Your Dream Routine

Did you know that your greatest possession is the 24 hours you have directly ahead of you? When you grasp this truth, you will view each day as a gift and another opportunity to grow and prepare for greater success. I remember back to when I began developing my own plan for growth. I simply began by changing my daily routine. I didn’t have a spectacular growth track laid out by a professional life coach. My life was falling apart miserably, and I just made up a plan to simply make it through the day. I know… that sounds pretty pathetic, but it proved to be one of the most pivotal moments of my life. I heard that if you can do something consistently for 21 days, you can break an old habit and begin to establish a new one. So I set a 21-day goal to do these five things:

01: SPEND TIME WITH GOD IN PRAYER, JOURNAL, AND READ THE BIBLE
02: LISTEN TO A MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE
03: READ A SUCCESS BOOK
04: REVIEW, DECLARE, AND PRAY OVER MY LIST OF DREAMS AND GOALS
05: EXERCISE

Believe it or not, this seemingly simple plan of practicing those five activities on a daily basis has resulted in seeing many of the desires I used to only dream about become a reality.

I think Jim Rohn said it best: “Success is something you attract by the person you become.” In other words, if you want more, you must become more. So often, we want our circumstances to change. We want a better marriage, a better career, a better salary, a better body, better opportunities, but the way to have better is to become better.

Trust me… God will change your circumstances, but He has to change you first.

I thought I was simply developing a routine to get my mind off of how messed up my life had become, but God was leading me to become a better me.

• As I began to spend time with God daily, I began to fall in love with Him more. I began to desire intimacy with Him. And I began to hear His voice more clearly.
• As I began to listen to faith-building messages daily, my mind was being transformed by the renewing of it. My faith was growing (faith comes by hearing: Rom. 10:17), and God was birthing dreams inside of me.
• As I began to read daily, I began to get filled up with the Word of God. As I read success books, an intense desire to do more with my life began to emerge.
• As I began writing and reviewing my dreams and goals daily, I started to imagine myself making a difference. I began to switch from wondering if God could use me to knowing God would use me. I began to think about my future instead of reliving the past or just wondering what the day would bring.
• As I began to exercise daily, I began to feel better inside and out. I began to develop a lifestyle of discipline and consistency that others noticed.

As a result of these five commitments, I developed my “dream routine.” I am thoroughly convinced that the secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. Or as John Maxwell is famous for saying, “The secret to your success is found in your daily agenda.” He’s right!

Growth IS NOT automatic - it must be purposeful and planned. It must be intentional. Never just coast through life on what you’ve learned in the past; keep learning. And keep leveraging what you've learned.

You might think, “How do you have time to do all these things every single day?” I’ve discovered that we all make time for what’s most important to us. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 Rule. It suggests that 20% of your activities will produce 80% of your results. I get up early and am finished with my five daily disciplines by 8 a.m.

New York Times best-selling author Debbie Macomber, has written more than 100 books, many best-sellers and made-for-television movies, and over 170 million copies of her books are in print, and she has millions of loyal fans. She also has a “dream routine.”

Every day, she wakes up at 4:30 a.m., reads her Bible, and writes in her journal. By 6:00 a.m., she swims laps in her swimming pool. By 7:30 a.m., she answers her mail in her office. Between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., she writes. The result: she produces an average of three new books a year.

What dreams could you accomplish with the right disciplines and daily routine? In order to make the most of your life and achieve the goals the Lord has put in your heart, it will take more than just motivation; it will take discipline and action.

I am often introduced as a motivational speaker, and I embrace that title. However, if you’re only motivated to change, you may not see results. You must develop daily disciplines and move into action.

I hope you realize the extreme importance of every day that you are given. Each 24-hour period should be treated with great attention. Successful people focus on today. Never waste another day or just ‘kill time’ when God is expecting you to do something to prepare and grow. Growth is not a period of life; it is a way of life.

You owe it to yourself to develop what God has put in you. Stop saying, “I’m waiting on God.” No, God is waiting on you to be proactive, productive, and prepared. When He sees that you are ready, have studied to show yourself approved, and begin moving forward in the direction of your calling, that’s when opportunities come.

Regardless of what your past has been, as you develop success habits, you will attract success and get in position for God to bless you! Plain and simple. The bottom line is this: if you want more, you must become more. All of the small efforts you make day in and day out add up.

Ask yourself, “What dreams and goals do I want to accomplish? What can I do every day that will prepare me for success in the areas of life that I want to grow or see change in? What can I accomplish with the right disciplines and daily routine?”

Your daily routine will be specific to your unique dreams and goals. The point is to tailor-make your list of daily habits and consistently do them. By being diligent and persistent, you will soon begin to see remarkable results leading to your growth.

So get up. Take action. Develop a daily “dream routine” that is going to lead to the success God has in store for you.