A couple months ago I decided to quit my job. I ramped down very quickly, and as a result I had a lot of time on my hands. In fact the last time I had this much time available had to be some summer as a child. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself so I asked a question “what does a good day look like now?” I came up with 5 things.
- Gratitudes – write what you’re grateful for
- Mindfulness – meditate or do something to be mindful
- Mind-fillness – expand your mind (learn)
- Thoughtfulness – do something that forces you to solve some problem
- Movement – exercise
If I could accomplish these 5 things the day was considered a winner. A day where I didn’t accomplish these things wasn’t considered a lost day. It wasn’t a throw away or a step back. It just wasn’t complete. It was a day where I left opportunity on the table.
So how did I do? At the very end of this you’ll see a picture of my first attempt. The green boxes are those I missed. They started out red, but it felt like a personal indictment every time I looked at it so I changed it to green. I definitely could have done better. However, I recall many days when I didn’t want to do one of these things, but I was accountable to my chart. I did them anyway. Overall I hit about 75% of the total boxes I intended (25% are green). Not bad for a first attempt. I’m on to attempt 2 right now. It’s not 100% this time, but it’s better. The categories are different, but the intent is the same.
What would your chart look like if you wanted to win the day?
