I know – I know! It's been way too long since I've posted for you guys!!

There's a big project I've been working on. It's got me soooo excited but don't want to spoil the surprise!

Ok, so here's what I will share — If you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed the not-so-subtle hint I shared in one of my recent posts that mentioned “Great things are coming”. Check it out after you read this post if you didn't see it yet! 🙂

Anyway, since I'm overdue already I'm gonna jump right into the content and save the small talk for later…

So, how do we consistently create daily results that are awesome?

It really only takes 4 Steps. The first and most important is to narrow our focus…

STEP 1: Accept that we can only choose from 1 of 2 daily results – Progression or Regression

Every day, we need to act as if our performance will inevitably lead to a result of personal progression or regression. It's as if “maintaining the status quo” doesn't exist. We’re in a continual process of either improving or degrading our professional skills, general knowledge, communication skills, social behaviors, personal development, etc. By the end of each day, our cumulative actions (or inaction) either helped or hindered our growth. For better or worse, we’re simply not the same when we go to bed at night. Why hold this belief? It's simple…

None of us want to regress. We either want to make progress, or at least stay the same. The problem is, too many of us surrender to the old “I am who I am” attitude and wind up fossilized – never realizing progress is a real option.

By living as if there is no such thing as “staying the same”, we force ourselves to decide on a direction, forward or backward. We're challenged to make a decision about which way we're headed in any given moment and really sense which direction our behavior is taking us.

For example, imagine being in a disagreement with someone and deciding whether to handle the discussion better or worse than your last disagreement. You can decide to just argue for ego's sake, or decide to create a productive outcome.

These mental challenges condition a pattern of outcome thinking, which we can and should be universally applying to every aspect of life.

This is an extremely important concept for us to use. It's easy to say we're just “doing stuff” as we move through our day. But there's more to it than that. While it's true that we may literally be “doing stuff”, what's far more important is that our “stuff” leads us in one direction or another – toward an inevitable result. It’s up to us to make sure that each day, our result is in the direction of where we want to go and who we want to be. If it does, then our day has ended in progression. If it doesn't, then our day has ended in….yea, you get the idea, regression.

Too often, many of us let days, months, years or even decades pass by without the realization that we have literally shaped our lives by our cumulative decisions, actions and inaction.

Every single day, we either progress toward who we want to become, or resign ourselves to regress toward someone we don’t.

I'll admit this is a powerful, maybe even scary thing to say. But regardless, it's a decision we make on a daily basis.

So, what about those of us who claim we practically do the “same things” every day? Well, then we are succeeding in strengthening our habits. That strengthening (aka conditioning) is a change. Those habits become more and more routine for us, and we’ll be more likely to exhibit those behaviors without even thinking about it. This is the main reason many people mistakenly think that what we do is a result of “who we are”, instead of realizing the truth — our habits are simply a result of what we’ve conditioned ourselves to do.

The important question is, “Are my habits moving me toward where I want to be? If not, what should I do to change them?

STEP 2: Monitor your “Inputs”

We are constantly being exposed to new information and new experiences. We absorb these exposures as we observe and/or interact with people, media and entertainment outlets, and have individual life experiences. Much of this absorption happens unconsciously. Even if the information and experiences that we’re exposed to are similar on a day to day basis, we are still changing, because our time of exposure to these influences and situations is growing.

Time of exposure matters! Don’t believe me? Ask anyone who’s stayed out in the sun for too long, or forgot that dinner was cooking in the oven. The longer you expose yourself to something, the greater the effect it will have on your direction.

The point is, we need to ask ourselves if the people, experiences and media inputs we're exposing ourselves to are mainly assets to our progress, or just burning up our irreplaceable time? This is obviously an extremely personal and individualized question for each one of us, but one that MUST be answered honestly if we're ever going to make the adjustments need to get where we want to be.

This isn't about cutting out entertainment, cutting off people, or becoming some weird robot whose only focus is on being some isolated super-excellent being. Its about a common sense evaluation of who and what we're spending our time with, and whether or not they're in our best interest. From there, we can decide what changes we're going to make for our own benefit, and for the benefit of the people in our life that are important to us. The best thing we can do for the people we love, is to take better care of ourselves.

STEP 3: Be about ACTION, not REACTION

Its easy to get into the routine of just reacting to whatever we are faced with on a moment by moment basis. The danger with living a reactionary life is that we’re less likely to see the patterns of our behavior. The phone rings? – I must answer now! I got a text? – I gotta respond immediately! Someone made me mad? – May day is ruined, I gotta stay angry!

Being in a mental state of “I must react” makes us way more likely to blame our behavior and outcomes on everyone and everything else. Please, stop that nonsense. You're better than that.

It's our life. We create our own results. Period.

Predetermine your actions. Start every day knowing, with complete clarity, who you're going to be. Decide ahead of time how you'll react when faced with challenges, disagreements or any of life’s roadblocks. Stay in the driver's seat regardless of what people do , say or what’s pushed your way socially and electronically.

We choose, in every moment, how we'll live, who we'll be and where we'll go, regardless of the noise scattered around us. As long as we have a heartbeat, the next choice is ours.

This starts with waking up with a clear decision of what we're going to bring to the day, instead of wondering what's going to happen to make us submit. This requires truly observing and critiquing our own actions, and admitting whether or not they're matching our standards and agenda. We must demonstrate the courage to constructively, but honestly, critique our own performances if we're ever going to improve them (& spend less time critiquing the performances of others).

STEP 4: Daily Real (self) Talk

A great way to determine if we've progressed or regressed on any given day is to ask ourselves some easy questions.

So here's a short-list of 10 questions. Answer them every night before you go to bed. If you're not particularly happy with some of your answers – DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT!! There are no right or wrong answers. This is an exercise of observation, not judgement.

These aren't concrete. You may want to change some of them to better fit your lifestyle. Print 'em out, hang them in your bedroom or store them in your phone or journal.

The goal is to increase our self-awareness, gain perspective and realize that daily, what we choose to do (and choose not to do) matters.

By taking an honest look at our day, we're empowered with a whole new perspective. Once we have a new perspective, we can then choose new actions, and yes, GET BETTER RESULTS.

It's pretty awesome. Once you've done this for a few days, you start hearing these questions in your head all day. You can make conscious decisions about what and who you're going to intentionally expose yourself to, and what type of behavior you're going to engage in.

When we consciously manage our actions, we consciously manage our life.

Read this list, tonight…

1. What did I learn today that will positively impact my business, personal development or family?

2. What action(s) did I take toward achieving my professional or personal goals?

3. Did I effectively and positively communicate with my coworkers, friends and family?

4. Did I engage in social behavior that was a benefit to me and the people I interacted with?

5. How much time did I spend watching TV? What did I watch?

6. How much time did I spend reading? What did I read?

7. Did I spend time being angry at a person or at an event today? If yes, how much time did I spend being angry, and exactly what action did I take to resolve the issue?

8. Did I encourage, compliment or hug someone? Who?

9. Did I tell someone I love them? Who?

10. Did I do or say something kind to a stranger?

Most of all, which area of today’s performance will I most improve upon tomorrow?

Please, continue this conversion with me or with someone in your life.

Share a comment below, and click the mic on the right side of the screen to leave me a question or comment. It's always great to hear from you guys.

We'll chat real soon. Stay awesome!! 🙂