Contentment comes from looking at how far we have come. Happiness comes from focusing on the now and enjoying the journey. And, ambition comes from looking at how far we have to go.
Too much looking back means lesser than necessary focus on happiness and ambition. Less focus on happiness and ambition means less good done today, which in turn means less content tomorrow.
We are hardly ever going to get the ratios absolutely right. That’s life. But, we owe it to ourselves to get as close as possible as consistently as possible. What does that mean for today?
1. Reflect on learnings from yesterday and as you do that, think about what your learnings might have been on the same day last year – a great reminder of how far you’ve come
2. Write down three things you plan to do today. Add a fun thing to the day if you aren’t looking forward to the three big priorities.
3. Write down three things on your bucket list that you are working towards/three things you’d like to get done in the next five years. Take a small step today.
That’s 5 minutes of writing. It doesn’t take much. It does accomplish a lot.
(PS: The list will not look rosy every day as you chronicle the downs along with the ups. But this way, you make sure you don’t just trudge through life. You reflect on how it feels to actually live it.)
A Learning a Day 