Imagine opening up the newspaper and flicking to the Lost and Found section, you look at an advertisement which says "Disappeared Monday morning, between 9.00am and 12.30pm, three precious hours, each encrusted with sixty gold studded minutes". No-one will ever return them; they are gone, forever...

This is how precious every moment of every day is...we can only live in the 'now' and only have this very second to make real and lasting changes.

From an early age it is instilled in us that time is made up of the past, present and the future. Many see their life as an arrow on a timeline, where they gradually move slowly ahead. The line in the past becomes longer and the finishing line starts to become shorter. This is a very depressing way to look at things especially as the future looks bleak with the finishing line (death) becoming imminently closer as each day passes.

Are you feeling hard done-by or currently moaning to yourself about something? Would you consider this to be a good use of your time? Maybe, you are fretting about something that happened in the past or will happen in the future...this is not making good use of 'now'.

An easy way to stop those moans and groans is to ensure that your present moment is filled with positive thoughts. This can be achieved by visualizing a virtual clock which is striking off every second of our lives...Even the past 45 seconds are gone, we only have now.

The only time we are living in is now...there is no time for the past or the future because the past is gone and the future has not happened...we only have this present moment. So stop looking at life as a timeline, the arrow is not half way through your life or even three quarters of the way through...it is pointing to now!

By making a positive commitment to use every second wisely you will act with focus, awareness and direct intention. This will ensure that your past is always remembered positively and plans for the future will be easier to achieve.

By using every moment to its fullest potential, you become attuned to your thoughts and are able to instantly change them. By swapping those negative thoughts with positive ones, you create a happier path to your future without any negative blocks along the way. This means that you will enjoy even the mundane things in life for when you can appreciate and find fulfilment in those tasks we hate the most; we know that we are creating a happier past for ourselves.

When you pay attention to the present moment in time, you become aware of every single thing that you do and change any bad habits. You become more aware of what you eat, take better care of your finances and never doubt if you are good enough, even negative and depressing thoughts are eliminated because you are making the very best of every second.

To mould your future, you have to make the most of your 'now' which is the only tool you have. Are you making the best of the very second you have right now? Ask yourself this same question in twenty minutes time and twenty minutes after that...by continually reminding yourself, you will train your mind to become aware of every moment and use it wisely.

If you are having trouble monitoring your every move, hone in on some more brutal thoughts which could change your way of thinking. Invest in a calendar and keep it by your bed. As you tuck yourself up each night, make it a point to tear out the page that you have just lived through and say something along the lines of "Goodbye to another day of my life which will never, ever return". This should make some impression on your consciousness and make you more aware of the value of time.

When aiming to reach a goal, it is natural to envisage setbacks along the way. This is where many people fall into the mistake of believing that they have to endure these hurdles to benefit from the fruits of their labour. But why should we have to suffer to bring about positive changes? By adopting the view that nothing can exist outside of the present second, you will only experience in the future what you create in the current moment. Therefore, you will never have to suffer for your goals again and are more likely to achieve them. Those that go through many pains in an effort to fulfil their dreams are unlikely to ever make them come true as a negative mind set is only fixed on a negative future and past.

Another valuable tool for success is to keep thoughts about the future to a minimum. By focussing too strongly on the things that you wish to happen next month, next year or in five years time, you will thwart your present moment. There is little point in working hard to try and create a happy future, if your present moment is the complete opposite! You make your future happen by planting the seeds of creation right now. This way it already exists in some form and starts taking shape as the hours and days pass by.

By keeping this up, you will find that greater opportunities come your way and you can achieve the impossible with very little effort. As you focus on the present moment you make every ticking second as enjoyable as possible, your motivation will increase and you will shift your way of thinking from one of obligation to one of joy for everything that you do. If your professional goal is to become a millionaire, you can create those big bucks right now, simply by imagining that you have already become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.

Don't wait for those thousands to show up in your bank account before you feel the joy of wealth, start feeling like a multi millionaire now. If you want to become wealthy in a certain profession, start feeling that wealth every time you think about it. For example, if you want to become a CEO but are currently in a junior role, start feeling as though you have already stretched your feet under that executive chair and use every moment in your present role to feel the joy in creating that position right now.

The more fulfilled and content you feel right now, the less you will become hung up on negative outcomes. You will stop lusting after money, beating yourself up over externalities and dwelling on past mistakes.

Are you sacrificing this very second for the hope of a better tomorrow? Do you feel as if you are heading towards your goals or have you been heading this way a long time with little change along the way? My guess is that you are running on a treadmill of the latter...You do not need to stay on that treadmill; you can get off at any time. NOW is the very moment to create the future you long for!