(This is the last of a 3-part series. Please see my posts on May 8 and 10 for Parts 1 and 2.)

Now that you have accepted your past, and are willing to trust God to handle the future, the last component that is required to discover the courage to dream big dreams is:

Make the most of the time He has given you today.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? I mean, aren’t we all masters of Time (really Self) Management? Well…maybe not.

Let me say right now that I have good days and bad days in this area – and I teach on this stuff! What I want to do in the remainder of this post is to pass along some tips that I have found to help me make the most of the time that God has given me each day.

1 – Plan ahead.

Almost without exception, the days when I have been the most productive have been the days that started with a plan already in place. I have read and heard many stories about the importance of sitting down at the end of a day, and taking time to THINK about the next day. Think about all the tasks you have to do the next day, and say to your self, “If I only had time to do one thing tomorrow, what task is the most critical to get done?” Then do the same thing with all the other items on your list. When you are done, you have a prioritized list of tasks to accomplish for the next day.

2 – Big Rocks

The plan I mentioned above works very well – IF you do not get overwhelmed by the small stuff. When I said to make a list of all the tasks you have to do the next day, I was referring to the “Big Rocks” – the more meaty, meaningful, items. I do not mean for you to include items such as “drive to work”, “eat lunch” or “go potty.” Hopefully you will remember to do these things without having to put them on your list of tasks to accomplish. The idea is to help you identify which tasks are the most important to get done, prioritize them, and then stick to your plan.

3 – Give Yourself Grace

Even on your best days, unexpected things will happen. Rare is the day that goes by without some interruption or challenge that takes you off course. Here is my word to you about that:

IT IS OKAY.

Life happens. Do not get down on yourself just because your day did not go according to your plan. Just regroup. Remember what this third component is all about: “Make the MOST of your day.” It is not: “Make a PERFECT day.” Give yourself some grace. Do the best you can today; make a plan for tomorrow at the end of today, and; do your best again tomorrow. That is all that any of us can do.

There you have it. If you will follow these three components, you will discover the courage you need to dream big dreams. In my opinion, that is more than half the battle. Once you set big dreams, and discover the courage to act on them, all that is left is to TAKE ACTION. That will be the subject of my next post.