Life in Small Bites

Rolf Magener sent me this bit of wisdom and inspiration that I am pleased to share with you.

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A friend recently sent me this poem written by an 11th grader at an all-girls’ high school in Brooklyn, NY, that made me rethink the way I look at my days:

“Worst Day Ever?” by Chanie Gorkin

Today was the absolute worst day ever

And don’t try to convince me that

There’s something good in every day

Because, when you take a closer look,

This world is a pretty evil place.

Even if

Some goodness does shine through once in a while

Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.

And it’s not true that It’s all in the mind and heart

Because True happiness can be obtained

Only if one’s surroundings are good It’s not true that good exists I’m sure you can agree that

The reality Creates

My attitude It’s all beyond my control

And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that

Today was a perfect day

You may think that Chanie has it all wrong . . .

But not everything is as it seems . . .

Sometimes we don’t see everything as it really is, because we are looking at it the wrong way around.

Now read the same poem from the bottom up . . .

Today was a perfect day

And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that It’s all beyond my control

My attitude Creates

The reality I’m sure you can agree that It’s not true that good exists

Only if one’s surroundings are good

True happiness can be obtained

Because, when you take a closer look,

It’s all in the mind and heart

And it’s not true that

Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.

Some goodness does shine through once in a while

Even if

This world is a pretty evil place.

Because, when you take a closer look,

There’s something good in every day

And don’t try to convince me that

Today was the absolute worst day ever.

Quite a different poem, right?

A small change in how we look at things can make all the difference . . .

So, I have a quick question for you: do you need to start looking at your days in a different way? Do you need to make some small changes to your days so that they end up being perfect? What would your perfect day be, your ideal day?

What kind of day would you wish for, so that when you go to bed that night, you will think it was the most incredible day?

There’s a simple trick and tool to make sure you get more of these days:

You have to aim and intend to have a perfect day. 

The easiest way to do this is to get clear about what your great day would be and write down what your perfect day would look like!

If you really thought about your perfect day, I’ll bet you didn’t say, “Well, I roll out of bed, grab my iPhone, and check my email.” That’s not an ideal day . . . but is it what you do every morning? Write down who you would be on your ideal day. Write down how you want to feel. Write down things that would make your day great.

Write down things that would make you happy. Write down how you’d treat your wife, your partner, or your kids.

You have to own your morning to make sure that you’re proactive with that day. You need to ask: “What do I want this day to be about? What do I want to achieve, in order to create and experience this day? What kind of character do I want to cultivate? What do I want to learn today and give today, and how do I want to grow today?

You don’t need to write down a great big shopping list of things that would make your day perfect. Every morning, pick two or three, and write them down in a journal or on a piece of paper. Then, in the evening before you go to bed, review your day, and write down three magical things that happened that day.

We can choose to wake up every single day and live that day for ourselves in an idealistic way. We will show up as who we want to be. We will do things that enliven us and engage us and get us excited. We will choose to be with people who make us feel alive and fulfilled. We will create experiences that give our lives meaning and purpose.

Try this for a week . . . and see what happens.

With that intention and aim, you will start to experience more and more ideal days. As more of these great days accumulate, your character develops force and momentum. And suddenly you wake up one morning, look around, and have a sense of aliveness and joy about that day. Then, when you look back at the week, you realize, “That was an amazing week, an amazing month, an amazing year, an amazing decade . . . that was an amazing life.” You deserve that.

To your success – Rolf