Sometimes we go through our lives as if we will live forever. This would be a great concept if it was only true, but the fact of the matter is that we only have a short period of time on this planet. We delay things that should be done now, like achieving our potential or completing personal goals, instead of vigorously working on them. We then wonder why we don’t have the time to complete them; we say to ourselves and others that there is just not enough time in the day. As Jean de la Bruyere, 17th century French essayist once said “Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity.” We are all guilty of this, of course myself included. I can think of numerous times where I have done this in the last few weeks alone. One key for getting over this is seizing the day (today).

If we take the time to realize that these precious moments - seconds, minutes , hours, days will never come back again we will value them more. Time is one of those commodities that when lost its not replenished, because you never know how much time you have on this planet. We all have the same 24 hours in a given day that is guaranteed to us. The biggest factor that has an impact on our lives is how we utilize those 24 hours. If we keep an awareness of not wasting our moments, we will be more attuned to what we need to achieve our goals.

Circumstances will never be the same from moment to moment. Your thoughts now won’t be the same later; even if the settings are identical the actual moment is never the same.

There are many ways to seize the day. Some great tactics are having lists. Having a “to do” list of the 3 main achievable goals you want to achieve for the day is great start (for example; exercise, learn a new skill, spend time with family). In addition to that is having a “not to do” list (for example; not checking emails constantly all day and don’t pull out that smart phone at the dinner table). Also having reflection periods throughout your day will help (example; every 4 hours or so reevaluate the progress of your day – this depends on you. You can do it every hour or before you go to sleep).

But the simplest way is to take action, take full advantage of the opportunity of now and don’t waste another second.