Each quarter The Toro Company hosts what we call Team Talks for all employees. They always have some sort of theme and are usually hosted by Mike Hoffman, Toro’s CEO. A while back we had a Team Talk and Mike themed it “The Untimes.” It was about the times we live in, you know, Unpredictable, Unprecedented, Uncertain, you get it, all the Un’s we face today. The message that we live in untimes was spot on.

People around the world have faced the Untimes before, we know that from history. In fact, given history we should not be shocked by where we are today. Think about that – history teaches us that things are as they should be! We got where we are through our action, inaction, choices, and our connection with life’s uncertainties.

After analyzing your own situation, you might be relieved, or deeply concerned. The key is to know and be honest about your current situation; save the blame or congratulations because both are distractions.

If you are doing well, you could just keep on keeping on or you may even be in a position to help others. If you are in tough shape, it could be time to get serious about prioritizing your actions.

Just remember, it’s easy to get outcomes confused with actions. For example, making a sale is an outcome, while making a sales call is an action. An action is a step you can take on your own (making the call) while making the sale is dependent upon the actions of another. You can’t fully control outcomes, but you can and should control actions.

Are your actions the most reasonable and productive for what must be done today? If you just take care of the next five minutes, the next hour, and the next day, you can take care of your life. Don’t procrastinate on this. No action will be perfect but taking action is mandatory if we’re going to create our own future.

Waiting for someone else to take action is like letting someone else decide your future. We become a victim of the untimes because we let the uncertainties of life paralyze us and then we lose our grip on responsibility. We lose our grip on responsibility for our own future, responsibility for our own success, and responsibility even for our own actions. Without action, personal responsibility takes a holiday.

We may not always like the actions we need to take but we always have a choice. Working from a perspective of choice is vital in tough times. “No choice,” is the mantra of the victim. Our top choice should be easy, “Am I going to be a victim? Or am I going to be responsible for my own success”?

The decision to take action should be stuck to our soul; it should be wrapped around our axel and one of our foremost thoughts. Always!

So…what actions must you take today in order to achieve success tomorrow? Take action immediately and make the future you desire. Who better to decide your fate than you?