Today's TQ

Daily Lessons in Intentional Excellence
Thursday, January 22, 2026

Do You Know The Secret Combination Yet?

Combine flexibility with planning for a better balance in your life. Flexibility stems from openness and spontaneity; plans stem from awareness and forethought.

Planning and flexibility need a symbiotic relationship in every plan.

Today's TQ Challenge: Work Your Plans Until You Succeed or Find a Better Way.

Choose to be DETERMINED! Do others ever say you over-plan and leave no room for spontaneity?
Choose to be INDUSTRIOUS! Are you known to improvise too much to stay focused?
Choose to be PERSISTENT! Where can planning and flexibility complement your current project today?

The best plan in the world is useless until it's put into action. How well you follow through with your plans -- ultimately determines your success. You only make things happen when you act on your plans and see them through to the end. Master this skill, and the achievement of any goal is just a written plan away.

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out..." ~ Robert Collier

Think about it. How well and how often do you actually DO Make Plans Factor 5J?

"I work my plans until I succeed or find a better way."

A high commitment (5J rated 8 or better) suggests you are a person who can be counted on to complete your plans. You're that "one in a million" who sets a goal, makes a plan and then actually works the plan. You are methodical, with a high bias toward taking action. You continuously find a way to take the right action steps and discover the right way to proceed. When you hit a road block, you persevere until you find a way over, under, through or around the obstacle.

On the other hand...

A lack of commitment suggests you are someone who has a long list of plans that have never been completed. Many plans never get off the ground, because you haven't even taken the first step. Others are in varying stages of completion -- because you have either deviated from your original goal -- or are no longer following your current plan. Few of your plans achieve the outcome you originally predicted -- and with only limited success as your reward -- you lose the motivation to draft new ones.

What happens when you CHOOSE to do Factor 5J a bit more frequently?

Your plans succeed because you diligently pursue each to completion. You accumulate performance positives like "Determined, Industrious and Successful" -- immediately moving you towards the results you expect.

What happens when you FAIL to consistently do Factor 5J?

Your plans fail, because you fail to work your plans. Negatives like "Unreliable, Distracted and Undisciplined" start to take their toll on your performance -- quickly moving you away from the success you want.

Now Ask Yourself This...
Is Factor 5J Causing You Problems?

If you believe this factor is a key performance obstacle -- and that it's preventing you from realizing your personal dreams and goals -- then you need to improve it.

* * *

This PDA version of Today's TQ is provided by ThinkTQ.com, the leader in personal perfomance and intentional excellence.