Well, hello, my friends, and welcome to the Live Inspired podcast Monday and morning moments with John O'Leary.

I record these so that you and I can begin our days and our weeks and on

on fire with a burst of inspiration and to help us get a little bit lit up for this week as my

buddy and yours, his name is Steve Jobs. Steve reminds us of this truth. Your time is limited.

So don't waste it living somebody else's life.

Recently at a leadership conference, the speaker before me taught us how to make sure that we

maximized our life by maximizing our time each and every day. It was a great session,

tons of takeaways, but I'd like to share with you three today. Number one,

plan your day out and don't lose your focus. Secondly, track your minutes and don't waste your seconds. And then third, say yes to advancing your objectives and say no to people who are

trying to steal your time.

Well, it's certainly sage advice for anyone's striving to achieve desired goals.

Sometimes we need to slow down long enough to be reminded why we strive in the first place to plan our days,

or to track our minutes, or to advance our objectives.

And last Wednesday, it served as such a reminder for me.

You see, last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday,

and Ash Wednesday kicks off the beginning of Lent.

During the morning service, our pastor pressed his thumb into a bowl of ashes,

then imprinted them in the shape of a cross on all

of our foreheads, while proclaiming loudly to each person and to everybody else in church,

remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Regardless of our individual faith backgrounds, these powerful words remind all of us that life is

fleeting, our time is precious, and we must remain vigilant and focus in our lives on what

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