When you have a plan, it is harder for others to whack you off track.

Today's TQ Challenge: Don't Wait -- Schedule It Now!

1. Choose to be DEDICATED! Have you scheduled your plan for the day yet?

2. Choose to be SELF-DETERMINED! How do you know when you're getting detoured if you don't know where you're going?

3. Choose to be DILIGENT! If your activities are focused and precise, are they less easily superseded by others?

The steps in your plan never schedule themselves. They don't automatically show up as the next thing to do. If you want to move your plans ahead, write each action step as an appointment in your calendar -- and dedicate an appropriate amount of time to get it done. If you don't reserve time for step-by-step planning in advance, everything else in your life will fill up the available time slots -- and your plans will never get completed.

"It's enough for you to do it once for a few men to remember you. But if you do it year after year, then many people remember you and they tell it to their children, and their children and grandchildren remember and, if it concerns books, they can read them. And if it's good enough, it will last as long as there are human beings." ~ Ernest Hemingway

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

Don't let detours drain you.

Today's TQ Challenge: Promote Energy Gainers -- Eliminate Energy Drainers.

1. Choose to be ENERGETIC! Are you doing what you want to be doing right now?

2. Choose to be REFRESHED! Is what you're doing right now in sync with what you value most?

3. Choose to be INVIGORATED! What's the most important and most satisfying thing you will accomplish before the day is over?

Some things boost your energy level, while others drain it. You need to know which is which. What drains your energy? Worry, medical or dental concerns, work piled on your desk, not enough sleep, diet, unfinished tasks, negative people, angry coworkers... anything else? Once identified, take action to eliminate these drainers and replace them with energy gainers: Exercise, high energy foods, more sleep, medical attention, friendly faces -- anything that makes you feel better, perform better and increases your energy rather than depletes it.

"The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary." ~ Thomas A. Edison

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

Appreciation for completed work is a superb motivator for the next project.

Today's TQ Challenge: Persist Until Actual Results Meet or Exceed Expectations.

1. Choose to be TENACIOUS! How much time does it take to allow yourself a feeling of satisfaction?

2. Choose to be PERSISTENT! Do you think of appreciation as a luxury or a necessity?

3. Choose to be STEADFAST! Did you take the time to admire and celebrate the completion of your last task?

If a project was worth starting, it deserves to be completed. Don't lose your momentum. Make some progress on every plan started. You've already put out some of the effort; now complete it so you can reap the rewards. Success builds success. Find all those half-finished projects lying around and finish them one-by-one.

"Sometimes only a change of viewpoint is needed to convert a tiresome duty into an interesting opportunity." ~ Alberta Flanders

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

If your schedule becomes a ball and chain, grab a bolt cutter.

Today's TQ Challenge: Make Planning a Routine Part of Each Day.

1. Choose to be METHODICAL! Do you feel trapped by today's schedule?

2. Choose to be PREPARED! Is there something you could change in your schedule to take advantage of a new opportunity?

3. Choose to be DETAIL-ORIENTED! Does today's schedule rule you or serve you?

Maximum personal productivity is entirely dependent upon how quickly you can go from a concept to a completion. To be as productive as possible, you must have an organized system for keeping track of all data, dates, numbers, people, goals, plans and to-do's. You need a single system that helps plan this entire flow of detail -- from idea to implementation to completion in the least amount of time -- without losing anything through the cracks -- or driving you crazy in the process.

"Determine what specific goal you want to achieve. Then dedicate yourself to its attainment with unswerving singleness of purpose, the trenchant zeal of a crusader." ~ Paul J. Meyer

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you can do the task in such a way as to further your mission in life. Which would you prefer?

You, and only you, will determine whether this day is fulfilling or not.

Today's TQ Challenge: Take Immediate Action on Whatever's Next -- Regardless!

1. Choose to be ACTION-ORIENTED! Are you giving personal value to each of your tasks today?

2. Choose to be DYNAMIC! How can you make your next action worthy of your effort?

3. Choose to be SPONTANEOUS! Are your efforts worthy of your mission today?

Personal power is measured by your ability to take action. Power is a function of how fast you can take an idea and make it a reality. The more proactive you are, the more productive you will be. Until an action is taken, nothing happens, and nothing is created. Think in terms of consequences. If you choose to delay an action, what will you gain? What will it cost you? When you act without delay, you immediately increase productivity and accelerate success.

"Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions." ~ John Randolph

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

Openness to new ideas and solutions is the basic ingredient in the recipe for any success.

Today's TQ Challenge: Focus on the Solution -- Not the Problem.

1. Choose to be UNSTOPPABLE! Which new ideas have you put to use today?

2. Choose to be UNDAUNTED! How often do you solicit new ideas from others?

3. Choose to be PROACTIVE! What one new idea can you apply today to further your most important project or dream?

You will always be more productive when you focus on what you CAN do, rather than on what you CAN'T do. Keeping problems in perspective is essential to solving them and moving on. Remember to differentiate between what you can and can't control. Focus your time and energy on those things over which you have control. Don't live with problems. Seek a solution to every problem as soon as possible -- and enjoy the immense sense of freedom that comes from moving on.

"The idea is to make decisions and act on them -- to decide what is important to accomplish, to decide how something can best be accomplished, to find time to work at it and to get it done." ~ Karen Kakascik

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