Let’s start with some simple questions:What do you want most in life? What is your big dream?
Not so easy to answer, much less turn into reality.
These questions are big, hairy, and overwhelming. Trying to figure out what you want most is difficult enough, but then determining how to get from where you are now to this big destination is enough to vex anyone.
This is why we created “The Best is Yet to Come” series. By breaking this process down into 12 steps the overwhelm goes away, leaving you with a step-by-step strategy to actually build the lifestyle you can only vaguely imagine right now. And we know it works, because it is exactly how we ended up with the life, relationship, and business we have today.
But back in 2006 we had no idea what we wanted. We could never have answered those questions above, much less have determined how to make that big dream happen. Instead, we made a list answering a far simpler question “What do you want a day in your ideal life to look like?”
A Day in Your Ideal Life
Defining your ideal day is a heck of a lot easier proposition than sitting with a blank piece of paper and trying to work out your biggest dream. Instead, determine what a day in that life would look like. How would you wake up? Who would you spend the day with? What type of work would you do? Would you go into an office or walk upstairs to sit at your desk overlooking the lake? Would you spend your evenings watching TV by the fire or walk to a different local cafe every night for drinks and dinner?
Creating this list allows you to visualize the life you want, and the key is to be as specific as you can. Identify what you have for breakfast, how you spend an hour alone, and what you’d do before going to bed. This is not how you would spend an ideal day on vacation, but what you would like your life to look like each and every day.
Click here to listen to podcast #112 to learn more about how we created our own list and how you can do it, too.
How to Get Started on Your List
To get started on your own day-in-the-life list, grab yourself a few blank sheets of paper and put yourself in your most relaxing spot. Find the place you can do your best creative thinking. Comfortable? Ready to take a huge step towards your best life?
Start your list off with how you want to wake up. Do you want to leap out of bed and get dressed for a run or would you like to awake slowly, without an alarm clock, letting the thoughts of the day ahead slowly come to you? Start listing out what this would look like for you. Where are you? What does your room look like? Is it inside of a tent, a motorhome, or a high-rise apartment building? Be specific. It should be clear exactly what the start to your ideal day would be like so you can imagine yourself laying there.
Go through your day and list out each element that you imagine yourself doing. From what you have for breakfast to how you get to work to what you do when you get home that evening. This exercise is about giving yourself permission to envision and document how you’d like to spend your days. By visualizing a single day you have the ability to determine what your ideal job, relationship, and home can be.
As you go through your list, thinking about your ideal day, take into consideration each of the following areas of your life. Ask yourself how each of these plays into your day and be specific as you build up your list. We’ve included a few questions for each, but use them as a starting point and see where it takes you.
- Love - will you wake up next to someone? If so, what are they like?
- Career - what do you envision yourself doing to make money today? What type of work - writing, making phone calls, meetings with colleagues, planning an event, etc?
- Hobbies - how are you spending your free time - planting flowers in your garden, reading romance, working on your model trains?
- Money - how are you spending it? Are you buying things to fill your new home or spending it on experiences?
- Health - what are you doing to stay in shape? What do your meals look like for the day?
- Friendships - who do you call to talk about your day? What is their life like? How did you all meet?
- Location - are you living in a vibrant city, in the mountains, or in a tiny village in another country?
- Activism - how are you giving back? What organizations do you support with your time and/or money?
- Home - what is your house like? Are you living in an apartment, a motorhome, or a 300 year old farm house?
Spend a few hours creating this list. Give yourself the permission to get creative.
If you have a partner, consider creating your list together. It is sure to spur some great conversations as you are likely to have areas you disagree on. Let them be basis for new discoveries about your partner.
Benefits of “The List”
By creating your ideal day in the life list you are taking a huge step towards your best life. By visualizing what is possible you can start to take action towards making it possible.
Creating a new life takes more than just building lists, it takes action. And next week we’re diving in and taking the first actions to make your best life a reality.
Until then take the week to create your list and be bold. It is your best life you are creating so don’t hold back. You deserve this.
Connect with Us: