For years I’ve signed my emails and letters with, “Make it a Great Day.” It’s a little different than “Have a nice day,” in that it implies that you have the power to make it great—that outside circumstances don’t determine how good a day it is—you do.
But what MAKES it a great day? As you think about the day ahead, how will you measure its greatness? Most of us plan what we will do, but how many of us think about what will make it a truly successful day?
You get to determine what constitutes your great day.
Here are just a few ideas.
What will you accomplish? Who will you be meeting with? How do you want them to experience that meeting? How will you feel? What will you learn? What will you do—and NOT do? How will you appreciate, acknowledge and treat yourself and others? What will you think about? For what will you be grateful? What disciplines will you exercise? What contribution will you make to the world, your community, your family?
Many years ago, I wrote my definition of a successful day. I still find it helpful as a guide in creating a great day.
A Successful Day: to learn something new; to laugh at least 10 times; to lift someone up; to make progress on a worthy goal; to practice peace and patience; to do something nice for myself and others; to appreciate and be grateful for all my blessings.
Here’s a list of things that help me create a successful day. I don’t expect to check every one of them off every day, but I aim for as many as I can.
- Stay well hydrated
- Exercise
- Learn something new
- Read/listen to something inspiring
- Complete/finish something
- Have some fun
- Lift someone up, acknowledge, thank them
- Share something inspiring
- Write something helpful
- Do something meaningful
- Make something better
- Practice gratefulness
- Get good rest
- Hone a skill
- Fix something
- Identify a toleration
- Zap a toleration
- Breathe deeply
- Focus on things that matter
- Eat real and healthy food in modest quantities
- Organize, tidy up something
- Streamline something
What would YOUR list look like?
Recommended Reading
How to Create a Vital Vision for Your Life
Live Your Life by Design Instead of by Default
No thinking person would ever start to build a house from just a rough sketch or a vague idea. And yet, hardly anyone has specific plans for how they want their life to be. Our lives are certainly more important than a house. This book gives you the impetus, the tools and the guidelines to create a meaningful, inspiring and detailed vision for your best life.
