Make Every Day CountSample

Three Important Things

My mission is to make sure each day holds significance. Whether it’s running a 5k or spending 30 minutes talking to God in prayer, I want every day to matter.

I want every day of your life to count too.

After I’d broken my neck making a routine tackle in an NFL game, I suddenly couldn’t do a lot of things that I’d once taken for granted every day. Recovering from two fractured vertebrae was harder than anything I’d ever endured up until that time. But there at what felt like the lowest point of my life, I started a new habit of setting daily goals.

The simple process worked like this: I began by sending myself text messages of three things I wanted to absolutely crush the next day.

It seems simple because it is. And yet, many people won’t do it. I wasn’t contemplating my whole future. I wasn’t trying to solve every problem my mind could think of. I was just focusing on that day, on that one day. What could I be sure to accomplish today?

I’m still following this same ritual, as recently as this morning, and it has transformed my life.

So let me start by asking, “What’s important to you?” Close your eyes right now and think of the first thing that’s most important in your life. Then, I want you to keep your eyes closed and think about the second-most important thing. What’s the third thing that’s most important? Finally, snap your fingers—now you’re healed. I’m kidding.

If only it were that easy.

Or maybe it is. Maybe it really is—if we’ll just do what’s most important to us every day.

In this five-day devotional, I will share a few of the highs and lows of my story. You’ll read about how God intended for me—and I believe also for you—to prepare for a great adventure in life, an approach to living that requires ongoing spiritual discipline so that you can make every day count.