“Don’t count the days.
Make the days count.”
—Muhammad Ali, Professional Boxer

How do we make the days count?

Thinking about this question led me to reflect on my own life and ask myself about what truly matters. Here are a few thoughts that you also might want to consider if you desire to make each day of your life count.

1. Fail forward.

Leadership book author John Maxwell wrote a book entitled Failing Forward. For Maxwell, failures and mistakes can be turned into stepping stones for success. Whatever failure you may have had this year, you can use that to your advantage by learning from them as you bounce back in life.

Did you fail in your subject? Did you make a series of wrong decisions? These mistakes need not define your whole life. Get up and grow from these failures.

2. Live intentionally.

“If you want to know the value of one year, just ask a student who failed a course.
If you want to know the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
If you want to know the value of one hour, ask the lovers waiting to meet.
If you want to know the value of one minute, ask the person who just missed the bus.
If you want to know the value of one second, ask the person who just escaped death in a car accident.
And if you want to know the value of one-hundredth of a second, ask the athlete who won a silver medal in the Olympics.”
—Marc Levy, French Novelist

Moses asked in Psalm 90:12 to number our days, to know the brevity of life, and to know the value of every second. When we realize the significance of each day, we can also appreciate the potential each day brings.

Make the most of each day by engaging in activities that add joy, meaning, and value to your life and to others. Enrich your knowledge by reading books; learn new things while traveling; connect with people who can teach you valuable lessons in life; plan your direction and pursue your dreams.

Life is short, so live it well.

3. Appreciate every waking moment.

Take a pause from reading, then take a deep breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Did you know that as you breathed that out, someone somewhere in the world has just breathed out his last?

I know life can be tough sometimes, but God’s mercies are new every morning. The past 11 months may have been difficult for you, but never forget that with each waking hour of your life, God offers new mercies to us.(Lamentations 3:22,23)

Appreciate life. The past may have been tough, but the future offers so much promise of hope and joy.

4. Live for others.

When you try to think of great people whose names have been etched in human history, you’ll probably see that most of them have left an indelible mark not because of their wealth or fame, but because of their contribution to humanity.

If you want to live a life of impact, use your life to serve others. Love the people around you. Value your relationships.

With whatever you’re doing with your life right now, how are you making the world a better place? How are you making an impact on the people around you?

I guess the million-dollar truth is that someday in our death bed, it won’t matter how much you’ve earned or accomplished, but how many people you’ve touched with your life.

In the end, even when your name is not etched in human history, you know that your life has made a dent when your name is etched in human hearts. Use your life to make a difference in the world, one person at a time.

5. Live with an eternal perspective.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them . . .”

Ecclesiastes 12:1 (NIV)

Having an eternal perspective means knowing that our actions and decisions in this life could have eternal rewards or consequences. Though salvation is by God’s grace and not by works, we will eventually be held accountable by how well we have stewarded the life that God has given us.

When you remember your Creator in the days of your youth, you will gain wisdom for making decisions, responding to hardships, knowing your purpose in life, and loving people.

With the remaining days of 2018, I hope that you find inspiration to make a difference in somebody’s life, to fail forward in the face of failure, to thank God for every waking moment of your life, and to live life with the fear of God.

That’s how we make each day count.