Today's TQ

Daily Lessons in Intentional Excellence
Friday, January 30, 2026

If The Bridge Is Washed Out, Build A Ferry.

The more flexible you can be with the specifics of your plan, the less time and energy you'll spend being upset when you are forced to change them.

Your plan is not a till-death-do-you-part vow. Always have a plan but don't be married to it.

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

Choose to be DETERMINED! What's more important -- to stick to your plan or to get to your goal?
Choose to be INDUSTRIOUS! Is there a better way to complete what you're doing right now?
Choose to be PERSISTENT! How else could you accomplish what you have set out to do 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.