Have you ever heard the phrase, or something similar to the phrase, “Make yourself today better than you were yesterday?” Of course you have heard this statement, and you probably have attempted to put it in to practice. You have tried your hardest to make today better than yesterday.
And what happened?
Most of you have failed. Failure? I know that failure is probably a slightly revolting word for you. It is also a pretty tough word for me to say to you, after all, I don’t even know you. But haven’t you failed? Think about it, aren’t you still in the same position you were last year at this time? Aren’t you making the same amount of money? Aren’t you still wasting time doing who-knows-what, while your natural talents and abilities grow smaller and your waistline gets bigger? But how could this be? After all, at one point in time you were determined to make yourself better TODAY than yesterday? So…what went wrong? Why are you exactly the same today as you were yesterday? Why did you fail?
It went wrong when you woke up and said, “Today will be a good day, and I will be better than I was yesterday.”
But wait, isn’t that the kind of positive self-talk that I am supposed to be doing?
Good for you if you thought this. This shows that you have spent some time reading books written by folks much smarter than you and I, and you are serious about your self-improvement. Positive self-talk is extremely important to your daily attitude and to your overall success, but that’s not what we are specifically talking about here.
Let me explain.
What I mean is that by the time you wake up, your day is already decided. Every decision you made yesterday determines your how you will be able to take advantage of the opportunities of today. Easy enough?
A simplistic example of this reality is if you were up till 1:00am watching TiVoed reruns of Conan (so sad…), and end up not getting asked by your boss to lead the team on his special project (probably because he saw you throwing back shots of 5-Hour Energy like a 19 year old Tri-Delt in Cancun), then the blame lies solely on you. Your decision to stay up late translates to poor performance at work, which translates to not being able to take advantage of opportunities of additional responsibility at work.
Some examples that do not go down as smoothly are:
1) You chose to not start investing in your retirement accounts at a young age, and you were slack about it when you did start. This equals you not being able to retire at 60 and spending time with your friends and family, but instead you have to work at Sam’s Club and by the guy that highlights everyone’s receipts as they walk out.
2) You said, “Life is too short to care so much about what I eat, if it doesn’t taste good I’m not going to eat it.” You were right, life will be short. Years of overeating all the wrong foods left your arteries blocked and you abdomen bulging. So instead of being an active and healthy older person, you sound like an elephant in labor when you breathe, and you have to pay someone to wash between your toes, because you haven’t seen them in years.
Get my point?
However, it gets deeper than that. Along with the realization that your decisions yesterday directly affect your opportunities today, it is also true that where we are today is a direct result of our decisions and preparation of yesterday. In short, where you are now is largely your own fault. There is no such thing as luck, Karma or a plot against you that the universe set in motion (so stop blaming it on one of those). I know that is a tough one to swallow. Take all the time you need to digest it….ok, that’s enough.
This means unless you are 18 and just starting your adult life, you do not have anyone else to blame for where you are but yourself, because you made the decision that led you to this point. You did or didn’t take that job, you wasted that time or were productive, you married or didn’t marry that person, you ruined or invested in that relationship, you spent or saved that money, you did or didn’t create a network of contacts, and you did or did not exercise.
Some of you may disagree, or think that I’m a heartless bastard. But I’m really not. Of course I realize that there are vast inequalities that exist in society. It is obviously easier for an upper class white guy from Boston to end up a CEO of a company than for an African American girl from a poverty stricken area to obtain the same position. However, both are possible. One clearly would take more time and effort, but both would take effort, and both are possible. You could write volumes on this subject, but I am not. I think you get the gist of what I’m saying.
If you still think I’m an unsympathetic idiot, feel free to write me a nasty email and vent all of your frustrations, it will make you feel better…but I’ll still be right.
Where we are today is a direct result of our decisions and preparation of yesterday. Take a moment to read it a third time. In fact, I’m going to force you to…Where you are today is a direct result of your decisions and preparation of yesterday. Do you believe it? If not, I hope that you will stay tuned so that I can prove it true to you. If you do already believe it, then give yourself a pat on the back. You are miles ahead of where most people will ever be. However, do you realize what an awesome responsibility that is? More importantly, do realize what an awesome opportunity that is? Your preparation today, has the ability to shape where you are headed tomorrow, and where you will end up years from now.
It is because of this truth that I say forget about living for today, and instead, live for tomorrow.
Obviously I do not mean that you should live in a fantasy world where you engage only in hopes and day-dreams or in a shallow life that continually searches for the next social, physical, or emotional high. But live each day as if next day is the best day of your life. Live this year, like the next year will be the best year of your life, and prepare for it that way. Don’t just wish for success and accomplishment now, but take the necessary steps now that will allow you to have success and accomplishment in the future.
Your tomorrow is only going to be as good as you will make it today. So don’t wait until tomorrow becomes today to start making a better you, or a better life. Start TODAY. If you exercise today… you will be fitter tomorrow; if you read today…you will be smarter tomorrow; if you do more work today…you will have more opportunity for creativity tomorrow, if you eat healthy today…you will have more tomorrow’s.
The premise of everything I write stems from my belief that we have the opportunity and responsibility to make ourselves, and our lives the best that we can make them. Our lives our too short, and there is too much good we can achieve for ourselves and for others for us to be lazy and let life pass you by. It is my goal to provide you with tangible and applicable tactics that you apply each day that will improve your life. I hope that you will find these rewarding, motivating and will help shape you into a better person for yourself, your family, your friends, and your career.
-T.I.M.
