There's a famous speech that was given by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at a Stanford graduation a couple years ago, where he shared some great advice. Some of his speech included the following:

“If you treat each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right!

Ask yourself: If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I'm about to do today.

Remembering you'll be dead soon, propels you to do what is truly important.

Death is a destination we all share, yet no one wants to die, even to get to heaven.

Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't live in the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your inner voice.

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They already know what you want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

With this inspiring speech in my mind, I thought it was important to share some thoughts on why we can't waste another minute of our precious life.

So here are 10 ways to make TODAY your best day ever!:

1. PRAY – Start each and every day by giving thanks to God, for He provided you love, faithfulness and life's newest opportunity, by allowing you to be here today! We all need to start realizing that today is a gift, and the reason it's called the ‘present'.

2. Prepare for Today – John C. Maxwell in his book Today Matters, emphasized that most people take a reactive approach towards life, instead of a proactive one. He reminded me that life is not a dress rehearsal and that we don't get a second chance to relive today!!

3. Control your NOW moment! Oprah Winfrey shared in a conversation recently on Piers Morgan Tonight, that part of her success is realized by her ability to live in the present moment, despite how much just happened or is about to. She enjoys and focuses on the moment she is in right now. No matter what noise life carries, we must remember that we can't control yesterday and we can't worry or guarantee what will happen tomorrow. We've only got NOW and we must live in the moment right now!

4. Serve Someone – Volunteer your time and resources, plant a smile on someone else's face today. Doesn't have to be something big, you could hold a door open for a stranger, pay the toll for someone behind you in the morning traffic or buy breakfast for the homeless guy standing at the stoplight. There is an indescribable joy that comes from serving someone with no expectations in return. That's always something that will leave your day better than words can describe.

5. LAUGH – Our emotional balancing mechanism is laughter and one of the best means of communication. Laughter invites joy and pleasant sensations and it's contagious. When others see you smiling and laughing today, it will transfer a positive energy to them that will lift their spirits in a great way.

6. Tell someone special that you love them – If possible, tell EVERYONE you love that you love them! But remind someone closest to you of some of the greatest moments that you've shared with that person and let them know how much they mean to you.

7. Make today your masterpiece – tomorrow is determined by the steps you take to improve today. The great basketball coach John Wooden of UCLA taught his players to make today a masterpiece, knowing that by applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you would become so much better!

8. Have a great attitude about your day – You've likely heard that your attitude is everything. Those who are successful in any area of their lives, are more likely to have a positive attitude towards their objectives. If we each embrace a positive attitude today, I'm certain that our outlook and outcome begin to align that much more.

9. Express your gratitude to others – When's the last time you told your parents thank you? When's the last time you told your spouse thank you? When's the last time you told your boss thank you or your employees thank you? Too often we forget to express our gratitude enough. How many of you feel that you are taken for granted and how many can think of situations where you might be perceived for having taken someone else for granted? Tell someone thank you today!

10. Prioritize what's most important for today – As much as we would like to do it all, we just simply can't. Our time is limited, but our wants and desires infinite. We must prioritize what's the most important goal that we can accomplish today and make sure that it gets done today. Prioritizing will help us to filter out the noise of our life, that battles for our time and attention.

For me, my life priorities are being re-focused and re-shaped by God's will. By this, I mean I've been taking baby steps to work on filtering more and more of my free time away from facebook and television and migrating that time to the word of God. Discipline is my weakness, so it's not been easy for me. But I'm learning that God speaks to me the most when I submit myself to reading His word more regularly.

Looking back even to one year ago, I can see so many areas of my life have improved as a result, but I still got LOTS to do. By these disciplines, my attitude and my gratitude are getting better each day. I'm learning more about the importance of being prepared each day, so I can be ready for each of my NOW moments. I'm serving others more frequently and enjoying such delight in it, that I find myself seeking bigger ways to serve even more (the reason www.godsfullarmor.com has now consumed my focus for 2011). I'm loving my wife and daughter with all that I am, knowing that I'm the leader of my home and working to make sure I don't miss a minute of the joy and pleasure of being a great husband and father. I'm painting my masterpiece each and every day. I encouraged and hope that I've inspired you today to do the same.

It's my hope that you'll have a great day today after reading and sharing this post. Be blessed and be a blessing.