values are those ideals such as freedom, beauty, honor, love, wisdom, family or adventure that are more important to you than anything else. A condensed list of values gives clarity to your life and establishes your ideal standards. This list is your best guide to personal and professional satisfaction. Put your list of personal values in writing -- commit it to memory -- and live each word -- each and every day.

"It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." ~ Roy Disney

Read Today's TQ, and find out how to improve this aspect of your Mission Color.

When you're at work, work hard. When you're at home, relax and play. Do anything except work.

Today's TQ Challenge: Schedule Time Off for R & R.

1. Choose to be RELAXED! Did you enjoy yourself last weekend?

2. Choose to be RECHARGED! Don't let bad weather ground you -- plan alternatives.

3. Choose to be REJUVENATED! Is it time to get your weekend play list going?

Everyone has a point of diminishing return. You can't give 100% all of the time. An important component of being energetic is learning how to prioritize some time to let go, relax and get recharged. Manage stress and boost your energy level by taking some valuable time off. The more you play while away from work, the better you perform when you return.

"It's how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success." ~ David Feherty

Read Today's TQ, and find out how to improve this aspect of your Energy Color.

That is more than enough time to get a global perspective on what's going on, process what is being said, and form an opinion.

Think about this.

There are only 1,440 minutes in a day (24 hours x 60 minutes).

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If you do the best you can, given the circumstances in which you find yourself, what more is there?

Better.

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This is a major driver of success, both personally and professionally. It is not hard to focus, if you know what's important to you, and what's not.

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As those of you who have read The Power of TQ know, my definition of success is simply this: "The peace of mind that comes from knowing you have done your very best."

As General Patton says, if you do your best, what more is there?

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If you are not GETTING what you want out of life, maybe you're not GIVING enough to it.

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