Quality days make for a successful life. That's obvious. However, what may not be as obvious is that we are the ones who, through our actions, determine the quality of our days and thus what our life will be like.

Days are bricks in the edifice of our life. Each one counts and each one must be created with care if we want the finished product to be a masterpiece. A masterpiece that we can appreciate, enjoy and be proud of.

Appreciation, joy and pride are the results of a job well done. That's true for physical or mental work and it's also true when it comes to building a day. If we rise to the occasions, do our best and care about what we do - the day will be a success and another step will have been taken toward contributing positively to the story of our life.

To be appreciated, a day has to be validated. That means mainly two things:
1) rising to the occasions and
2) caring.

Rising to the occasions means doing what needs to be done the way that it has to be done to meet whatever challenge that we've imposed to ourselves and to overcome whatever obstacles we find in our path. Rising to the occasion means facing life head on with courage, determination and resolve.

It means climbing the mountains that need to be conquered and slaying the dragons that stand in our way. It means having the courage to take action and to do what needs to be done. Not always an easy thing to do.

We always know what needs to be done but not finding the courage to do it is probably the number one cause of failure for most people. The natural thing to do is to take the easy path and the easy path usually is to find excuses or pretext to procrastinate. That's the antithesis of rising to the occasion and the anathema of validation.

Rising the occasion is what the soldier on the battlefield does. Facing the challenge heads on and overcoming it.

Next step is caring, which means being in the present moment and giving it all our attention. It means being at one with whatever it is that we are doing and blocking outside influences or preoccupations. It means that whatever it is that we are doing is important, that it matters and deserves our very best.

Robert Pirsig says that "caring is a feeling of identification with what one is doing." What we are doing becomes a part of who we are and it matters as much as we do. With that type of caring, sloppy work is not possible. The finished product becomes the hallmark of who we are.

A life is built one day at the time and a day is built through every instant that fills it. The secrets for a successful life are the same as the secrets for a successful day. Both must be validated and that is done by rising to the occasions and caring.

Dr. Raymond Comeau aka Shamou is the Author of ShamouBlog http://shamoublog.com/ and Administrator of Personal Development for Personal Success Forums.