A Mental List of “I should have’s\"

Until we have learned to take care of the little opportunities life brings our way, we will never master the disciplines for becoming happy and prosperous. The major accomplishments in life begin with the mastery of the small disciplines. The mental, emotional, and philosophical “muscles” required to write a letter, clean the garage, or pay our bills on time are the very same “muscles” involved in running a company or managing a department. As a wise prophet has written: “Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not.”

We cannot rule the city until we can rule our spirit. We cannot rule the nation until we can rule ourselves. We cannot design our future until we have redesigned our habits (the key to lasting change). We cannot increase our rewards until we increase our level of intelligent activity.

The place to start is within ourselves through the development of new disciplines. That is where success starts, by becoming the master over the small details of our lives (even the smallest of details). All of the great rewards in life are available to each of us if we will only discipline ourselves to walk through those early stages of growth without neglecting any of the disciplines.

We must not permit any small activity to rob us of our future health wealth friendship and lifestyle. We cannot allow any error in judgment to delude us into thinking that “letting the little thing slide” would not make a major difference. We cannot say to ourselves, “This is the only area where I am letting down my self-discipline.” It is this “only area” that will start the process of erosion in all of our other disciplines.

One of the great challenges facing us all is disciplined activity. We must discipline ourselves to maintain a proper attitude, for we are surrounded by sources that can quickly erode the attitude we have worked so hard to develop. We must discipline ourselves to convert dreams into plans, plans into goals, and goals into those small daily activities that will lead us, one sure step at a time, toward a better future.

Finally, we must use the power of our imagination. We must ponder all that is possible. We must remind ourselves that to do what is possible we must sometimes challenge ourselves with the impossible. As an ancient warrior once wrote, “It is better to aim the spear at the moon and strike the eagle than to aim at the eagle and strike only a rock.”

Planning, imagination, and intense activity are awesome forces that have the power to dramatically change the quality of our lives.

Activity is a major part of the life puzzle. It is the power that gives substance and meaning to our philosophy and our attitude. Intelligent, planned, intense, and consistent activity creates new energy and keeps us moving toward the exciting future that our thoughts and desires have already designed for us.