We are all well aware of the definition of insanity; to keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Not surprisingly, it so obvious when somebody else continues to make the same mistake day after day after day. Oddly enough, it’s very difficult to recognize insanity as it applies to our own activities. It’s so much easier to rationalize, excuse and sometimes even ignore our own poor performance or bad behavior.

The worst part of poor behavior is that it can easily be changed. Would you believe it takes less than 5 minutes each day for you to become a highly efficient, more productive, happier person? If you’re will to commit to spending 5 minutes each day tracking and planning, your life is guaranteed to improve.

Here’s how it works:

At the end of each day, whenever and wherever convenient, take a calendar (just print out an Outlook page each day) and answer 2 simple questions.

Question #1: Tracking – “What were the highlights of my day today?”

Question #2: Planning – “What are the top priorities or the most important things I want to accomplish tomorrow?”

Under no circumstances should either list be extensive. Each list should only encompass the top priorities or most important activities achieved during the present day and the to-do’s for the coming day. A couple of other guidelines:

• The exercise must be done at the end of each day, not the next day.
• It must be done in writing, not in your head. If it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist.

There you have it, the secret to happiness and success! The only question remaining, are you willing to spend 5 minutes a day to change your life?